posted Sep 14th, 2005 - The NSL News had caught up with the results of the NSL SkyVenture Orlando Competition 2005 before the trip to the USPA Nationals and announced that the award certificates would be hand-delivered in Perris to as many of the winning teams as possible.

It was a tight schedule on competition site, however there was still enough time here and there to locate the teams and even take some pictures for the NSL News.

The presentation of the SkyVenture Orlando certificates had its peak at the 4-way award ceremony when Southwest Skydiving League Director Pamela Stevens had the opportunity to celebrate the SSL 2005 winners on stage. The SSL award ceremony was combined with the presentation of the NSL SkyVenture Orlando Competition certificates for the SSL teams.

The SSL award ceremony also included the announcement of the SSL Grand Prize, which went to Perris Storm (AAA Class) and Arizona Divewerkz (AA Class) this year. Both teams will be sponsored by the Southwest Skydiving League for their trip to the NSL Championship at SkyQuest 2005.

The NSL News could not deliver all certificates directly to the winning teams since several of them did not make the trip to the USPA Nationals. However, some of the league directors were in Perris, and they were glad to accept the SkyVenture Orlando prizes for their teams and forward them after returning to their home region.

Randy and Leah Connell could hardly hold all the certificates that were bound for the Mideast Skydiving League, one of the two big league winners this year with a total of 270 minutes so far, which equals 18% of all the awarded tunnel time.

Randy and Leah Connell competed with their MESL team Vortex in Perris. Chris Grenner and Christy West completed the line-up at the USPA Nationals 2005. Vortex finished in 17th position of the AA/Intermediate Class competition with a 8.5 average, which was the best meet average of the 2005 season for the MESL team (6.5 - 7.0 - 8.3 - 7.6 - 8.5).

Cherie and Karl Schuch accepted the NSL SkyVenture Orlando Competition certificates for the MidAtlantic Skydiving League teams. Both competed with Crosskeys in the AA/Intermediate Class and had a rollercoaster meet, before and throughout the competition in Perris.

Crosskeys was considered one of the serious medal contenders in the AA Class after posting top scores (12.2 - 10.3 - 12.5) at the previous MASL meets of the regular season. Bad luck forced the team to hire a new videographer on site in a last-minute effort when they found out that the team's regular camera flyer would not make it to Perris.

Crosskeys lost a total of 14 points, most of them caused by non-judgeable formations or maneuvers. These 14 more points would have tied the total of 130 points by Elsinore Equinox in first place. However, reality was the 5th place with an 11.6 meet average. Cherie and Karl Schuch took it easy and still enjoyed the competition: "We managed to come back after the 4-pointer in round two, which had placed us at the very bottom of the field. It was fun to move up round by round."

The winner of the AA Class competition in Perris and new USPA Champion 2005, Elsinore Equinox with Rob Cope, Steve Mischo, Don Mullenix, Kevin Thompson and Rick Schindler (video), was already the defending NSL Champion 2004 before taking on the AA Class top teams in 2005. The team's scoring progression of the 2005 season is very impressive and consistent (8.2 - 9.7 - 10.5 - 11.0 - 13.2 - 13.0).

The NSL News will get back to the story of the AA Class competition in Perris later, and some live videos will be a part of the coverage. Considering the consistent progression throughout the 2005 season, it was only a matter of time when Equinox would finally win on one of the NSL SkyVenture Orlando Competition weekends after handicap. Unfortunately, Equinox will have to travel to Orlando to make use of the tunnel time since SkyVenture Perris did not participate in 2005. Defending the NSL Championship 2004 title would offer a great opportunity for Elsinore Equinox to cash in on the prize.

The NSL News was also able to present a SkyVenture Orlando certificate to 4Fun Part Deux of the Texas Skydiving League. Scott Byram, Eric Ching, Lynn Sanders, Gabe Stephenson and Scott Sanders (video) had attended three TSL meets of the regular 2005 season (5.8 - 7.5 - 7.2) and registered a new team record average of 8.2 in Perris, which placed the team in 21st position of the 43 AA/Intermediate Class teams. The Texas Skydiving League has one more meet scheduled for October 8.

Two all-female teams of the Midwest Skydiving League had already made the top stories of the NSL News several times this year, the Skydive Chicago Furies and the Chicago Sirens. Both teams had competed in the A Class and placed themselves on the top of the nationwide A Class leaderboard.

The Furies with Gosia Cienkosz, Lisa DeSimone, Sarah Lawrence, Shannon Sweet and Charles Lane (video) attended three meets of the regular MWSL season (7.2 - 10.5 - 10.6) and dominated the A Class competition of the Midwest Skydiving League. The great scores and progression placed the Furies on the very top of the NSL SkyVenture Orlando Competition winner list with a total of 90 free tunnel minutes.

The Furies also competed at the USPA Nationals 2005 and had to move up to the AA Class since the USPA competition does not include the A Class of the National Skydiving League. The Furies were prepared after practicing the additional eight blocks here and there during the regular 2005 season.

The team from Skydive Chicago finished with a very impressive 9.8 average in 13th position of the higher class and proudly accepted the SkyVenture award from the NSL News in Perris. The Furies still have the opportunity to go after the NSL Championship of the A Class at SkyQuest 2005. The Georgia Skydiving League team Airlock is prepared to defend the title against any challenger.

The all-female MWSL opponent, the Chicago Sirens with Barbra Carqueville, Susan Evers, Tracy Gardner, Karyn Rees and Brad Vancina on camera, had a very successful regular 2005 season, as well (7.0 - 7.5 - 8.6 - 9.8), and was rewarded with a total of 60 SkyVenture Orlando tunnel minutes.

The NSL News met the MWSL team in Perris right next to the Furies. The Sirens had also moved up into the AA Class to compete at the USPA Nationals 2005. The Sirens finished with a more than respectable 8.2 average in 20th position of the 43 teams and managed to win one round over the Furies. Both teams have one more MWSL competition opportunity on the upcoming weekend. The A Class draw will probably feel like a walk in the park after the ten AA Class rounds in Perris.

The NSL News also delivered SkyVenture Orlando certificates to three AAA Class teams in Perris.

Arizona Directe with Gary Beyer, Kirk Campbell, Courtney Frasch, Gordon Lindsay on video and Colorado Skydiving League Director Brian Vande Krol came to Perris with a perfect record of the regular season (14.3 - 15.2 - 16.0), which was rewarded with 30 minutes of SkyVenture Orlando tunnel time. AAA Class team AZ Directe joined the tough Open Class competition at the USPA Nationals and finished with a 14.2 average in 13th position.

Fastrax Select has already been the topic of several NSL News stories this year, as well. The Mideast Skydiving League team caught the NSL News attention with its ambitious plan to challenge the world champions of IPC's Women's Class, Perris Synchronicity. Fastrax Select worked hard on the team goal and attended several NSL meets of the regular season and the NSL Playoffs 2005.

Kristina Byrne, Michelle Carlstrom, Tammi Rettig and Sarah Brownlee on camera trained and competed with Elisa Behnk in the tail slot for the first half of the season, Jacquelyn O'Bryan replaced Elisa Behnk later on. The scoring progression until the USPA Nationals (10.7 - 10.8 - 14.5 - 14.2 - 14.7 - 14.0) was promising, and Fastrax Select had a good reason to believe in the team goal. The scoring progression was rewarded with 60 minutes of free SkyVenture Orlando tunnel time.

Fastrax Select finished in 10th place with a 14.5 average in Perris, and the team felt good about the performance. Kristina Byrne said: "We did our best, and we were skydiving really well. It simply was not enough to beat Synchronicity this time. Now we focus on our next meet at the World Cup in October." The NSL News will be on site in Eloy.

Last not least, the bronze medalist of USPA's Open Class competition, Airspeed Odyssey, won 60 minutes of SkyVenture Orlando tunnel time after posting the winning scores before and after handicap on the NSL Playoffs weekend in August. Andy Delk, Craig Girard, Brian Johnson, Eliana Rodriguez and Will Pesek on camera accepted the certificate in Perris after the competition was over.

Airspeed has its own SkyVenture wind tunnel in Eloy now. However, Eliana Rodriguez explained that Airspeed still runs tunnel camps in Orlando, as well, one in November this year: "We might be able to use the tunnel time while we are in Orlando." The NSL Championship is scheduled around the time of the tunnel camp, and Airspeed Odyssey is eligible for NSL medals. There is also a chance that Airspeed might go after the NSL Championship for the first time. It would be a good opportunity this year since there is already a jackpot of $5,000 for the 4-way competition at Fantasy of Flight in November.

Thanks to SkyVenture Orlando for providing a total of 22:50 hours of free tunnel time for NSL teams this year so far.