posted Sep 15th, 2005 - The NSL News has not completed the coverage of the AA/Intermediate Class competition at the USPA Nationals 2005 yet. The last story explained the AA Class situation at the end of round eight, when the battle between Elsinore Equinox and Arizona Divewerkz mirrored the race between the Golden Knights and DeLand Fire in the AAA/Open Class competition.

It did not come to a jump-off for the gold medals in the AA Class, however, the race for the second place ended up with a 1-point difference. The whole AA Class competition was actually even a little bit more exciting on the very top since it was a 3-team race compared to the 2-team battle between DeLand Fire and the Golden Knights.

In general, the AA Class teams were closer to the expectations than the AAA Class teams. The distance between Airspeed Velocity in 6th place to DeLand Fire in 1st place was 22 points and more than expected. There were five AA Class teams that were considered the top contenders, and Cross Keys in 5th place was only 14 points behind Elsinore Equinox in 1st place.

It is quite interesting to see that the NSL AA Class Rankings of the 2005 season, which are according to the season average after the three best meet results of each team, are almost identical with the final rankings of the USPA Nationals 2005. Only Carolina Ice and Elsinore Equinox are switched in their positions, and the teams are much closer in the NSL rankings. In fact, the season averages of the leading five AA Class teams are between 12.5 and 12.1 - and that is very close.

Going back to the situation at the end of round eight, Equinox had worked out a 3-point lead over Arizona Divewerkz until here, and then had to accept only a 1-point lead going into round nine. Carolina Ice was five points behind Equinox and four points behind Divewerkz after eight rounds, and it looked as if the AA Class leader of the regular season would have to settle for bronze medals. Ice had lost the direct contact to the Equinox and Divewerkz in the first three rounds of the meet and then recovered to remain at least in striking distance.

Round nine changed the picture in the AA Class to the advantage of Carolina Ice. It was Arizona Divewerkz' turn to swallow the second low round in Perris. AZDW had already given up some ground with a 7-pointer in round five after leading Equinox by two points. The Elsinore team had gratefully taken the lead at that time and never gave it up until the end of the meet.

It was a rollercoaster competition for Arizona Divewerkz in Perris. Murel Addison, Blane Boynton, Paul Gatling, Annaliese Peterson and Kelly Green on camera went neck to neck with Elsinore Equinox through the first three rounds. They took a 2-point lead in round four and gave it back to Equinox in round five, then fell another point behind in round six and made it back to a 1-point difference in round eight.

Round nine ended Arizona Divewerkz' quest for the gold medals and the race with Equinox. The Elsinore team had its best round of the whole competition (click here to see the video), while AZDW even gave up the 4-point advantage over Carolina Ice. Both teams were now tied in second place and went into the last round of the competition six points behind the leader, Elsinore Equinox.

There was no need for Rob Cope, Steve Mischo, Don Mullenix, Kevin Thompson and Rick Schindler on camera to take any chances, and Elsinore Equinox safely carried the lead over the finishing line with a 13-pointer in round ten. Five other teams scored higher in this round, Elsinore Alloy on the top with 18 points for D-C-E-19, and Carolina Ice and Arizona Divewerkz both came closer. However, it was time for Equinox to celebrate the 3-point victory and the USPA gold medals with a 13.0 average.

The jump-off between Carolina Ice and Arizona Divewerkz in round ten ended up with a 1-point advantage for Pete Langehans, Richard Travis, John Patten, Joey Freeman and Karen Wood on camera, coached by Jan Lane. Arizona Divewerkz ended up in third place and only four points behind the gold medals. It surely was a great show by these three teams in the AA Class.

The NSL News will follow up with more AA Class coverage, including live scenes from Perris on NSL-TV.