posted Oct 29th, 2011 - The NSL News has now moved to Eloy, Arizona, where the live coverage of the USPA Nationals 2011 will begin later today after setting up the work station at Skydive Arizona. There are several visiting international teams that the NSL News will introduce soon.

The latest poll results are showing a different picture, as the three top contenders for the silver medal position (Paraclete XP4, Perris Fury, Golden Knights) have moved closer to each other. XP4 had this slot without much competition for a while, but Perris Fury and Golden Knights have caught up recently. SDC Rhythm XP is still in the underdog position.

The NSL News reviewed the leaderboard of the USPA Nationals 2010 one more time where the same five teams were in the Top 5 rankings. The audience is expecting a different leaderboard this year where XP4 would move from 4th to 2nd while the other three teams would keep the same order.

USPA Nationals 2010		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	16,21,11	3,L,K,10	6,22,1	12,20,4	Q,M,2,N	H,D,9,G	19,5,13	F,E,17,O	C,8,7	A,18,14	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	21	23	15	15	32	42	23	40	25	19	255	25.5
2	Perris Fury	21	22	18	16	25	38	22	36	23	20	241	24.1
3	Golden Knights Gold	17	21	17	15	27	32	18	33	22	18	220	22.0
4	Paraclete XP4	18	20	15	15	26	28	20	29	22	19	212	21.2
5	SDC Rhythm XP	17	19	16	15	23	30	19	32	20	14	205	20.5

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All five top teams were quite clearly separated from each other after last year's Round 10. However, the same teams actually battled harder than the final leaderboard indicates. There was only one single round (Round 2) where the five teams scored in the exact order of the final rankings. It was a consistent exchange of blows round by round. The new NSL-TV video features the videos of last year's Round 2.

The NSL News also tried to find one round at the USPA Nationals 2010 that would have the Top 5 ranking order as the audience expects it this year. There was none. Round 5 came the closest when XP4 outscored Perris Fury for the first and last time in the meet. It was still not identical with the expected order for this year since the Golden Knights had the second highest score in Round 5.

It seems like things will really be different this year, and a very exciting competition is waiting. However, nothing seems to be different at the very top of the leaderboard. Airspeed was far ahead in 2010, even after giving away three rounds, and the audience does not give any other teams the slightest chance for the 1st place this year.

There is another challenging pursuit waiting for the teams behind the Top 5. Mass Defiance still owns the 19.3 record average for the best unofficial weekend/amateur team in the USA. There are a few lineups that may have this benchmark in the back of the team mind. The NSL News mentioned one of those teams, with Katie Woods and Ari Perelman in the lineup.

They will have have a team in the field that could help pushing them beyond the 19.3 goal. Performance Desired has a comeback in Eloy, which will also be the competitive comeback for Shannon Pilcher after a long break to recover from his accident. Dan BC, Jack Jefferies and Shannon Pilcher posted a 20.2 average with Ian Bobo at the USPA Nationals 2008.

Ian Bobo is in Katie Woods' and Ari Perelman's lineup, together with former Genesis/PD Blue team mate Kyle Collins, and cannot make it exactly the same Performance Desired lineup as in 2008. The 3-way had no problem finding an adequate member. Airspeed 4way world champion of 2008, Andy Delk, will fill the open slot.

USPA Nationals 2011 - 4way Open
Who will be in the three medal positions this year?	Arizona Airspeed Perris Fury Golden Knights Paraclete XP4 SDC Rhythm XP
	Current Results