posted Oct 31st, 2011 - The scores of Round 5 changed the situation in the Open Class competition at the USPA Nationals 2011. Perris Fury, Paraclete XP4 and Golden Knights Gold broke their earlier ties and have separated from each other. Perris Fury tied Arizona Airspeed's highscore for the round and moved two points closer to SDC Rhythm XP. The meet is far from over as of the race for the silver and bronze medals. In fact, it has probably just begun...

The NSL News took a closer look at the Advanced Class leaderboard, which requires special attention to understand the rankings. Several guest teams are not eligible for USPA medals, and they happen to be crowding the top of the Advanced Class leaderboard.

Both teams in 1st and 2nd place after Round 5 are guest teams. That is obvious for the Qatar Tigers who seem to get stronger round by round. Perris Air Rush in 2nd place has player coach Hannah Betts and Andre van Heerden in the lineup who is not eligible for USPA medals. Fallout is actually the current leader after a relatively slow start, followed by Start 4.

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The NSL News visited the Start Skydiving team yesterday, as the team was expected to be in contention for Advanced Class medals. The surprise visit and conversation was short and before the competition began. The NSL News went back today and got some more feedback from the team.

Start 4 was preparing for the next competition round while the teams from Qatar were working with coach Solly Williams at the same time and right next to Start 4. The NSL News used the opportunity to ask Solly Williams a few questions, as well.

The Qatar Falcons and Dubai Red are also in the top mix of the Advanced Class competition, and Spaceland Lite is actually the US team in bronze medal position, holding the 7th place at the overall leaderboard. The scores of Round 6 are almost complete and did not change much of the Advanced Class situation.