posted Nov 24th, 2011 - The AAA/Open Class competition at the USPA Nationals 2011 included the female competition between three teams who tried to qualify as the US national team in this category for the 2012 season.

It was difficult to predict whether the SDC Furies XP or the Supersonic pickup team would be able to give the Golden Knights female lineup a run for the money or not. The US Army team had posted a 15.3 average at the World Cup 2011. Not bad, but the Furies had also finished with a 15.5 average at the June meet of the Midwest Skydiving Lreague and then added a 15.8 average in September. In fact, the Furies had a great progression this year (12.6 - 13.9 - 15.5 - 15.8) between the Shamrock Showdown 2011 in March and the MWSL meet in September.

USPA Nationals 2011		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	4way Women	M,5,13	21,14,22	12,20,D	11,Q,16	O,C,10,K	P,L,19,8	18,6,2	15,9,G	7,F,17	A,B,N,J,3	Total	Avg
10	Golden Knights	18	12 (-2)	15	18	19 (-1)	18	16	14 (-1)	21	23	174	17.4
15	SDC Furies XP	13 (-1)	11	12	16	7 (-2)	15	13	16	19	18	140	14.0
16	Supersonic	14	12	8 (-4)	14	16 (-1)	15	11 (-1)	11 (-1)	18	20	139	13.9

The performance and scoring level of Supersonic was even more unpredictable. The lineup (Annaliese Peterson, Rebecca Brocato, Kristina Peterson, Lara Eisenberg, Gordon Lindsay on camera) was very promising. Annie Peterson and Becky Brocato were on the Alpha Armada lineup that won the silver medals and $10,000 cash at the Dubai Championship 2011, together with Christy Frikken and Hannah Betts.

Kristina Peterson is not related to Annie Peterson, but she moved from Florida to California at the beginning of this year to train and compete with Perris Blitz, as the NSL News reported on 9 February 2011. Perris Blitz was supposed to become a full time farm team for Perris Fury that did not materialize at this point in time. Kris Peterson was also a member of the US national team that competed at the World Meet 2006 in Germany. Her team Select was tied in the bronze medal position with Russia and ended up in 4th place with a 14.6 average after breaking the tie with the IPC rules.

Lara Eisenberg was the 4th Supersonic member, and Gordon Lindsay was filming the team. The pickup team did not have much training before going into Round 1 at the USPA Nationals, and the scores after the first round would show whether there would be a chance for the two other contenders to get close to the Golden Knights or not.

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There was no chance. The female lineup of the Golden Knights had not rested between the World Cup and the USPA Nationals. The Golden Knights had not only continued with the training, they had also posted a 16.3 average at the August meet of the Carolina Skydiving League, which was still not the end, obviously.

The NSL News story on 3 November 2011 introduced the Golden Knights ladies more in detail and included the videos of the ten competition rounds, plus a live NSL Talk after the conclusion of the 4way competition in Eloy.

The 17.4 average was way too much for the Furies and Supersonic who could only focus on their own 2-way battle beginning after the scores of Round 1 were posted. The Golden Knights outscored Supersonic by four points and the Furies by five points in Round 1. This female competition was already over after it had just begun. Supersonic tied the Golden Knights once in Round 2, and the Furies even won Round 8. Other than that, the Golden Knights must have impressed the international competition in their category. New international scores from the indoor competition in Rosendaal and from Dubai will soon show what the Golden Knights scores at the USPA Nationals mean.