posted Dec 28th, 2011 - The NSL News gave the Advanced Class competition at the USPA Nationals 2011 some attention during the event and followed up with the recent article of the history of this USPA category. However, the race for the USPA Advanced Class medals was so close and exciting that it is about time to go back to the leaderboard with a total of 19 teams.

Before doing that and enjoying the videos of the two teams who went into a jumpoff round to break the tie after Round 10 there is also additional interesting information related to the article that covered the history of USPA's Advanced Class. The NSL News mentioned Frost as the first team coming back into the Open Class competition (2002) after winning Advanced Class gold medals (1999).

Frost actually went the other way around, as well, and even earlier. The team competed with Carlos Curti, Sally Lawrence, Ron Hill and Niklas Gummeson in the Open Class at the USPA Nationals 1998. USPA introduced the Advanced Class in its current format in 1999 and allowed previous Open Class teams to sign up. Frost, with Bob Healy for Ron Hill, used the opportunity and won the first Advanced Class gold medals before moving back up into the Open Class.

USPA Nationals 2011		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	JO	Total	Avg
Rank	Advanced Class	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	H,1,E,4	Total	Avg
1	Qatar Tigers	13	13	12	14	14	13	12	15	18	16		140	14.0
2	Perris Air Rush	13	11	12	12	14	15	12	14	16	17		136	13.6
3	Spaceland Lite	14	12	11	11	14	12	13	14	16	14		131	13.1
4	Start 4	13	11	10	12	12	13	13	15	15	16	14	130	13.0
4	Qatar Falcons	12	8	11	13	14	14	11	15	16	16		130	13.0
4	Fallout	12	11	10	14	13	14	11	13	16	16	12	130	13.0

The Advanced Class situation in 1999 was actually quite similar to this year's leaderboard. Two guest teams (Optic Nerve, Elsinore Alpha) were in 1st and 2nd place. Frost was 3rd on the leaderboard but won the USPA gold medals. This year, Spaceland Lite was also in 3rd place, behind Qatar Tigers and Perris Air Rush, and won the USPA gold medals.

Another guest team, Qatar Falcons with German player coach Max Thiele, was also in the mix on the top of the Advanced Class leaderboard. However, the three eligible US teams showcased 4way competition at its best and featured the most exciting competition of the whole USPA Nationals 2011, together with the fellow teams on the top of the Intermediate Class leaderboard.

Spaceland Lite had the best start, won the first three rounds with sole highscores for each round over the closest rivals and seemed to be hard to beat. However, Round 4 changed the picture when Fallout and Start 4 both outscored the USPA leader.

It became really exciting when the videos of Round 10 were judged. Start 4 and Fallout were already tied in 2nd place after Round 9 and matched their scores again in Round 10. It was clear by then that there would be a jumpoff for some USPA medals. 'Which ones' was the only open question.

Spaceland Lite had a 3-point lead going into Round 10, and the lead dwindled in the last round of the meet. The Advanced Class winner eventually saved a 1-point lead over the finish line and did not have to go up again for the jumpoff Round 11. The gold medals were secured, while Start 4 and Fallout had more work to do.

The new video clip includes the jumpoff round at the end. Start 4 won by two points, and Fallout ended up closer than ever before to the very top of the Advanced Class leaderboard. Fallout is one of the weekend teams who have been trying to win this category several times. Guest status in 2007, 6th place in 2008, silver medals in 2009 and 2010 have been the previous results. This year it was closer than ever for Fallout - one single point...