posted Dec 29th, 2011 - The NSL News mentioned a few times that the AA/Intermediate Class competition at the USPA Nationals 2011 was at least just as exciting as the Advanced Class competition. In fact, the combined races for the top spots in those two categories, including two jumpoffs, created the most interesting USPA Nationals in the history of the current format. The bronze medal drama in Round 10 of the Open Class added even more to the exciting events.

This time, the NSL News takes a closer look at the top of the leaderboard in the Intermediate Class, which was more jammed after Round 10 than any other leaderboard.

A total of six teams were separated by only four points after Round 10, and the new NSL-TV videos of Round 2 and Round 10 give an idea how close those six teams actually were.

The NSL News picked the videos of two rounds where the same six teams were even closer to each other with their scores. Highscore for the round and lowest score were only two points different in Rounds 2 and 10, and there were more rounds where it was so close.

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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	AA/Intermediate Class	9,22	19,1	2,K,H	B,J,D,13	15,8	11,20	C,A,7	G,E,4	14,F,6	L,21,P	Q,N,O,M	Total	Avg
1	T Minus 01	11	10	16	14	9	11	15	9	11	14	24	120	12.0
1	Dallas Khaos XP	11	12	13	13	9	9	16	14	10	13	23	120	12.0
3	Dallas Pulse	13	11	15	14	11	10	7	14	10	14		119	11.9
4	Four Shizzle	13	11	14	12	8	9	17	11	8	13		116	11.6
4	Elsinore Legacy	10	11	13	13	11	9	12	13	11	13		116	11.6
4	Air Force Swag	9	11	12	11	10	10	18	11	12	12		116	11.6

The same six teams took turns posting the highscore for a round. Each of the six teams scored or shared at least once the highest number. Air Force SWAG did this very impressingly in the fast Round 7, then again in Round 9, and still ended up without a medal.

The situation was similar for NPSL team Four Shizzle (Round 1) and Elsinore Legacy (Round 5) who also ended up tied in 4th place at the end.

Dallas Pulse could have easily joined Dallas Khaos XP and TMinus1 for the jumpoff round or even won the gold medals.

Pulse was in 1st place until Round 6, three points ahead of TMinus1 and seven points ahead of Khaos. The devastating 7-pointer in Round 7 eliminated the lead and threw Pulse back into 5th place, five points behind the leader.

Pulse fought back and had regained a medal position after Round 10. It was still too late for more than the 3rd place. Dallas Khaos XP, who had finished behind Pulse at the Dallas Super Cup 2011, was one point ahead this time.

The Intermediate Class drama was not over with that. It became even more exciting than in the Advanced Class where Fallout and Start 4 had to break their tie in 2nd place with a jumpoff round. The jumpoff in the Intermediate Class was for the USPA gold medals since TMinus1 had caught up with Dallas Khaos XP in the last minute, after a similar collapse in Round 8.

The team duo from Dallas had taken turns holding the first place until Round 9, and TMinus1 eventually still outscored Pulse by a point and forced a jumpoff with the 14-pointer in Round 10.

The drama wanted it that the sequence for the jumpoff round was the fastest one of the meet with only random formations. The video shows that both teams did well and ended up separated by only one single point. Both Dallas teams won their first USPA medals after trying in 2010 where Pulse finished in 9th place (9.6 average) and Khaos in 4th place (10.4 average). TMinus1 had finished in 19th place with a 6.9 average last year and has to move up now. The 24.1 average at the New Hampshire Indoor Competition was the last call in the AA Class competition.