posted Nov 17th, 2021 - The NSL News mentioned yesterday that the Intermediate Class competition at the USPA Nationals 2021 was the closest one in the history of this category, with a 1-point difference between Kaos Theory XP and Dallas Dynasty, and a jump-off extra round between Air Force Atlas and SDC Rhebellion XP for the bronze medals.

It was the combination of these two special situations on the top of the leaderboard that made it so unique. The same story also mentioned that the Intermediate Class leaderboards at USPA Nationals have featured jump-off extra rounds for USPA medals quite regularly.

The closest finish between all three medal winners happened in 2011, when TMinus01 and Dallas Khaos XP were tied in 1st place after Round 10. Dallas Khaos XP's team name was not related in any way to this year's winner Kaos Theory XP.

The leaderboard after Round 10 almost created a jump-off between three teams, as Dallas Pulse was only one single point behind the 1st place. A 3-team jump-off for USPA gold medals would have been a completely unique situation in the history of the national championships.

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USPA Nationals 2011		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Intermediate	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
2	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
7	TSC Ultra XP	8	10	13	13	9	9	14	10	9	13	-	108	10.8
8	Fourcast	11	6	10	13	7	9	15	12	11	12	-	106	10.6
9	Tenacity	11	9	12	6	10	9	12	10	8	12	-	99	9.9
9	Air Force Intrepid	11	10	13	8	4	7	15	9	8	14	-	99	9.9
11	Uprising	9	10	8	11	8	8	10	10	8	12	-	94	9.4
12	Cold Fusion	10	7	8	9	7	7	11	10	8	10	-	87	8.7
13	Monster Bingo	7	5	11	10	7	8	11	11	9	5	-	84	8.4
14	SDLI Fast Break	7	7	11	8	5	7	10	9	9	9	-	82	8.2
15	TSC Vertigo	7	8	10	8	7	7	9	10	6	7	-	79	7.9
16	Eloy Firestorm	5	10	9	8	7	7	9	8	6	9	-	78	7.8
17	Casual Secks	7	7	7	9	6	5	9	8	6	8	-	72	7.2
18	SDC Jetstream Tango	8	4	7	8	5	4	10	9	6	9	-	70	7.0
18	Pervergence	7	6	9	7	5	4	9	8	7	8	-	70	7.0
18	Perris Raaj	6	7	9	8	7	5	8	5	6	9	-	70	7.0
21	Relativity	7	6	8	4	5	4	12	7	9	7	-	69	6.9
22	Hawks	8	6	8	7	6	4	8	7	6	6	-	66	6.6
23	Point Taken	6	6	8	6	5	5	8	7	6	7	-	64	6.4
24	AZ Overruled	7	6	6	6	5	4	9	4	6	7	-	60	6.0
24	Air Apparent	7	7	5	6	6	6	6	4	7	6	-	60	6.0
26	Princess and the Frogs	6	7	7	6	5	5	8	5	6	3	-	58	5.8
26	Get a Grip	6	4	8	7	5	6	8	7	3	4	-	58	5.8
28	Angry Birds	3	0	6	7	5	4	6	6	6	4	-	47	4.7
29	Last Minute	7	3	5	6	1	2	5	3	6	4	-	42	4.2
30	Fourplay	0	2	2	4	4	1	7	5	5	5	-	35	3.5

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Intermediate Class competition at the USPA Nationals 2011

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There was even another a 3-team tie right behind the medal positions. Four Shizzle, Elsinore Legacy and the year's strongest Air Force team Swag all finished just three points behind the bronze medal position. However, the USPA rules require a jump-off only when teams are tied for a medal position.

The 4-point difference between the 6th place and the gold medal position was still the closest finish in any USPA category ever. The total number of 30 Intermediate Class teams at Skydive Arizona in 2011 also matched the AAA combination of teams in 4-way Open and 4-way Advanced, disregarding the guest teams.

The first jump-off in the Intermediate Class happened in the event's second year. 32 teams competed at Skydive Perris in 2000 and had only six rounds on their competition agenda. USPA increased the number of rounds in the Intermediate Class to ten in 2002.

DeLand Tunnel Rage, with future 4-way and 8-way world champions Eliana Rodriguez and Thomas Hughes in the lineup, ran away from the field, and guest team Blaze could not win USPA medals. Focus 4 and Dallas 4-Quest needed an extra round to break the tie for 2nd place.

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USPA Nationals 2000		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Intermediate	9,7	6,F	Q,A,K	21,O	J,2	D,P,20	TBD	Total	Avg
1	DeLand Tunnel Rage	15	15	22	12	13	15	-	92	15.3
G	Blaze	15	15	15	13	10	13	-	81	13.5
2	Focus 4	13	13	16	11	11	11	27	75	12.5
3	Dallas 4-Quest	15	14	20	4	10	12	26	75	12.5
4	Vertex	11	9	18	7	10	10	-	65	10.8
5	Loki	11	7	14	11	11	10	-	64	10.7
5	Float'n Otis	10	12	13	11	8	10	-	64	10.7
7	Sirens	12	10	10	8	11	11	-	62	10.3
7	Crosskeys 4	11	10	14	8	8	11	-	62	10.3
9	Pepperell Event Horizon	11	10	10	9	11	10	-	61	10.2
9	Hinckley Defcon 4	10	10	11	9	11	10	-	61	10.2
11	Sintrifugal Force	11	11	10	10	9	7	-	58	9.7
G	Boondock Saints	11	11	9	8	10	8	-	57	9.5
12	Air Buddha	11	8	11	9	7	11	-	57	9.5
13	Checkpoint	6	10	13	9	9	8	-	55	9.2
13	Wings Of Blue	11	13	8	10	7	6	-	55	9.2
15	Minimum 60	6	8	12	10	9	9	-	54	9.0
15	Formula 4	6	8	12	7	10	11	-	54	9.0
15	Flashpoint	10	11	6	9	8	10	-	54	9.0
18	Da Vinci's Dream	9	10	11	6	9	8	-	53	8.8
G	Foreigners	11	0	13	9	8	11	-	52	8.7
19	Kokomo	10	10	8	7	7	9	-	51	8.5
19	Ground Zero	10	9	9	6	8	9	-	51	8.5
21	Arizona Fusion	9	10	9	7	6	8	-	49	8.2
22	Pepperell Expedition	6	11	8	7	8	7	-	47	7.8
22	B & B 2000	6	11	8	7	8	7	-	47	7.8
24	Perris 2000	6	10	7	6	9	7	-	45	7.5
G	Burning Daylight	10	10	7	9	8	1	-	45	7.5
25	Elsinore 4 Quest	9	6	10	5	7	7	-	44	7.3
26	Mark-4	5	8	8	7	6	5	-	39	6.5
27	Un4given	3	9	8	7	6	4	-	37	6.2
28	Hot & Nasty	3	6	7	4	6	5	-	31	5.2

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The always amazing number of participating teams in the Intermediate Class at USPA Nationals brings teams close to each other naturally on the whole leaderboard. There were nine additional ties on the 2000 leaderboard, and hardly any position did not feature a competitive 6-round meet.

The above mentioned Intermediate Class competition of 2011 had 14 of the 30 teams involved in a battle for the higher position throughout the 10-round meet, with or without a jump-off extra round.

The next tie-breaking extra round in the Intermediate Class was needed in 2007. Only 27 teams competed in the Intermediate Class. However, Cross Keys Air Pollution and another Air Force team, Ascent, were tied in 1st place after Round 10. The civilian team won the extra round by two points. They were one of six teams tied in any of the positions on the Intermediate Class leaderboard. Ten other teams were separated by one single point.

This year's 10-round competition of 26 U.S. teams in the Intermediate Class had 14 teams in a tie after Round 10, and one of them needed a tie-breaker for the USPA bronze medal position.