posted Aug 26th, 2010 - The NSL News story on 13 August 2010 was a review of the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2010 from the Norwegian perspective. It included the competition videos of the two Norwegian national teams that competed in Menzelinsk, Russia: X3M4S Elements in the Open Class and Polaris in the female 4-way category.

The same story also included a short preview of this year's Norwegian national championships where both teams would be facing each other once again. X3M4S Elements had won the first indirect meet between the two teams by four points in Menzelinsk.

The Norwegian national teams would also have to be ready to interfere with the annual reunion of the DeLand Norgies who announced their attendance earlier this year. The Norgies have been celebrating their reunion at the national championships ever since the former national team (Lise Nansen, Pal Kolbenstvedt, Torstein Valen, Carl-Erik Tuv) retired at the end of the 2003 season.

The original Norgies lineup won each national 4-way title between 1997 and 2006, with one exception in 2005 when the team did not attend. The new national 4-way team after the Norgies' retirement, Arcteryx, eventually stopped this winning series in 2007 and also beat the Norgies in 2008 and 2009.

However, Arcteryx retired after the World Meet 2008 in Maubeuge, had its own reunion in 2009 and did not come back to compete at the national championships this year. The door was open again for the DeLand Norgies to win another 4-way title at the 2010 reunion.

The Norwegian Nationals 2010 were held a week after the national teams returned from the world meet in Menzelinsk, and the Norgies were ready to have a good time and steal the next set of national gold medals.

Norwegian Nationals 2010		Round1	Round2	Round3	Round4	Round5	Round6	Round7	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	13,4,16	M,19,O,E	B,D,3,L	12,Q,18	5,14,K	G,8,H,22	7,11,J	Total	Avg
1	DeLand Norgies	16	25	23	16	18	18	20	136	19.4
2	Polaris	13	19	16	14	13	12	17	104	14.9
3	X3M4S Elements	13	21	13	11	13	11	16	98	14.0
4	Agnars	7	6	5	4	6	6	7	41	5.9
Rank	A Class	6,8	B,19	4,L	M,7	J,D,21	H,2	C,N,A	Total	Avg
1	Kentøkki Fraijd Pengvins	11	14	10	16	11	14	21	97	13.9
2	Engleflass	10	12	11	17	13	14	19	96	13.7
3	M.O.I.S.T	8	11	7	13	5	9	11	64	9.1
4	Avastars	7	8	7	12	10	8	11	63	9.0
5	Golden Lockpins	4	5	5	8	6	7	6	41	5.9
6	Team Gratis	5	4	2	9	4	4	3	31	4.4

The Norwegian leaderboard does not only show how well the DeLand Norgies performed at this year's reunion. It also features a reversed situation between the two Norwegian national teams compared to the world meet. This time, the female Polaris lineup held down the Open Class team by six points (104 - 98).

Both national teams had no chance to keep up with the Norgies. This situation is not new in Norway. It has become a tradition that the only Norwegian medalists (bronze in 1999, 2001 and 2003) are challenging the newly selected national lineups.

The first Arcteryx lineup of 2004 had no chance (16.3 - 21.5) when the Norgies had their first reunion after officially retiring in 2003. However, Arcteryx eventually beat the Norgies (20.5 - 19.6) at the Norwegian Nationals 2007, then again in 2008 (21.4 - 19.1) and one more time at the 1-round Arctery and Norgies reunion of 2009 (19 - 17).

Those defeats did not bother the Norgies and did not stop their annual reunion. They have been coming back year after year, and the scores still position them in the top spots of the international leaderboards. At the same time, they are a serious target for the new national lineups, and they are also role models in Norway.

Point Pal Kolbenstvedt made his 10,000th jump at this year's national championship and won his 32nd national gold medal. He was also Norway's longest standing international competitor, with 13 consecutive years in 4-way and 8-way. He attended a World Championship of Formation Skydiving for the first time as the alternate in 1991 and won his last bronze medal in 2003.

The Norgies members still enjoy 4-way competition as much as they have always. There is no performance pressure any longer and even more time to socialize and have fun. This year's national championship was not even the first meet for three of the Norgies. Lise Nansen, Pal Kolbenstvedt and Torstein Valen competed with Lise's husband Nikolai Nansen for the Norgies 40 at the World Challenge 2010.

Norway's new national teams have at least two more years to copy what Arcteryx eventually achieved. The 3-year plan for both teams is at the end of the first season, and the DeLand Norgies won the first battle.

X3M4S Elements and Polaris will now begin to work on one of their challenges and get as close as possible to the DeLand Norgies next year. Both Norwegian national teams also start at a very similar scoring level, which will make the road to the World Meet 2012 in Italy even more exciting.

The next direct confrontation with the DeLand Norgies may come earlier than usual. The Norgies are working on a plan to attend the Shamrock Showdown 2011 in DeLand. This would surely be a great addition to the 2010 season opener.