posted Sep 15th, 2010 - The 4-way and 8-way meets at the USPA Nationals 2010 are over, and there were no serious upsets or big surprises in the Open Class category, not even in the Advanced or Intermediate Class of both events. It was still remarkable in the 8-way Open Class that Perris Moxie ended up two points ahead of Dallas Rogue.

However, the USPA Nationals 2010 brought big changes on the very top of the leaderboards in both events. The 4-way and 8-way competition in the USA may look very different from here on.

The NSL News mentioned earlier that Arizona Airspeed will not continue with the same 4-way lineup. The ten rounds last weekend were the last ones after a 4-year commitment. It is wide open at the moment who will compete for Airspeed next year.

USPA Nationals 2010 - 4way Open Class: Arizona Airspeed

The leaving Airspeed lineup (Eliana Rodriguez, Craig Girard, Mark Kirkby, Andy Delk, Steve Nowak) competed at 19 outdoor and 7 indoor competitions between 2007 and 2010 and dominated the 4-way world for three years. The winning streak of 21 consecutive victories ended at the World Challenge 2010 where the French national 4-way team Aerodyne Cypres Maubeuge took over.

Both teams had an extremely thrilling re-match at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2010, and France won again. This lineup's departure opens the door for a new race for the 4-way top position in the USA. Perris Fury was far ahead of all other 4-way Open Class teams last weekend and becomes naturally the top contender for the top spot next year.

Another even longer lasting Airspeed era has come to an end. Airspeed's 8-way lineup lost the USPA Nationals for the first time since 1999, and it is very unlikely that there could be a comeback at any time soon.

Airspeed will most likely have a new highly competitive 4-way lineup next year, which will be in the mix for the top spots in 2011. However, the chances in 8-way are very slim for any other US team since the Golden Knights are planning to continue with the current lineup for a while.

The US Army team had dominated the 8-way competition in the USA and in the world for many years until 1997. Craig Girard then recruited an 8-way lineup for Arizona Airspeed, which defeated the Golden Knights at the USPA Nationals 1998 and has won each US title ever since, except in 1999. The US Army team will now take back the power position in 8-way and probably keep it for a while.

It has been relatively easy for Airspeed to win the USPA 8-way titles between 2001 and 2008. The Golden Knights gave up the 8-way event shortly after the defeat in 1998 and focused on 4-way competition. Airspeed trained and competed in both events until 2006, while the Golden Knights recruited their own 8-way lineups only for the USPA Nationals.

USPA Nationals 2010		Round1	Round2	Round3	Round4	Round5	Round6	Round7	Round8	Round9	Round10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open	P,1,J,A	K,13,4	9,O,2	D,20,17	15,B,L,3	E,10,Q,M	N,22,7	16,H,12	19,21,6	G,14,5	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	24	19	15	19	30	18	18	23	17	16	199	19.9
2	Arizona Airspeed	21	19	15	16	27	22	18	21	17	15	191	19.1
3	Paraclete XP8	16	16	12	17	25	16	18	18	12	13	163	16.3
4	Perris Moxie	14	13	10	11	13	13	12	15	11	10	122	12.2
5	Dallas Rogue	15	14	11	11	14	13	11	10	11	10	120	12.0
6	FIGJAM	11	11	9	10	11	12	11	13	11	9	108	10.8
7	Carolina Black Ice	12	10	9	8	10	9	10	8	9	9	94	9.4
8	Perris Cobra Kai	11	8	8	8	8	8	9	11	8	9	88	8.8
9	Perris Lunulata	5	7	3	6	6	7	7	3	5	5	54	5.4

There was one tougher national championship for Airspeed's 8-way lineup in 2004. That was another time when Airspeed recruited new lineups in both events and was not well prepared. The Golden Knights 8-way reunion lineup of 2004 still ended up in second place (160 - 167), and Airspeed got another 8-way title.

The Golden Knights had a strong showing in 2005, as well. However, the new Airspeed lineup was now in training and won by eight points (199 - 191). There was not much resistance by the US Army team in 2006, and Airspeed did not even need any training in 2007 and 2008 to win the USPA gold medals in 8-way.

Things changed in 2009 when the US Army launched a new 8-way project, with Brian "BK" Krause leading a mix of experienced competitors and new and young Golden Knights talent. Airspeed came back to the USPA Nationals 2009 with no training and a high-profile lineup, which was still able to fend off the first Golden Knights attack.

The same Airspeed lineup competed yesterday after another year without training and little jumping by some of the members (Dennis Rook - 2, Jack Jefferies - approx. 25 jumps). Airspeed was able to maintain scoring and performance level (19.6 in 2009 - 19.1 in 2010) and kept amazingly close to the Golden Knights. However, it was not enough to win at Skydive Chicago.

It is now an unusual situation for Arizona Airspeed. Chances are little to keep up with the Golden Knights in the near future, even if there were a new Airspeed 8-way lineup and some training. The new 4-way lineup still needs to be recruited and then move quickly to catch up with Perris Fury.

There has not been a USPA national championship competition since 1997 where Arizona Airspeed won neither the 4-way nor the 8-way gold medals, and there were quite a few in the same time period where Airspeed won both events. 2011 will be a challenging Airspeed year as of this record. Competition will be tough in both events.