posted Sep 24th, 2010 - The NSL News now continues with the review of the USPA Nationals 2010. The next CamScore competition videos have been uploaded and feature Arizona Airspeed and Perris Fury with Rounds 7 - 10.

Perris Fury did not challenge the defending USPA 4-way champions too seriously at this Airspeed lineup's last national championship. The distance was too much before the final four rounds came up, as Airspeed had mainly used the faster sequences to build a safe cushion in 1st place.

It was a painful competition for Airspeed's Craig Girard, as the NSL News reported live from Skydive Chicago on 10 September 2010. His elbow still does not look much better a few weeks after the 4-way competition. This photo is only a few days old and shows how serious the injury actually was.

USPA Nationals 2010		Round1	Round2	Round3	Round4	Round5	Round6	Round7	Round8	Round9	Round10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open Class	16,21,11	3,L,K,10	6,22,1	12,20,4	Q,M,2,N	H,D,9,G	19,5,13	F,E,17,O	C,8,7	A,18,14	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	21	23	15	15	32	42	23	40	25	19	255	25.5
2	Perris Fury	21	22	18	16	25	38	22	36	23	20	241	24.1

It did not help Perris Fury much that the judges often interfered with Fury's scoring goals. Three points were deducted in the fast Round 5, an additional point in Round 6, and the damage continued in Round 8 (-2), Round 9 (-1) and Round 10 (-1).

Some of the deductions were very unfortunate, others were questionable. One of the unfortunate situations was in Round 9 when the judges explained the infringement with "no simultaneous separation". Center Inside Chris Farina breaks the exit formation, a Murphy Flake (C), clearly and Tail Uli Steuwe picks up the key a fraction of a second later, naturally. He also shows a clear break, while all other team members are also off the grips at the same time.

Unfortunately, the video doesn't clearly show all released grips at the same time. Bad luck, and the first Canadian T of Block 8 did not count as a scoring formation.

USPA Nationals 2010 - Rounds 7 to 10 of Arizona Airspeed and Perris Fury

Arizona Airspeed won again, and Perris Fury ended up behind again. However, the Perris team is far from being discouraged. In fact, the plans for the 2011 season are in the works, and Fury will surely be aiming at the top spot.

It will never be a walk in the park, and next year's USPA Nationals, this time the qualifyer for the World Meet 2012, will most likely see a new and strong Airspeed lineup, while other teams will also move up to the top 4-way level in the USA.

Perris Fury will still be the top contender in 2011 if nothing gets in the way. The consistent progression has also continued for Fury this year, as in all previous years since 2005 and as the numbers show.

The most telling number is the season average, which considers all meets that a team attends during a competition season. Perris Fury has lifted the season average year by year (15.6 - 19.9 - 20.6 - 21.3 - 22.2 - 22.9) since this lineup was formed in 2005.

The Fury numbers do not include the indoor meets, like the World Challenge at Bodyflight Bedford, where Fury has performed even better than at outdoor events. It also becomes more challenging to improve the scoring level once it is on world class level. Airspeed has been the best example in the past three years.

Fury's numbers speak their own language and are one reason why the Perris team keeps going. One component is missing so far, which was on Airspeed's side since 2007. Perris Fury still has to learn and then get used to winning a major competition. The 2011 season will offer the next and new opportunities.