posted Sep 29th, 2010 - The NSL News story on 12 September 2010 came live from the USPA Nationals 2010 and included the videos of three teams and their first three rounds. The storyline was the competition for the USPA bronze medals, and the featured teams were the Golden Knights Gold, Paraclete XP4 and SDC Rhythm XP.

The NSL News now follows up with the next three rounds of the same three teams. The storyline is the same as it was still a competition for the bronze medals after six rounds. The final results saw the Golden Knights Gold team eight points ahead in 3rd place, however, the race was still open enough after Round 6.

Especially SDC Rhythm XP kept hanging on to Paraclete XP4 round by round and had actually won two of the six rounds in this duel. Those two teams have had a special relationship since XP4 member Kirk Verner has been coaching Rhythm for a long time. Rhythm had also tied the Golden Knights scores in two rounds.

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
3	Golden Knights Gold	17	21	17	15	27	32	-	-	-	-	129	21.5
4	Paraclete XP4	18	20	15	15	26	28	-	-	-	-	122	20.3
5	SDC Rhythm XP	17	19	16	15	23	30	-	-	-	-	120	20.0

The NSL News had expected a 2-team race for the bronze medals between XP4 and Rhythm, as the NSL News preview of the competition on 9 September 2010 explained:

"There could be an interesting competition for the USPA bronze medals in the 4-way Open Class beginning this weekend. The spot might be open for at least two teams depending on how strongly Paraclete XP4 will perform. XP4 member Kirk Verner will have to fend off the team that he has been coaching all year long. SDC Rhythm XP is probably ready to challenge their coach on home turf."

The Golden Knights were not a factor at that point in time since the NSL News assumed that the US Army team's 4-way lineups would be the same as they were at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2010. This surely changed when team captain Brian "BK" Krause informed the NSL News that the lineups would be different at the USPA Nationals 2010.

USPA Nationals 2010 - Open: Rounds 4 to 6 of the bronze medal contenders

The Golden Knights lineups at the Shamrock Showdown were each a combination of experience and new talent, and the Gold lineup (Justin Blewitt, Josh Coleman, Brian "BK" Krause, Sean Sweeney, with Ike Eitniear on camera) posted a 15.9 average. The Golden Knights were only focused on 8-way at that time, as the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2010 was the main goal.

The situation was different at the USPA Nationals. The season was pretty much over, and mixing the lineups with the dynamics for the World Meet in mind was not so important any longer. The Golden Knights still had to beat Arizona Airspeed in 8-way, but the results in the 4-way event would not mean too much. It was a time to play for the US Army team members.

The Golden Knights decided to put together the strongest 4-way lineup (Matt Davidson, Kurt Isenbarger, Brian "BK" Krause, Sean Sweeney, with William Fleming on camera), which instantly changed the situation in the competition for the bronze medals.

This lineup would probably be strong enough to challenge the 4-way experts on the very top of the leaderboard with enough training. However, the Golden Knights Gold team still had to work hard to win the bronze medals this year.

The competition between XP4 and Rhythm could have been the race for the bronze medals and had now turned into a duel for the 4th place. The Golden Knights were too far ahead after Round 6. Realistically, only a serious meltdown could have brought XP4 and Rhythm back in striking distance, and the experience level of this Golden Knights lineup made a serious meltdown very unlikely.

It was still a great competition for XP4 and Rhythm. The home team was standing exactly at a 20-point average after six rounds and kept up with XP4. The upcoming rounds promised to end up above the 20-point average level, which was one of the main Rhythm goals. The next CamScore videos will be uploaded soon.