posted Aug 1st, 2008 - The MASL Karp Cup 2008 last weekend was already the 7th time that Skydive Cross Keys hosted the memorial of the MidAtlantic Skydiving League for one of its 4-way competitors, Seth Karp, passed member of former 4-way team JetStream. Seth Karp lost his life in a landing accident in 2002.

MASL Director Cherie Schuch once again organized the event and welcomed this year's six attending teams. Blue Impulse and Beer by 4 competed in the AA Class. Blue Impulse (Kathy-Ann Cadogen, Marieta Kaseva, Dennis Miller, Michal Motykiewicz, Barry Bichler on camera) is a new lineup that trains at Cross Keys. Cherie Schuch said that the team has aspirations to attend the USPA Nationals in the near future.

She added that Beer by 4 is a returning team from last year's Karp Cup that did some training before the event. Blue Impulse took an early lead and gave up only Round 4 for the first place in the AA Class with a 6.0 average.

Three former members of Air Pollution, last year's USPA champions in the AA Class, individually coached and played with three of the four Rookie Class teams at the Karp Cup 2008: Night Vision (Cherie Schuch), Phantom (Karl Schuch), and Soy Sauce (Rob Fields).

Phantom took an early lead and posted the highest score for a single round with the 13-pointer in Round 4. However, the scores in rounds two and three threw Phantom back. Soy Sauce grabbed the lead in Round 2 and held it until the end of the meet. Phantom's 13-pointer in the last round was not enough to recapture the lead.

Night Vision had two freeflyers in the lineup and steadily improved during the meet, as player coach Cherie Schuch reported. The Rookie Class team won the bronze medal in this category. She added that Catch 22 was consistent and showed the best team spirit.

Former Air Pollution member Karl Schuch jumped, coached and judged the meet. Cherie Schuch jumped, coached and catered the dinner, along with Dennis and Rita Miller of Blue Impulse. Rita Miller also served as the event coordinator.

As every year, the day ended with a catered dinner, lots of raffle prizes, and a dropzone party. Sponsors of the event included Bev Suits, Paraclete XP, Sunrise Manufacturing, Sky Systems, Icarus, United Parachute Technologies, Rigging Adventures, Go-Wear, Square 3, Sky Leno, Aerodyne, SunPath, Bonehead, Performance Designs and other local businesses.

Karl & Cherie Schuch and Rob Fields had already formed a new AAA Class lineup for the 2008 season, as well. The AA Class champions of 2007 prepared with Wind Shear for the 2008 season when Szilard Kristof got injured at the end of June. The 3-way is still eager to move on and looks for a new member who can join the team that aims at a 14- to 15-point average level. Interested competitors can get in touch directly with Cherie Schuch.