posted Jul 2nd, 2019 - The missing U.S. duel between Arizona Airspeed and SDC Rhythm XP at the Paraclete XP Summer Classic was compensated for by the interesting situation behind the two 4-way AAA/Open Class top teams in Raeford, Golden Knights and Ranch 2nd Generation, as the NSL News explained on June 25th.

The AA Class leaderboard offered additional interesting topics, which are related to this year's USPA Nationals, as well. The AA Class scores at the Paraclete XP Summer Classic provided another preview of the Intermediate Class competition at the national championships in September at the same place.

The NSL News had introduced Platinum XP and the team history on 18 November 2018, after winning the AA Class gold medals at the NSL Ultimate 4-way Championship 2018. The story pointed out that the team would be one of the top contenders for USPA medals in the Intermediate Class this year if they came back in the same category.

It is a fact now that Platinum XP compete again in the AA/Intermediate Class and that the team is aiming at the top spot after the dominating performance at the Paraclete XP Summer Classic. The 13.4 average in Raeford is a new team record average, and it is on medal level three months before the USPA Nationals.

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Paraclete XP Summer Classic 2019		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class	2,E,15	P,L,A,20	13,1	11,G,19	9,22	K,H,21	7,O,14	F,N,M,J	B,6,4	8,C,Q	Total	Avg
1	Platinum XP	10	14	12	11	11	11	12	27	14	12	134	13.4
2	Tail Spin	11	12	11	9	10	11	12	24	8	10	118	11.8
3	STF Precision	9	10	10	9	10	13	10	22	10	10	113	11.3
4	SCZ ZEUS Lite	7	13	10	6	9	12	11	21	9	10	108	10.8
5	Stockholm Syndrome	9	9	9	9	11	11	10	19	11	6	104	10.4
6	inXPerience	6	6	6	5	5	10	5	15	7	7	72	7.2
7	Burble Me Softly	6	7	5	6	5	9	6	14	6	7	71	7.1
8	Chemtrails	7	6	6	5	7	8	6	15	7	3	70	7.0

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Platinum XP had finished right behind the medal positions at last year's USPA Nationals. They missed the jump-off for bronze medals between Hands Free and Cali4nia Kids by three points and took the 5th place with the 11.9 average.

Team founder Don Hurd, Matthias Kaminski and Jason Adams then competed with Airspeed's Niklas Hemlin at the indoor part of the NSL Ultimate 4-way Championship, and Ari Perelman replaced Jason Adams who could not attend the outdoor competition. Platinum's outdoor lineup finished with a 12.6 average at Skydive City in Z-Hills.

Don Hurd, Matthias Kaminski and Jason Adams made new plans for the 2019 season and hired player-coach John D'Annunzio to fill the open slot for the year. The complete new lineup then won the AA Class competition at this year's Paraclete XP Indoor Championship with a 16.8 average.

John D'Annunzio was not available for the Paraclete XP Summer Classic, and his 8-way team mate Jeana Billings took the slot for the ten rounds at Skydive Paraclete XP. In fact, it became a 20-round weekend for Ranch 2nd Generation member Jeana Billings, who also competed with her own team.

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USPA Nationals 2018		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class	15,7	A,E,Q,M	11,9	1,22	J,P,F,8	2,20	13,O,K	B,D,6	4,G,14	21,N,19	C,L,H,18	Total	Avg
1	TSC Cadence	11	23	14	10	19	11	13	17	8	12	-	138	13.8
2	SDC RhEvolution XP	13	22	11	11	15	12	14	16	12	11	-	137	13.7
3	SDMW X	10	26	12	9	20	11	11	13	11	9	-	132	13.2
4	Hands Free	11	22	13	11	16	6	9	13	10	11	14	122	12.2
5	Cali4nia Kids	11	21	9	10	15	11	10	14	11	10	12	122	12.2
6	Platinum XP	10	20	12	9	14	9	10	15	10	10	-	119	11.9
7	The Mostly Asians	9	17	12	9	13	10	10	15	10	9	-	114	11.4
8	Carolina Ice XP	9	18	12	8	13	9	9	15	9	11	-	113	11.3
9	Spaceland Toxic	9	19	9	8	14	10	7	13	8	9	-	106	10.6
10	TSC Off Cadence	9	14	10	9	13	10	7	10	7	8	-	97	9.7
11	Get Schwifty!	7	16	9	6	12	9	9	11	8	9	-	96	9.6
12	USAF Wings of Blue	8	17	9	9	13	8	6	10	6	9	-	95	9.5
12	4Tune	9	16	10	6	10	7	9	10	9	9	-	95	9.5
14	Tail Spin	9	17	4	8	11	8	8	13	9	7	-	94	9.4
15	Midair Collusion	5	15	9	7	14	9	8	12	5	8	-	92	9.2
15	DMS Freakz on Couches	9	16	10	8	5	9	9	9	9	8	-	92	9.2
17	Symmetric Smash	8	16	6	6	7	7	7	13	6	7	-	83	8.3
18	HypeXP	7	16	9	3	10	6	7	9	6	5	-	78	7.8
19	SDC Kaboom	8	14	7	3	9	7	4	10	7	6	-	75	7.5
20	Toxic Heveh	5	11	8	8	9	7	6	7	5	8	-	74	7.4
21	Spaceland Toxic Envy	6	10	8	6	10	6	6	8	6	6	-	72	7.2
22	CSC Phrasing	8	9	8	7	9	5	6	7	4	6	-	69	6.9
23	Airigami	5	12	5	7	9	4	2	9	6	5	-	64	6.4
24	SPX Proximity	5	11	7	5	9	6	5	3	6	5	-	62	6.2
25	JJ & The Vets	5	10	5	6	9	4	5	8	3	5	-	60	6.0
26	Mextreme	5	6	7	2	7	4	7	10	6	4	-	58	5.8
27	Help Help Me Rhonda	4	5	6	4	7	6	5	7	6	6	-	56	5.6
28	5280 Flyers	4	8	4	4	6	7	4	7	5	6	-	55	5.5
29	Groundwork	4	3	0	6	10	4	4	7	6	7	-	51	5.1
30	Carolina Relative Humility XP	4	6	3	5	6	5	4	7	3	6	-	49	4.9
31	Deuces Volatus	5	8	3	5	6	2	5	7	3	4	-	48	4.8
32	Freefall Alchemy	5	4	3	2	8	5	5	5	3	4	-	44	4.4

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Jeana Billings went through the ten AAA Class sequences with R2G, and she was backing up each jump with her own team in the next Twin Otter load as the player-coach for Platinum XP. Result of the situation was the first 13+ outdoor average (13.4) for Platinum XP and the confirmation that the 2019 lineup is a top contender for USPA Intermediate Class medals.

John D'Annunzio will be back in the lineup for more training and the competition on home turf in September.

There was another AA/Intermediate Class team in Raeford moving quietly and steadily up onto the medal contention level. Tail Spin had not posted a 10+ average in the team's three years with scoring numbers in the NSL database. Team members Randy Garman and Dan Winkelstein both helped to keep the Carolina Skydiving League going for several years. Now they have been training and competing with the same Tail Spin lineup for three years and finished with 11.8 at the Summer Classic.

Platinum XP took the 5th place with 11.9 at the USPA Nationals last year. Tail Spin surely is not very far away from this scoring level...