posted Oct 23rd, 2006 - Even the Airspeed Odyssey members may not have expected it to be so easy to move from a hopeless position after the first day to a place on the podium. The second day of the USPA Nationals 2006 was a completely different ball game for Andy Delk, Brian Johnson, Craig Girard, Eliana Rodriguez and Will Pesek on camera.

Odyssey picked up the pace, tied the total number of DeLand Groove's points on Monday and easily passed the Golden Knights on the way to the bronze medal position. Team Fastrax was still too far away and too strong. John Hart, Niklas Hemlin, Mark Kirkby, Doug Park and Steve Redinbo on camera allowed Odyssey to catch up by four points. However, Fastrax safely defended the silver medal position by ten points over Odyssey and posted a new record average of the 2006 season.

The winner of the second day by two points was the Russian team Black Cat. However, Vasily Korotkov, Alexander Kvochur, Alexey Minaev, Evegeny Stashenko and Vadim Niyazov on camera had to accept that one of the world class US teams was still four points ahead after ten rounds - DeLand Groove.

It is very difficult to understand how DeLand Groove managed to win this competition. It seemed to be impossible considering the circumstances. DeLand seems to produce team after team to stay on top of the 4-way competition world. Yes, Shannon Pilcher, Ian Bobo and Gary Smith are very well trained and experienced competitors, current world champions in fact.

However, they still had to work in Solly Williams as a new Point for Natasha Montgomery, and this line-up hardly trained at all. The Russian team Black Cat was there to set the standards for the current world class level, and Team Fastrax is a very well trained world class team, as well. Not to forget Airspeed Odyssey. DeLand Groove still managed to stay on top.

The NSL News will follow up later and try to find out what DeLand Groove's key to the success in Eloy was.

Cross Keys Vision 2nd, Perris Voltage 3rd

Arizona Divewerkz did not match the Open Class scores in the last round of the meet, as the team had done in all previous rounds. However, the victory by 21 points could not have been more convincing in the Advanced Class.

It got really close between Cross Keys Vision and Perris Voltage for the second place. The Perris team won the last three rounds of the competition, including round ten by one point, and Vision just carried a 1-point victory over the finishing line.

Close AA/Intermediate Class finish

The meet is over. All ten rounds have been completed in all three competition classes, and no jump-offs are necessary. The last open question was whether Air Force CAD would be able to win two points over Ranch Pulse and force a jump-off situation with the leader after nine rounds.

Ranch Pulse posted a 13-pointer, and the Air Force team received 11 points on the scoreboard, which secured the victory for the leader throughout the whole 10-round competition. However, Air Force CAD came closer to the jump-off situation than the scoreboard shows.

CAD actually completed 14 points within working time, as the scoresheet shows. This would still have been short by one point. The Air Force team needed the 15-pointer that Billy's Beauties posted as the highscore for the last round. Air Force CAD had to settle for the 2nd place and silver medals, and Ranch Pulse is USPA's mew Intermediate Class champion. Skydive Chicago's Furies take the bronze medals home.