posted Jun 3rd, 2012 - The first test for a new German lineup with former members of the national teams in 4way and 8way was up at the Northern German Championships this weekend in Kassel-Calden. The seven teams completed nine rounds in the AAA Class and eight rounds in the A Class and the Rookie Class, which both have slightly different dive pools.

Gamma Ray Kassel consists of three former X-Ray Remscheid members (Steffen Schiedeck, Uli Sehrbrock, Henning Stumpp) and Petra Bärenfänger, who trained and competed with the Chicas. The three former X-Ray members were all members of earlier German 8way lineups at World Meets and World Cups, and the Chicas represented Germany at several international meets in the female 4way category.

Henning Stumpp was still in the German 8way lineup at the World Cup 2011 before he married Petra Baerenfaenger and both decided to train and compete together in a new lineup.

Germany June 2012		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Round 9	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	N,13,A,17	22,16,F	C,9,8	20,12,10	6,11,G	E,L,15,21	O,P,18,3	4,5,H	B,K,19,2	Total	Avg
1	Gamma Ray Kassel	11	11	19	12	13	13	12	16	16	123	13.7
2	Usual Suspects	11	13	17	11	14	14	14	12	15	121	13.4
3	Timber Hassfurt	7	10	12	9	10	8	9	10	11	86	9.6
4	Black Moon	10	9	10	5	10	10	7	8	11	80	8.9
Rank	A Class	N,A,8	F,G,2	C,9	21,7	6,Q	E,L,N	O,P,A	4,H	B,K,19	Total	Avg
1	Paradox	10	9	9	7	9	12	10	9	-	75	9.4
2	Quo Volatis	2	7	7	7	2	7	3	4	-	39	4.9
Rank	Rookie	N,A,O	F,G,P	C,M,H	K,D,J	Q,B,A	E,L,N	O,P,A	H,F,C	B,K,G	Total	Avg
1	Airkraft	5	7	9	0	6	7	4	14	-	52	6.5

All four team members were in different lineups throughout the 2011 season and battled with each other at the German Nationals 2011. Petra Bärenfänger with Final Four DeLand gave the German national 4way team Paratec-Saar a good competition. ISB Air Remscheid member Petra van Overveld filled an open slot for Paratec-Saar at the championships.

Petra Bärenfänger outscored her husband Henning Stumpp who finished in 3rd place with Dynamite. Uli Sehrbrock and Steffen Schiedeck formed a pickup team (Mixed Forces Remscheid) with two other ISB Air Remscheid members (Anne Heinrich, Pia Weingart) for the German Nationals 2011 and ended up in 4th place.

All Gamma Ray 2012 members scored significantly higher with their 2011 lineups, but it was a challenging situation at the beginning of the 2012 season. All four team members are trained in front pieces, and two of them had to volunteer to fly the rear piece. Henning Stumpp (Center Outside) and Steffen Schiedeck (Point) are now back in their familiar slots, while Uli Sehrbrock and Petra Bärenfänger have to train the rear piece from scratch.

German Nationals 2011		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	1,8,21	N,H,F,9	B,5,O,16	A,19,13	7,J,2	3,20,18	L,15,12	22,P,4	Q,C,10,11	14,K,D,E	Total	Avg
1	Paratec-Saar	14	37	21	14	17	15	15	15	16	21	185	18.5
2	Final Four DeLand	14	30	20	15	18	13	13	16	17	21	177	17.7
3	Dynamite	14	31	18	14	19	12	14	14	17	20	173	17.3
4	Mixed Fource Remscheid	12	31	20	15	18	13	13	13	13	20	168	16.8
5	Usual Suspects	12	26	16	14	16	10	12	13	15	17	151	15.1

The team that was 17 points behind Mixed Forces Remscheid in 5th place at the German Nationals 2011, Usual Suspects, took full advantage of the difficult slot situation for Gamma Ray this weekend.

The Usual Suspects have a new team member, as well. Carsten Reese joined the team this year and had his first competition with the new lineup at the World Challenge 2012.

The Usual Suspects started the 2012 season with a lower meet average compared to the German Nationals 2011. However, the distance to last year's 4th place team is down from 17 to 2 points, and the Usual Suspects gave up the earlier lead only in Round 8 and Round 9. Gamma Ray will most likely move up to a higher performance and scoring level very soon, and the Usual Suspects will do their best to keep close. The 2012 race for medals at the German Nationals 2012 is on.