posted Oct 25th, 2016 - The second day with the three remaining 4-way rounds is a much harder one for the AAA Class teams at the USPA Nationals 2016 who have to deal with the same three sequences for scores on the Open and Advanced Class leaderboards.

The fastest round of the competition at the end of Monday was followed by the slowest one this morning. It will not get much easier today, as Chris Talbert told the Sun Path Products NSL News this morning during a live NSL Talk from Eloy.

Each of the last three rounds has a 3-block sequence, and the scores of Round 8 indicate how the teams have to be ready to see the meet averages drop quite a bit. Airspeed's 16-pointer is the lowest score for a round since the USPA Nationals 2010 (Rounds 3 and 4) when Airspeed posted two 15-pointers.

USPA Nationals 2010		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	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
1	Arizona Airspeed	21	23	15	15	32	42	23	40	25	19	255	25.5
2	Perris Fury	21	22	18	16	25	38	22	36	23	20	241	24.1
3	Golden Knights Gold	17	21	17	15	27	32	18	33	22	18	220	22.0
4	Paraclete XP4	18	20	15	15	26	28	20	29	22	19	212	21.2
5	SDC Rhythm XP	17	19	16	15	23	30	19	32	20	14	205	20.5

It did not go much better for SDC Rhythm XP who had to settle for a 14-pointer in Round 8. It is pure coincidence that Rhythm has to go back to exactly the same event in 2010 to find another 14-pointer in the team records.

It was neither Round 3 nor Round 4 though where Rhythm posted the last 14-pointer. It happened in Round 10 (A,18,14) and Rhythm finished in 5th place. Airspeed lost both low-scoring rounds to Perris Fury and still finished far ahead (255 - 241) after the ten rounds.

Round 9 and 10 will not stop today's downward trend in scoring. However, the results will probably be less painful. The jump-off round would bring relief with three random formations after Block 2. The Advanced Class teams in contention for silver and bronze may have a chance to enjoy an easier sequence...