posted Sep 17th, 2018 - Arizona Airspeed's current signature lineup, the U.S. national team in 4-way Open, did not have any serious opposition and won the USPA Nationals 2018 with a record margin, as the NSL News explained yesterday.

Airspeed Odyssey moved up from 4th place in 2017 to the bronze medal position last week, which created Airspeed's next USPA double-medal success after the same finish in 1st and 3rd place in 2001. However, Airspeed Odyssey had to work hard to win the bronze medals. Defiance was only three points behind after a very strong finish.

The duel between the two teams consisted of two very different halves. Odyssey won the first four rounds by a total of seven points before Defiance tied a scoring number for the first time at this year's nationals and then won Round 6. Odyssey came back with a 2-point advantage in Round 7, the team's last highscore in this battle.

Defiance won the second half of the meet by three points and with a very strong finish, and Odyssey carried a 3-point lead over the finish line.

USPA Nationals 2018		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	J,19,K,22	P,13,A,E	H,G,Q,B,21	9,2,L	C,14,4	O,16,3	1,15,10	M,20,11	F,D,18,6	5,12,17	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	23	29	34	28	23	24	19	24	26	25	255	25.5
2	SDC Rhythm XP	20	25	33	26	20	18	17	21	23	20	223	22.3
3	Airspeed Odyssey	20	25	28	22	18	20	17	19	20	17	206	20.6
4	Defiance	19	23	25	21	18	21	15	21	21	19	203	20.3

The same duel had taken place at last year's USPA Nationals, and both teams were back with almost exactly the same lineups. Only Airspeed Odyssey had one personnel change, with former SDC Furies videographer Charles Lane on camera this time.

Defiance, with two original Mass Defiance members Brian Stephens and Ben Liston, had indicated in 2017 that they had moved up into a position where they might be able to challenge the former world and U.S. champions. Defiance has been known as one of the best amateur 4-way teams in the world for several years.

It was still an 8-point difference between the two teams at the end of the USPA Nationals 2017, where Defiance posted a new team record average. However, the Defiance statement was made, and both teams knew that this year's competition could create an even closer battle at Chicagoland. The 3-point finish eventually turned out as the closest finish between any teams on the Open Class leaderboard, disregarding Dallas 350's zero for Round 2.

USPA Nationals 2017			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		O,4,9	G,21,A,H	N,D,J,14	L,16,12	K,19,6	E,2,10	P,11,15	17,3,22	F,7,1	Q,5,M,20	Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	31	33	28	23	25	23	23	22	31	31	270	27.0
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	27	32	29	22	24	22	21	23	29	29	258	25.8
3	SDC Rhythm XP	US	29	31	28	23	22	20	23	19	28	29	252	25.2
4	Golden Knights	US	24	26	28	22	18	19	20	19	24	23	223	22.3
5	Airspeed Odyssey	US	25	23	27	19	22	19	19	17	23	23	217	21.7
6	Defiance	US	24	24	26	18	19	17	19	16	24	22	209	20.9

The original Mass Defiance lineup (Ben Liston, Jim Rees, John Silva, Brian Stephens, Steve Feldman on camera) attended the team's first national championships in 2005 and won the Advanced Class competition with a 15.4 average. It was the same event where the original Airspeed Odyssey lineup competed for the first time and finished in 3rd place in 4-way Open.

A year later, Mass Defiance joined Airspeed Odyssey for the first time on the Open Class leaderboard, and both teams competed with the same lineups.

Another year later, Airspeed Odyssey won the USPA Nationals 2007 with a 25.3 average, and Mass Defiance placed 5th with a 19.3 average, right behind the U.S. pro teams. Odyssey then won gold medals at the FAI World Meet 2008 and silver in 2010, while Mass Defiance continued in the USPA Open Class with different lineups.

This year, Odyssey (Eliana Rodriguez, Craig Girard, Andy Delk) and Defiance (Ben Liston, Nick Grillet) members also joined forces in Arizona Airspeed's 8-way lineup for the first time and finished in 2nd place.

USPA Nationals 2006			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		13,19,17	N,21,14	7,M,8	9,K,10	B,22,H,3	4,20,16	G,6,1	12,F,2	J,L,Q,P,18	E,O,5,D	Total	Avg
1	DeLand Groove	US	21	19	22	22	22	19	20	19	25	33	222	22.2
2	Black Cat	RU	17	19	24	23	20	17	19	19	29	31	218	21.8
3	Fastrax	US	20	18	24	22	22	17	20	19	25	29	216	21.6
4	Airspeed Odyssey	US	15	17	21	20	21	17	18	19	27	31	206	20.6
5	Perris Fury	US	16	17	21	20	20	16	19	17	24	29	199	19.9
6	Golden Knights Black	US	19	16	23	21	20	15	19	19	24	20	196	19.6
7	Airspeed Velocity	US	17	17	21	20	17	15	19	17	25	25	193	19.3
8	FiaZco	US	15	14	19	18	17	14	17	16	23	23	176	17.6
9	Mass Defiance	US	15	14	19	16	14	15	14	15	22	23	167	16.7
10	Elsinore Gravity	US	15	16	21	10	13	14	17	16	19	25	166	16.6
11	Synchronicity	US	13	14	16	16	14	13	15	15	19	24	159	15.9
12	Dallas Thunder	US	13	14	19	16	13	12	14	16	17	23	157	15.7
13	Arizona Razor	US	12	12	16	15	14	13	14	12	14	18	140	14.0
14	Elsinore Select	US	11	12	16	13	14	8	12	14	16	20	136	13.6
15	Kaktus Hunter	RU	13	12	14	12	13	11	11	10	15	12	123	12.3