posted Mar 4th, 2019 - The Paraclete XP Indoor Championship also featured once again the next battle for the bronze medals between the Golden Knights Gold lineup and Ranch 2nd Generation.

It was not really a competitive duel at the two previous events in 2017 and 2018, where the Golden Knights won easily over the U.S. 4-way shooting star. It was much more challenging than in 2018 for the same Gold lineup little over a week ago at the same event. R2G is a well trained and experienced 4-way team by now, while the Golden Knights don't have much time for 4-way training at all.

In fact, the members of the current 4-way Gold lineup are not even together in the 8-way team any longer. Even new 8-way captain Andrew Starr, Jennifer and Matt Davidson only have a few more months together in the 8-way lineup before Matt Davidson will leave the U.S. Army team for good. Sean Sweeney left the competition team after winning his third FAI 8-way gold medal in Australia last year.

As a result of the Golden Knights situation, Ranch 2nd Generation did not even have to come up with a higher meet average than last year to move closer to the Gold team. However, the almost exactly identical R2G average (25.6 - 25.7) was still not enough to take the bronze medals away from the Golden Knights, who managed to post a 26.3 average with hardly any training at all.

Paraclete XP Indoor 2019		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open - 4-way Women	P,N,Q,1		G,2,17		14,18,D		K,12,10		5,H,J,L		19,M,7		15,13,8		C,6,B,9		20,16,11		E,3,O,A		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	38		30	-1	25	-1	25		42	-2	31	-1	23	-1	44		23	-2	36		317	31.7
2	SDC Rhythm XP	39		31		24	-2	23	-1	44	-2	30	-1	22	-1	35	-3	22	-1	36		306	30.6
3	Golden Knights Gold	30		27		22		19	-1	34		26		20		35		21		29		263	26.3
4	Ranch 2nd Generation	31		26		23		22		30	-3	27		18	-2	30	-2	21		28	-2	256	25.6
5	XPG4	30		22	-2	20		19		31		24	-2	19		28		17		27		237	23.7
6	Lite XP	25		19	-1	16	-2	17		23	-4	24		17		26		17		27		211	21.1
7	Great Expectations	27		15	-2	18		17		24		23		16		24	-1	13	-1	24		201	20.1
8	Air Force Shadow	25		20	-1	15	-1	15		27		20	-1	16		25		15		22		200	20.0
9	Perris Force	27		16	-1	16		16		20	-3	22	-2	14	-2	23	-3	14	-1	23		191	19.1
10	Vega XP	22		13	-4	15	-1	12	-4	21	-3	23		15		24	-1	15		20	-1	180	18.0
10	Phoenix XP	22		17		15		16		20	-2	20	-1	14	-1	20		15		21	-1	180	18.0
12	SDC Rhevolution XP	23		14	-1	14		14		19		20	-1	14	-1	21		15		17	-2	171	17.1
13	Fire Ball XP4	23		14	-3	15		14		21	-1	18	-1	15		16	-3	12		21		169	16.9
14	Air Force Boomers	22		16	-1	12	-2	14		22		18		15		18	-4	10		15		162	16.2
15	Lucky Joshua	21		13	-1	14		13	-1	17	-1	17	-1	14	-1	17	-2	13		20		159	15.9
16	SCZ ZEUS 3.5	19		15	-1	13	-1	12	-1	18	-1	15	-1	10	-1	18		11		17		148	14.8
17	A Bunch of Misfits Winto a Bar	17		13	-1	13		14		20		18	-1	13		11	-4	11		16	-1	146	14.6
18	Airtrocity	18		14		12		12	-1	18		17	-1	13		17	-2	10	-2	14		145	14.5
19	NSL4XIC	18		12	-1	10		9	-3	16		15	-1	10	-1	15		10	-1	13		128	12.8

Golden Knights Gold and Ranch 2nd Generation at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2019

It was not surprising that the Golden Knights gained momentum and were warming up round by round. Round 6 turned out to be the last time that R2G could win on the first day before the Golden Knights took control and did not give away another round.

However, the penalties made a difference, as well. The Golden Knights finished with only one infringement, while R2G suffered a total of nine point deductions.

The difference of eight missing scoring points was the main factor that put R2G behind and in 4th place. The Paraclete bronze medals were already in reach this year.

Even though R2G did not finish with a new team record average in a medal position and ahead of the Golden Knights, the recent performance was impressive enough. The Ranch team was still competing in the AA/Intermediate Class at the same event in 2016 before meeting the best U.S. 4-way teams on the same leaderboard in 2017.

Two years later, the current lineup with new member Jeana Billings is very close to the 4-way bronze medal position in the United States, and two members (Michelle Karamon, Jeana Billings) will compete for the U.S. delegation in 8-way at the FAI Indoor World Meet 2019.

Paraclete XP Indoor 2018		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open - 4-way Women	6,P,O,9	N,1,21	D,J,E,K,14	8,Q,L,5	10,12,F	3,19,22	17,B,20	11,13,7	C,16,18	H,M,A,G,15	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	40	26	45	33	27	21	33	25	26	39	315	31.5
2	SDC Rhythm XP	37	27	40	28	24	22	26	22	25	37	288	28.8
3	Golden Knights Gold	36	24	35	27	22	22	25	23	23	35	272	27.2
4	Ranch 2nd Generation	34	22	30	24	21	20	29	23	20	34	257	25.7
5	Golden Knights	29	21	28	24	20	16	22	19	17	23	219	21.9
6	Dallas 350	26	18	25	23	20	18	23	19	16	27	215	21.5
7	Parachute Montreal Fuzion	30	19	22	21	15	18	22	18	18	29	212	21.2
8	Phoenix XP	28	20	29	20	15	17	21	18	16	28	212	21.2
9	Fast4ward XP	26	19	25	20	16	16	23	16	14	25	200	20.0
10	Savage XP	24	17	25	18	17	16	21	18	16	27	199	19.9
11	Golden Knights Black	26	18	24	19	17	14	20	17	15	27	197	19.7
12	4Shadow	25	18	21	16	14	13	19	15	14	22	177	17.7
13	SCZ ZEUS	22	17	21	15	14	12	17	14	14	23	169	16.9
14	AZ Defiance	21	16	19	17	16	14	15	14	12	24	168	16.8
15	Vega XP	21	15	17	16	13	12	16	14	13	25	162	16.2
16	Fantasticate	18	14	22	12	14	14	16	13	13	23	159	15.9
17	CB4	16	16	21	16	13	10	16	13	10	21	152	15.2
18	Pandemonium	19	15	15	15	13	13	12	12	14	21	149	14.9
19	CoNEXTion XP	16	15	18	18	15	7	9	13	10	23	144	14.4
20	Harpia	18	13	17	13	12	13	14	12	13	16	141	14.1
21	Can't Wait	15	12	20	12	10	10	12	11	11	16	129	12.9

The Golden Knights are under serious pressure in both events. The 8-way team has to win the USPA Nationals this year to defend the world championship title in Tanay 2020, while Paraclete XP8 is serious about taking away the U.S. 8-way title from the U.S. Army team.

Ranch 2nd Generation will be also challenging the Golden Knights for the 4-way bronze medal position at the USPA Nationals 2019. Last time it was at the USPA Nationals 2013 when the Golden Knights did not win the 4-way bronze medals. R2G was not even born by then and started two years later in the AA/Intermediate Class.

Both teams have not yet posted their scores together on a 4-way outdoor leaderboard, and the USPA Nationals 2019 could be the first time. The Golden Knights had to abandon the participation at the national championships last year when the approaching Hurricane Florence threatened their headquarters in North Carolina.

Airspeed Odyssey won the USPA bronze medals, and R2G finished in 5th place behind Mass Defiance. This year, Golden Knights and R2G both will probably compete for 4-way bronze medals, while their main focus will be on the same goal: 8-way qualification for the next world meet...