posted Aug 19th, 2019 - The coverage of last weekend's meets begins with the August meet of the Arizona Skydiving League. ASL organizers Eliana Rodriguez and Michelle Karamon were once again supported by Airspeed members Niklas Hemlin and Mikhail Markine, who were available for all teams and competitors with advice.

They worked together with another former Airspeed member, Andy Honigbaum, who has been coaching the Air Force Academy teams for several years. He brought his two teams, Air Force Boomers and Shadow, to Skydive Arizona for some outdoor competition practice before the USPA Nationals next month.

Boomers and Shadow had their first appearance of the competition year at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship, where they posted their scores on the AAA Class leaderboard. Both will probably sign up for the Advanced Class competition at the national championships and win more USPA medals for the Air Force Academy. The Air Force Storm team had won the last Advanced Class medals with the 3rd place in 2017.

It's the same category where the Arizona teams may compete next month in Raeford. Eliana Rodriguez provided more information and details from Skydive Arizona last weekend.

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Arizona Skydiving League August 2019		1		2		3		4		5		6		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	K,13,3		E,21,22		G,9,N,12		D,L,J,F,7		H,M,5,8		C,2,6		Total	Avg
1	Air Force Boomers	13		12	-2	16		23		17		14		95	15.8
2	Air Force Shadow	13		14		16	-1	22	-1	12	-4	14	-1	91	15.2
3	AZ Crime	13		13		14		15	-2	14	-1	14		83	13.8
4	AZ Defiance	11		11		9	-1	15		12		11		69	11.5
5	Arizona Windfall	11		10		11		15		12		9		68	11.3
Rank	A Class	K,7		E,21		G,9		D,L,J		H,M,8		C,2		Total	Avg
1	Tang and the Harpets	1		2		1		1		-		-		5	1.3

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Air Force Boomers - Air Force Shadow at the August meet of the Arizona Skydiving League

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The local 4-way players were back with AZ Defiance and AZ Windfall on the AAA Class leaderboard. A Class team Tang and the Harpets was made up of a few participants who had been in other ASL teams at previous meets, Haoxuan Tang and Thomas Riehle. They joined forces this time with new 4-way competitor Matt Vargas who attended his first meet with a total of 60 jumps. Ben Ninneman, visiting from Wisconsin, completed the line up as the outside center. Taylor Buffington was on camera.

AZ Crime, coached by Niklas Hemlin, were also in town, with the team's members from California and Texas. The two Air Force teams and AZ Crime launched the 6-round meet with a tie in Round 1, which promised an interesting competition. Eliana Rodriguez said that the meet was "super interesting to follow":

"There were many battles throughout the day that lasted all the way through the last round. The Air Force teams were neck to neck through Round 4. AF Boomers pulled ahead after AF Shadow had four busts in Round 5, some of them due to the video angle out the door.”

“AZ Crime was in the fight through Round 3. They struggled with the fastest sequence of the meet in Round 4 and fell behind. AZ Crime's last two rounds were again compatible with the Air Force teams, it will be interesting to see what happens at the Nationals."

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Arizona Crime - Arizona Defiance - Arizona Windfall at the August meet of the Arizona Skydiving League

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"AZ Defiance and AZ Windfall also had their own battle throughout the day. AZ Defiance was coached by Niklas Hemlin and AZ Windfall by Mikhail Markine. The teams started the day tied and kept it close throughout the day.”

“AZ Defiance has always been the winner between these two teams, but today AZ Windfall was in the lead in the middle rounds and one point up going into the last round. In the end, AZ Defiance came out on top, after outscoring AZ Windfall by two points in Round 6."

"As usual, we had a strong lineup of coaches at this meet, and we want to thank them for being part of the Arizona Skydiving League. There were five coaches here this time. As the league coaches, Michelle Karamon, Mikhail Markine and myself were available to help anyone. Niklas Hemlin and Andy Honigbaum were working with their teams. This wealth of knowledge was available to whomever wanted it."

"We want to thank Skydive Arizona for donating five jump tickets for 1st place winners, plus a $50 gift certificate for a visit at the Bent Prop for the 2nd place team. The AF Boomers kindly donated their prize of five jump tickets to the 3rd place team, AZ Crime. We would also like to thank Larsen & Brusgaard for their generous donation of an ARES II. The ARES II was raffled off at the end of day, and the winner was Curtis Smith of the AF Boomers."