posted Sep 8th, 2020 - The NSL News had followed Vega XP since the team posted their first scores in the AA/Intermediate Class competition of the USPA Nationals 2015. Nicholas Walker, Annie and Ian Drennan have been inseparable ever since.

They had Kevin Larson in their first lineup and continued with Julie Kleinwort in 2017 and 2018. NSL Live Talk on 25 October 2017 introduced the 2017 lineup as the new USPA Intermediate Class champions in October.

Brandon Kashani replaced Julie Kleinwort when Nicholas Walker, Annie and Ian Drennan decided to move up into the AAA Class world, and the consistent progression continued. The new lineup was going into its third year when the NSL News met Vega XP in May this year at Paraclete XP. It was coincidence that the team trained on the same weekend when Arizona Airspeed and XPG4 were in training, while SDC Rhythm XP were running their tryouts for the inside center slot. Airspeed XP8 training followed after the 4-way days.

It was not only coincidence, as Vega XP has been working with coach Niklas Hemlin for over a year. Vega XP needed good timing for Niklas Hemlin's training agenda between Arizona Airspeed and Airspeed XP8. It was coincidence for the NSL News to visit Paraclete XP when Vega XP matched their coach's schedule in May.

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Vega XP training in May 2020 - NSL Live Talk with the 2017 lineup

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The two years with newest member Brandon Kashani were as successful as the whole Vega XP team career with a consistent progression so far. Vega XP have improved their scoring averages at each of the eleven attended competitions in the NSL News records.

After winning the USPA AA/Intermediate Class title in 2017 all team members posted their first AAA Class scores in 2018. A year later, Vega XP was in contention for Advanced Class bronze medals at the USPA Nationals 2019.

Three teams battled for the 3rd place, and only five points separated Vega XP from the bronze medalist, SNE CenterCell XP. There were several rounds at Paraclete XP where Vega XP and the other two teams in this battle for USPA bronze medals were even within striking distance of the teams in the first two places, Redline XP with player-coach Kirk Verner in the lineup, and Elsinore Elevate with Airspeed 4-way world champion of 2012, Josh Hall.

Coach Niklas Hemlin did not have much time for Vega XP at the USPA Nationals. He had his own hands full in the 4-way Open Class competition, where SDC Rhythm XP challenged the Airspeed lineup with Matt Davidson to the extreme, which was a jump-off round. However, Vega XP managed the competition well enough with a new team record average in the AAA Class.

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USPA Nationals 2019		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Advanced	7,C,H,P	J,21,20	O,3,11	B,2,K,E	8,Q,10	15,D,F,12	N,L,M,14	6,1,9	A,18,13	G,4,5	Total	Avg
1	Redline XP	19	17	16	21	14	16	21	17	17	17	175	17.5
2	Elsinore Elevate	23	14	14	22	15	17	19	14	14	16	168	16.8
3	SNE CenterCell XP	23	14	14	18	14	11	18	15	14	15	156	15.6
4	Air Force Shadow	20	15	13	21	10	13	18	15	15	13	153	15.3
5	Vega XP	21	14	14	21	14	13	15	16	11	12	151	15.1
6	AZ Crime	19	13	14	17	11	12	18	15	13	11	143	14.3
6	Air Force Boomers	20	14	12	15	13	10	16	15	14	14	143	14.3
8	Arizona Alpha	21	14	14	17	14	11	14	14	9	14	142	14.2
9	SDC Rhevolution XP	17	14	12	16	12	13	14	14	13	13	138	13.8
10	Space Force BTR	18	14	13	18	11	11	18	14	10	10	137	13.7
11	SNE Fly Girls	18	12	13	14	11	13	14	13	12	8	128	12.8
12	Chill: Bu	18	13	11	17	9	11	14	13	11	10	127	12.7
13	Perris Goldilocks and 4 Bears	16	11	10	15	10	10	12	10	12	10	116	11.6
14	TSC Cadence	14	9	12	14	10	11	12	12	12	9	115	11.5
15	Fast Break	15	10	10	12	10	12	14	8	10	11	112	11.2
16	Paragon	13	7	11	12	9	8	12	10	7	9	98	9.8
17	AZ Shift	9	9	9	13	9	9	10	11	8	8	95	9.5
18	Perris Section 4	15	8	9	11	8	6	10	10	9	8	94	9.4

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SNE CenterCell XP - Air Force Shadow - Vega XP at the USPA Nationals 2019 - Video Footage Courtesy of USPA/OmniSkore!HD

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The work with coach Niklas Hemlin was successful, and it was no surprise that Vega XP came back with new plans for the 2020 season. A medal position on USPA's Advanced Class leaderboard is still an open goal.

In fact, it is probably not only a medal position that Vega XP is aiming for. The same lineup won the Advanced Class competition at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2020 with a new team record indoor average. USPA outdoor gold medals in the Advanced Class would be a very realistic next goal.

Redline XP's 17.5 average last year was the highest winning average in the Advanced Class, and Vega XP might even be able to challenge this benchmark. However, the corona virus crisis apparently had an impact on Vega XP, as well. Original member Nicholas "Knic" Walker is not coming back for more, and Brandon Kashani has made new and different plans, as well.

However, Annie and Ian Drennan still cannot get enough of 4-way training and competition and have been working on a new lineup. The NSL News will follow up as soon as official information is available.

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Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2020		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Advanced	21,15,10	7,5,G	13,L,11	3,K,B,6	19,8,9	M,P,14,C	N,A,17,1	20,16,Q	F,22,D,H	0,2,4	Total	Avg
1	Vega XP	15	22	19	21	20	28	21	17	27	19	209	20.9
2	Flying Spaghetti Monsters	16	24	19	19	19	26	22	16	22	17	200	20.0
3	Lucky Chris	15	19	17	19	18	22	19	15	21	17	182	18.2
4	Platinum XP	13	18	15	16	19	23	19	13	20	13	169	16.9
5	Dramatic Pause	13	16	16	17	16	21	15	14	21	17	166	16.6

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Vega XP at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2020

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