posted Jan 6th, 2026 - NSL News touched on one of the most intriguing aspects of the recent change to the Arizona Airspeed lineup in yesterday’s update, without exploring the topic in depth. That aspect is the five-year history of Ranch 2nd Generation, which NSL News followed comprehensively from its formation to its conclusion.

The team drew significant attention for good reason. All four team members—Michelle Karamon, Brenn Richards, Joey Marshall, and Chris Kuhlmann—went on to earn outdoor world championship titles. Joey Marshall and Chris Kuhlmann each captured two gold medals in 4-way Open (2022, 2024), while Kuhlmann also claimed an additional title in 8-way (2021). Michelle Karamon earned world titles in 8-way (2021, 2022) and in 4-way Women in 2024, alongside Brenn Richards.

To pursue the highest goal in the sport—the outdoor world championship title—the Ranch 2nd Generation teammates ultimately had to part ways. At the pinnacle of formation skydiving stands the 4-way Open Class, widely regarded as the most demanding discipline. It requires the highest level of athletic skill, attracts the largest participation, and carries no gender divisions or other restrictions.

Former R2G teammates Joey Marshall and Chris Kuhlmann achieved this ultimate goal together twice. Their former teammate, Michelle Karamon, is now on a path that may place her name on the same trophy—the William H. Ottley Sword, awarded to the 4-way Open world champions and commonly known as the 4-way Excalibur. Her name already appears on the 8-way Excalibur.

USPA Nationals 2019			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open Class		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		17,16,22		Total	Avg
G	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	45	-1	24		27		37		21		25		34		25	-1	26	-1	25	-4	-		289	28.9
1	SDC Rhythm XP	US	41		22		21	-1	33		21		23		27		25		24		25		21	-1	262	26.2
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	40	-1	24		22	-2	32		19	-2	24		29		25		21	-2	26	-1	20	-2	262	26.2
3	Defiance	US	30	-1	21		15	-4	28		16		19		22	-3	21		18	-1	18	-1	-		208	20.8
4	Ranch 2nd Generation	US	26		19		19		24	-2	16	-1	17	-1	24		18	-1	19		19		-		201	20.1
G	Kinetix	AU	26		18		17		22		13	-1	17		18	-1	17		17		17		-		182	18.2
5	Lite XP	US	24	-1	17		17		22		15		17		20	-2	16	-1	14		17		-		179	17.9
6	No Name	US	22	-4	17		14		19	-2	12	-2	13		14	-3	15		14		16		-		156	15.6
7	Aviatrixx	US	21		14		13	-1	18	-1	12	-2	15		17	-1	14	-1	12		14		-		150	15.0
8	Perris Force	US	20		13	-1	14		18		11	-1	11		18	-1	13	-1	12		12	-1	-		142	14.2

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Arizona Airspeed - Ranch 2nd Generation at the USPA Nationals 2019

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It is still a long road ahead, and the earliest opportunity for Michelle Karamon to compete with Arizona Airspeed at an outdoor world championship would be in 2028. This year, the Golden Knights will represent the U.S. delegation in October at Skydive Arizona, while qualification for the next outdoor world championship will take place at the 2027 USPA Nationals.

One of the most interesting aspects of the current Airspeed situation is that an earlier opportunity once existed for all former Ranch 2nd Generation teammates to join forces and potentially win their first world championship titles together. That opportunity ended after the historic USPA Nationals 2019, where SDC Rhythm XP prevailed over Arizona Airspeed in a tie-breaking extra round.

The selection of the new Airspeed lineup for the following, highly successful years included only two R2G members—Joey Marshall and Chris Kuhlmann—who continued alongside Niklas Hemlin and Mikhail Markine. Michelle Karamon and Brenn Richards were left to chart their own paths forward. XPG4 provided an opportunity for them to remain together in 4-way competition, although Brenn Richards took a break before returning to competitive 4-way training and competition in 2021. Meanwhile, their former R2G teammates Joey Marshall and Chris Kuhlmann won the USPA Nationals 2021 with Airspeed, qualifying for their first outdoor world championship.

USPA Nationals 2023		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA/4-way Open	O,E,C,Q,H		20,M,J,1		10,12,B		4,18,L		11,17,5		8,9,22		A,19,K,13		G,3,2		21,14,15		D,F,7,N		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	43	-8	29		22		23	-1	28		21		26		23		20		33	-2	268	26.8
2	XPG4	46	-2	21		17		17		20		17	-1	23		18		17		29	-1	225	22.5
3	SDC Rhythm XP	48	-4	19		17		16		20		17		22		17	-1	16		25	-1	217	21.7
4	Golden Knights	39	-3	23		18		17	-1	21		17	-1	24		15	-2	14		28		216	21.6
5	Pour Decisions	35	-1	18		15		16		18		16		20		15		14		23	-1	190	19.0
6	RhEvolution XP	27	-4	19		13		15		16		15		16	-1	16		13		23		173	17.3
7	Skydive Midwest NEXT	26	-4	18	-1	12	-2	15		17		14		17		15		13		23		170	17.0
8	Spaceland Apex	22	-5	11	-1	11	-2	14		15		13	-2	19		14		13		22		154	15.4
9	Alti-2 Technologies	24	-1	12	-1	10		13		13		11	-1	14		11		11		18	-1	137	13.7
10	Rhetirement Party	21		12	-2	11		10	-1	8		12		13		12		10		17		126	12.6
11	Rippin Flatties	10	-4	4		3	-3	5		4	-3	4	-1	6		3		5		10	-3	54	5.4

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Arizona Airspeed - Ranch 2nd Generation at the USPA Nationals 2019

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The selection of the next Airspeed lineup in 2020 provided the first opportunity for two Ranch 2nd Generation members to move up to the very top level of 4-way competition worldwide. Two years later, Ranch 2nd Generation founding member Kamuran “Sonic” Bayrasli—who served as the team’s cameraflyer throughout all five years—was not alone in hoping, and even expecting, that the complete R2G lineup would eventually become the U.S. national team and win world championships and World Cups together.

Niklas Hemlin and Mikhail Markine did not continue after winning their second gold medals at Crystal Coast 2024, where Michelle Karamon and Brenn Richards captured the 4-way Women title. NSL News discussed the situation with the full 2022/2024 Airspeed lineup immediately following the conclusion of the event on the beach at Crystal Coast on 12 October 2024.

At that point, it was too early to discuss the details of a new lineup. It was clear, however, that Joey Marshall and Chris Kuhlmann would be responsible for selecting the two new Airspeed members for the coming years. For Sonic, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to see a reunion of his favorite lineup—on the podium at the next world championship within the following two years.

That reunion did not materialize. Instead, Alisson de Vargas and Doug Hendrix were selected and have now been training and competing alongside Joey Marshall and Chris Kuhlmann for the past year. Michelle Karamon is now the third former R2G member to join a new Airspeed lineup, although Joey Marshall is currently the only remaining R2G teammate at her side, as Chris Kuhlmann has left his slot open. Both Michelle Karamon and Joey Marshall appear to continue in the same positions they held during their time with Ranch 2nd Generation.