posted Feb 10th, 2026 - NSL News reported on January 15th that the Paraclete XP lineup had changed once again shortly after the start of the new year.

The major shift followed the FAI Indoor World Championship 2025, when the three Golden Knights in the active lineup—Drew Starr, Jesse Stahler, and Mike Conners—stepped back from the team, along with John D'Annunzio, Andrew Happick, and Matt Davidson. Jeana Billings and Kirk Verner remained and began recruiting new teammates.

Jennifer Davidson, Jill Stephenson, James Hall, Carl Kallgren IV, Brandon Kashani, and Ian Pedowitz joined as the new XP8 members, with Kevin Penn on camera. The team went on to win the 8-way competition at the USPA Nationals 2025, earning qualification as the U.S. national team in 8-way Open for the outdoor world championship in October.

One month later, the same lineup traveled to Europe to compete at the Weembinamic 2025, where they finished second on the traditional leaderboard, behind one of the two strong French 8-way teams.

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Paraclete XP8 Training on 4 January 2026

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The fine-tuning of the XP8 lineup was not yet complete, as the next international competition featured two new team members at the Air World Championships 2026 in Abu Dhabi. Matt Davidson and Doug Barron were invited to join XP8 for the 2026 season and accepted. They replaced Jill Stephenson and Ian Pedowitz, who moved into alternate roles for the team.

The new lineup—Jeana Billings, Jennifer Davidson, Matt Davidson, Kirk Verner, James Hall, Carl Kallgren IV, Brandon Kashani, and Doug Barron—represented a perfect 50–50 mix of highly experienced 8-way world champions and emerging talent that had been targeting top-level positions for years. Doug Barron also led his own 8-way team, Prison 9.

The current version of the XP8 lineup has been in full training mode throughout the year and already competed for the first time in January. The Air World Championships 2026 in Abu Dhabi provided an ideal opportunity to gain early competition experience before the team attempts to defend the national 8-way indoor title later this month.

EEIPC Air World Championships 2026			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		16,8,17	9,Q,M,J	B,D,12,K	13,1,11	21,15,5	N,L,O,20	22,P,19	C,E,H,2	F,6,3	A,4,14	Total	Avg
1	Russia Tanay	RU	28	31	34	26	25	31	25	25	32	29	286	28.6
2	Paraclete XP8	US	27	29	30	28	24	28	25	27	34	31	283	28.3
3	Kuzbass	AE	21	25	23	19	19	24	21	16	23	24	215	21.5
4	Mandatory Fun!	US	15	14	16	13	14	14	15	13	17	14	145	14.5
5	Jet Lagged	US	14	14	13	13	10	13	12	10	15	11	125	12.5
6	The Clueless Three	US	11	11	11	11	13	12	10	12	12	14	117	11.7
7	Can We Use The Whole Tunnel	US	11	9	13	12	12	9	9	11	12	13	111	11.1

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Paraclete XP8 at the Air World Championships 2026 in Abu Dhabi

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James Hall, Carl Kallgren IV, Brandon Kashani, and Doug Barron are by no means new names in U.S. formation skydiving competition. However, the NSL News visited Paraclete XP, where the new lineup has been training daily in preparation for the national indoor championship. The four new members agreed to speak with the NSL News after an indoor training session on Tuesday.

A first-place finish at the upcoming indoor championship is not the only prize at stake for the new XP8 members. The even more highly regarded event is the outdoor world championship in October at Skydive Arizona, where the same lineup will represent the United States. The current team, despite recent lineup changes, remains qualified for the outdoor world meet after winning the USPA Nationals 2025 with a different roster.

Neither the previous lineup at Weembinamic 2025 nor the current lineup at the Air World Championships in Abu Dhabi has won an 8-way competition since the USPA Nationals 2025. XP8 finished behind the French team Nova at the Weembinamic, while the Russian team Tanay 8 claimed victory in Abu Dhabi. Neither team, however, is expected to compete for its country at the outdoor world championship, where the United States enters as the defending champion with XP8.

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NSL Live Talk with XP8 members

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