posted Oct 1st, 2026 - Two of the four horizontal 4-way events at the USPA Nationals 2026 required extra rounds to break ties after the scheduled ten rounds. Aircognito and Zhills Door BlockerZ faced off in a jump-off for the USPA bronze medals in the 4-way Intermediate Class, with Aircognito taking the medals.

The 4-way Beginner competition featured the second jump-off for bronze medals in the category, between Cheated Donuts and SDMW Speed Shapes. Cheated Donuts, representing the Southern California Skydiving League, won the extra round. Cheated Donuts was one of the ten 4-way teams that Christy Frikken and Mary SantAngelo had prepared for the national outdoor championship at their last league competition in August.

Their direct opponents for third place, SDMW Speed Shapes from the Midwest, had not competed in a 4-way competition before. They had, however, been well prepared by their Midwest role models in the Advanced Class, CSC Constellation, and the 4-way Intermediate Class team CSC Singularity. CSC Constellation won bronze medals in 4-way Advanced, while CSC Singularity took silver in 4-way Intermediate. SDMW Speed Shapes missed the 4-way Beginner Class bronze medals by just two points in the extra round and finished in fourth place. It was the second jump-off in 4-way Beginner since the introduction of the category at the USPA Nationals 2021. The first came after the scheduled six rounds, when CSC Constellation missed the bronze medals in the jump-off.

USPA Nationals 2026		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Beginner	D,4	6,C	2,B	J,N,9	P,L,21	E,M,A	Q,7	H,F,K	G,8	G,1	13,L	Total	Avg
1	Big Grip Energy	7	4	10	11	9	8	12	7	11	7	-	86	8.6
2	4.5 Men	8	6	6	11	8	7	11	7	10	8	-	82	8.2
3	Cheated Donuts	6	7	7	9	5	8	5	5	12	7	10	71	7.1
4	SDMW Speed Shapes	7	7	8	6	7	7	7	6	9	7	8	71	7.1
5	Linda Lee's Flying Butts	7	5	6	8	8	4	9	7	8	7	-	69	6.9
6	STF4	6	7	6	7	5	4	10	7	7	6	-	65	6.5
7	Generation Gap Perris	7	5	8	9	6	6	4	5	8	6	-	64	6.4
7	Carolina Reapers	5	6	4	7	7	8	8	4	12	3	-	64	6.4
9	Midlife Crisis	5	4	7	7	6	4	4	5	5	4	-	51	5.1
10	Far Out	3	4	4	5	2	4	4	4	4	5	-	39	3.9
11	Tolphno Twisters	5	5	3	5	1	2	5	2	6	3	-	37	3.7

---

USPA Nationals 2026: Big Grip Energy - 4.5 Men

---

Help the NSL News to Continue the Work - DONATE PLEASE

The eleven teams in the Beginner Class at Skydive Perris matched last year's record participation of eleven teams. The 4-way Beginner Class (A) has now become a solid part of the USPA competition format at the national outdoor championships, while the same four 4-way categories (Open/Advanced/Intermediate/Beginner) are also used at the U.S. indoor championships.

CSC Constellation were not the only team or competitors from 2021 who were inspired to continue with 4-way training and competition. CSC Constellation has competed at every USPA competition level since then and is now only missing the next step into the 4-way Open Class, as the NSL News pointed out on September 26th.

Winner Air Force Zero skipped the 4-way Intermediate Class and moved directly into the Advanced Class in 2022, together with their fellow Air Force Academy cadets from Night Fury. Both teams had completed their progression after sweeping the top positions at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2023. Florida team Anion Flux continued with Felipe Della Giustina in 2022. He has since become one of the most passionate 4-way competitors in the United States and competed this year with the 4-way Advanced Class team Introversion.

---

---

USPA Nationals 2026: Cheated Donuts - SDMW Speed Shapes

---

More of the 4-way Beginner Class competitors from 2021 can be found on other teams in the years that followed. This year's newest 4-way competitors may also return with the same or different teams in the future. Five of the teams on last month's 4-way Beginner Class leaderboard were already familiar with 4-way competition.

Christy Frikken's teams in the Southern California Skydiving League, along with her other activities, have been involved earlier in formation skydiving and 4-way events. Four of the five teams with previous 4-way experience participated actively in her events. Christy Frikken and her SCSL partner, Mary SantAngelo, also competed themselves in both 4-way and 8-way at the USPA Nationals 2026.

The 2026 season is not over for them or their growing group of competitors. The Dueling DZs event between Skydive Perris and Skydive Elsinore is coming up on October 25th, followed by the Ghost Nationals in November.

Teams and competitors can use the Christy Frikken environment to find teammates for the 2027 season and learn everything about formation skydiving, as well as 4-way training and competition, with her and through her Formation Skydiving Blog.

USPA Nationals 2021		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Beginner	G,9		D,A,Q		19,H		6,K		B,2		J,O,P		7,M		Total	Avg
1	Air Force Zorro	11		12		6	-2	7		9		13		-		58	9.7
2	Anion Flux	8		10		10		7		7		12		-		54	9.0
3	Air Force Night Fury	10		10	-1	7	-3	6	-2	8		10		13		51	8.5
4	CSC Constellation	6	-2	11		7		7		9		11		9		51	8.5
5	D.a.Danielson	7	-1	7		4	-1	7		6		10		-		41	6.8
6	Perris Chutists	8		11	-1	2	-2	8		8		-		-		37	7.4
7	Altitude Junkies	5	-1	6	-1	5	-1	6	-1	5		7		-		34	5.7
8	Toxic LED	3	-3	6	-1	4	-4	7		5		6		-		31	5.2
9	Unicorn Riders 2.0	4	-2	5		6		3	-1	5		2		-		25	4.2
10	Gold Diggers	4		1	-2	2	-1	3	-2	3		6		-		19	3.2

---

USPA Nationals 2021: Air Force Zero - Anion Flux - Air Force Night Fury

---

Help the NSL News to Continue the Work - DONATE PLEASE