posted Dec 10th, 2011 - The NSL News story on 29 November 2011 began with some whining: "It is difficult for the NSL News to keep up with all the events that provide so much content and footage for stories. The coverage of the USPA Nationals 2011 was far from complete when SkyQuest 2011 required new attention."

Then came the ISR Grand Prix a week later, then the 3rd Dubai Championship 2011, and the second half of the 8way competition at the USPA Nationals 2011 between Golden Knights and Sky Panthers Barkli was almost forgotten.

Only almost. The videos of Rounds 6 - 10 have now been processed and uploaded and are available for reviews. The extended leaderboard once again includes the number of point deductions for each round, and the Russian team suffered twice as many as the Golden Knights.

USPA Nationals 2011		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	8way Open	1,16,C	22,F,11	21,15,2	5,P,D,17	8,Q,3	O,M,G,10	9,12,19	A,N,14,J	4,H,20	E,18,B,7	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	26 (-2)	23	19	19	21	20	17	23	24 (-2)	20	212	21.2
2	Sky Panthers Barkli	22	24	16 (-2)	10 (-4)	19	17	15 (-1)	18	19 (-3)	17	177	17.7

The story and videos of Rounds 1 - 5 pointed out the flawless progression of the Golden Knights since new team captain Brian "BK" Krause put the US Army focus back on 8way and recuited the new lineup with a mixture of talent and experience. The first set of videos also showed how Golden Knights and Sky Panthers Barkli both missed the second opportunity this year to challenge the standing 8way world record for a single round.

The Golden Knights still own this 32-pointer record, which was posted in Round 8 of the World Meet 1997 in Turkey. The first opportunity was there in Round 7 of the World Cup 2011 in Germany. Aerodyne Maubeuge, the French 8way team, came closer than the US team and Russia with a 29-pointer.

The next opportunity came at the USPA Nationals 2011 at the 8way meet opener in Round 1. The Golden Knights completed 28 points in working time and could have come much farther with a better round. Two point deductions reduced the score to 26 points on the offical leaderboard.

However, it seems to be only a matter of time when the highscore from 1997 and the 8way record average of 22.4 at the same historic event will be wiped out, and it may happen next year. The Golden Knights will get to the 22.4 level if the team's scoring progression (18.9 - 19.6 - 19.9 - 20.7 - 21.2) continues the same way.

France is on the same performance and scoring level as the Golden Knights and Russia is working on it. The same three teams will most likely push each other to the record level next year. The only open question is whether any 8way competition draw in 2012 will offer the opportunity to go after the 32-pointer highscore, as well.

The French delegation will give the 8way team more training next year after a 2011 season with hardly any training at all. This year's goal was to bring the new 4way lineup to the top level, which was accomplished at the World Cup and recently confirmed at in Dubai. National coach Jeremie Rollett will give the green light for more 8way training, and the French team will have better chances to stay close to the Golden Knights. The 2012 season promises a lot for the 8way fans, as well.