posted Jun 23rd, 2004 - Mostly cooperative skies and the perpetually dependable staff of Cross Keys skydiving made for an all around good experience during the Mid Atlantic opening meet this past weekend. Three teams competed at the meet, two in the AA Class and one in the AAA Class.The AA Class competition was stiff. CK Air Pollution returned this year with a new tail and bigger and better training plans. Air Pollution's competition, a newly formed team called Controlled Descent, had brought a coach up for the weekend, Brian Johnson. Using his presence to good effect, Descent opened up a quick lead over Pollution, and held or increased it over the next two rounds. Air Pollution struggled to recover from its poor showing in round one, and did not manage to refocus themselves and fly at their full potential until round four. However, the team managed to recover enough points in rounds four and five to pull dead even with Descent, which made for a very interesting round six. When the dust settled, Air Pollution had won the day. Both teams are anxious for a rematch in July.

In the AAA Class, returning intact to the MASL competition, O2 Project did not feel at all alone, despite being the only AAA Class team at Cross Keys last weekend. O2 Project was very aware of the other AAA Class NSL teams jumping the same draw, particularly the extremely formidable amateur teams of the Southwest Sydiving League. Despite some glaring mental errors in round six, O2 Project was happy with their skydives on Saturday. The MASL team also took advantage of coach Brian Johnson over the weekend. In fact, O2 Project has been training exclusively with Johnson since August of last year. The team credits him and his over the top exuberant and bubbly coaching style with any small success they may have had in moving up to the full dive pool this year.

All the teams would like to thank Neil Beverly (former Golden Knight) for his excellent judging, and Mike Mancuzzi for running the actual meet, so that the league directors could focus on their skydiving. As always, much deserved thanks go out to John Eddows and the entire Cross Keys staff for their help with the meet.Finally, we are also all looking forward to the upcoming Karp Cup, which will be held at Cross Keys on July 17 and 18. The third annual Karp Cup will once again be held in memory of Seth Karp, a member of Cross Keys Jetstream who passed away while training. This year, $2,000 in cash plus additional prizes will be up for grabs in New Jersey, and teams from any league are welcome. Please contact Skydive Cross Keys or Cherie Schuch (both emails are on the MASL section of this website) for more information.Meet story and pictures provided by Karl and Cherie Schuch