posted Jun 6th, 2011 - The Northern German Championship 2011 came to a happy end, even though the weather forecast was not very promising for Sunday. The five teams completed all ten rounds before pouring rain stopped the whole skydiving operation later in the afternoon.

Final Four DeLand defended the title successfully and had the opportunity to impress the German 4-way community even more with good scores in the last three rounds. This story did not have a happy end though, as the team did not perform on the expected level and even lost one round to the Usual Suspects.

On the other hand, the team in 2nd place could be very pleased with last weekend's performance. The Usual Suspects, with former X-Ray Remscheid member Uwe Soppa guiding the team, finished above the 14-average level for the first time in team history.

Northern German 2011		Round1	Round2	Round3	Round4	Round5	Round6	Round7	Round8	Round9	Round10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	21,15,O	20,12,3	G,1,H,9	11,A,L,7	17,P,N,8	10,F,14	D,2,K,5	Q,19,4	22,16,J	B,13,C,E	Total	Avg
1	Final Four DeLand	16	14	18	18	16	16	18	13	15	17	161	16.1
2	Usual Suspects	12	12	15	17	14	11	17	14	13	16	141	14.1
3	Gelb Jung und Schoen	10	11	14	10	13	11	11	9	9	15	113	11.3
4	Phos4 Kassel	9	7	10	11	11	9	9	11	9	10	96	9.6
5	Pacmen	8	7	7	11	9	7	5	9	8	11	82	8.2

The Usual Suspects were formed in 2009 and posted the first scores at the July meet that year (11.7) with the first lineup. The scoring average went above 13.0 three times in 2010, before the new lineup of 2010 and 2011 finished with 14.1 last weekend. Observers in Germany said that the Usual Suspects' performance is promising even higher scores very soon.

The Yellow, Young and Beautiful 4-way veterans could finally not live up to the team name, at least in one aspect. The NSL News mentioned at last weekend's first update that a Block 14 collision in training had caused a black eye.

The victim, Uli Sehrbrock, now provided a photo and admitted that his team mate Henning Stumpp's knee was in the way of a smooth turn. It was surely not the first collision that happened during Block 14 (Bipole - Bipole). Many 4-way competitors have suffered bruises on heads, knees and ellbows while spinning on place.

Yellow Young and Beautiful Meet Director Mathias "Mausi" Maushake, who actually jumped in a red jumpsuit, reported that Event Judge Dr. Rainer "Exi" Hoenle also performed on top level. His own team suffered eight point deductions in the three rounds of the day, three video busts and five grip infringements. He added that all eight calls were correct.

The award ceremony still happened under blue skies in the early afternoon, students and other jumpers still continued until approx. 4 PM and the arrival of the weather front.

Germany also hosts the World Cup this year. Final Four does not have this event on the team's calendar. Yellow Young and Beautiful members Henning Stumpp and Olaf Biedermann will compete with the German 8-way team at the World Cup. X-Ray Remscheid members Steffen Schiedek and Uli Sehrbrock will compete with Final Four for medals at the German Nationals in September.