posted Mar 11th, 2006 - The AAA/Open Class competition at the SSL Valentine's Meet 2006 lost one team to a scheduling confusion. Elsinore Gravity had planned to compete in Eloy and realized too late that the meet date was on a different weekend than originally planned.

Team member Melanie Curtis informed the NSL News about the mishap and was sad that her team missed the competition. However, she provided the NSL News with a team update. The Gravity news from Elsinore sounded very promising for the team, as well as for 4-way competition and the Southwest Skydiving League.

Elsinore Gravity 2006 consists of Melanie Curtis, Lou Ascione, Steve Simar and John Hamilton. 4-way veteran and former Elsinore player coach for several local teams, John Hamilton, joined Elsinore Gravity 2006 as a full player, as Melanie Curtis explained in her team update.

Gravity 2005 with Erin Murphy won the Advanced Class silver medals at the USPA Nationals in Perris. Erin Murphy took on a lot of management work in Perris and for the Southwest Skydiving League and had to give up her Gravity slot. John Hamilton decided to fill the open slot for the 2006 season.

It is a promising commitment, as Melanie Curtis provided the Gravity plans for the next two years: "Elsinore Gravity is going huge with the goal of being a contender in the AAA/Open Class this year, definitely next year. We are planning to make 600 to 700 jumps this year, basically as many as we can get fit into our schedule between now and October."

The new line-up has already trained a lot and hard since the beginning of the year. Tunnel training comes in addition to the training jumps: "On top of the jumps, we’re supplementing our training with tunnel time here and there, a couple of Eloy trips and more regular tunnel time at home."

It was bad luck that the new AAA/Open Class contender missed the February competition in Eloy. It sounds as if Elsinore Gravity is already in great shape. The next SSL meet is scheduled for April 8, once again in Eloy, and the first Gravity scores will hopefully be posted by then. It could become an exciting catch-up race throughout the 2006 season between Perris Fury and Elsinore Gravity. Who will reach the very top level in 4-way competition first?

The members of the 2006 line-up have known each other for many years. John Hamilton and Louis Ascione trained and competed together for the first time with Elsinore Adrenaline in 2002. Jacquelyn O'Bryan and Tammi Rettig were the other team members that year and then competed together again last year with Fastrax Select. Elsinore Adrenaline with player coach John Hamilton finished in 9th place of the Open Class competition at the USPA Nationals 2002 with a 13.4 meet average.

Melanie Curtis replaced Jacquelyn O'Bryan for the 2003 season, and Elsinore Adrenaline stepped down into the AA/Intermediate Class competition at the USPA Nationals 2003 in Lake Wales. The 14.3 average in Florida was still four points behind the winner, Spaceland Inferno.

Elsinore Adrenaline pursued the USPA gold medals of the Advanced Class once again in 2004, this time on the west coast, close to the home turf. The USPA Nationals 2004 was a complete sweep for Elsinore teams, with Adrenaline in first place, Elsinore GT in second and Elsinore Satori in third place. Adrenaline's winning average was 13.2 in Perris.

The line-up had changed significantly though. Only Melanie Curtis and Tammi Rettig had continued after the 2003 season and joined forces with Jon Martens and Jim Browning for the Adrenaline 2004 line-up. John Hamilton guided Elsinore Satori to the bronze medals as the player coach.

Melanie Curtis had her USPA Advanced Class gold medal already in the records. However, her Adrenaline 2003 team mate Louis Ascione had missed the gold medal in 2004. With Steve Simar and Erin Murphy joining the team for the 2005 season, the USPA rules allowed the new line-up with defending champion Melanie Curtis to win medals in the Advanced Class.

The team name was finally changed to Elsinore Gravity, and Erin Murphy, Melanie Curtis, Louis Ascione and Steve Simar ended up in second place at the USPA Nationals 2005 with a 14.2 meet average in Perris. Winner Mass Defiance and Elsinore Gravity both decided to move on and join the AAA/Open Class competition in 2006.

Both teams also decided to lift up the performance level to new dimensions, as the NSL News already reported on the Mass Defiance plans with the story on January 19. Elsinore Gravity, Perris Fury and Mass Defiance seem to bring a new generation of teams and competitors to the top level of 4-way competition in the USA. The NSL News will follow the progression of these three teams throughout the 2006 season.

Elsinore Gravity member Melanie Curtis is already very excited about her new performance experiences: "It feels great to finally be skydiving at this level. Now to do it when it counts...." It might count very soon for Gravity at the first meet with the new line-up in April.

Additional team information can be found at the team's website.