November 8/9 weekend marked the final team for a day and scrambles events of the 2008 season. While we're singing a familiar song about the weather not cooperating for Team for a day Saturday, and it wasn't any better Sunday, we had a great time with the creeper competition for those who showed up.
Despite a ceiling of about 2000 ft, some snow and temps in the 30's, we had enough people turn out on Sunday for 3 scrambles teams. After all, there were awesome prizes to give out! Since it was not jumpable, we had a creeper meet. To keep it fresh, we changed things up for the fourth and final round by making it a creeper relay race.
Three teams competed for the 15 minutes of tunnel time donated by Paraclete XP, the 50% off a Tony Suit, and the PD goodies including tshirts, hats and a great camel back hydration system.
Team one, "The Fourskins", was Andy Bonwit, Michael Lehrer, Eric Haszlakiewicz and Henrik Csuri. Team two, "The all girls team, the Me," was Helen Morris, Ellen Steckbar, Allison Harper, and JaNette Lefkowitz. Team three, "Team Whatevah" was Marcello Lupo, Nathan Dexter, Eric Bambach and Andrzej Imporowicz.
The women were determined to win the top prize, and it was evident in the faces of each teammate during their performances. Their focus would not be shaken by the aggressive heckling tactics of the other teams. Later, team captain JaNette would explain that pre-jump pep talks focused on maintaining concentration and mental discipline. Surely, that paid off in rounds one through three. Could they keep it up in round four?
After three rounds of intense 4-way competition, "The all girls team, the Me" had a commanding 13 point lead over the next two teams, who were both tied for second. The scores going into round 4 were 70, 57, 57.
Among the remaining two teams, "Team Whatevah" appeared to have the best chance at catching the women after two rounds, with "The Fourskins" falling behind early. However, while "Team Whatevah" delivered consistent performances throughout, "The Fourskins" would come back with a vengeance in round three, outscoring both teams to even it up for second place.
So now the hardened competitors find themselves at Round 4 - a test of hardened wills and pure athletisism. In this round, competitors would propel themselves on their creepers across the length of the North Hangar and back in a relay race. The competition's officient, Steve Lefkowitz, explains the rules and the scoring format.
Like Mad Max, the only rules are, there are no rules! The final scoring format is 30,25,15 for first, second and third place, which means it's still anyone's game, but the girls will have to come in last for either of the second place teams to win the top prize. Sensing the other teams are out for blood, the women replace Ellen with a ringer, her young son Matt.
And they're off! All three teams are furiously racing down the hangar towards the packing weights. In the first leg, the women fall behind, and it looks like it's anybody's race. But now JaNette and Matt execute a flawless handoff, and Matt burns down the hangar and back like a thoroughbred, making up nearly all the ground they had lost.
Now it's the third leg, and all three teams are reckless and wild as they pour through the turn. They deftly maneuver, and muscle for rank, and as each competitor passes the creeper to the 4th and final leg, it looks like team "Whatevah" will safely cross the finish line in first. Nathan Dexter pushes through the finish line, and the flags go down, but he has crunched the numbers, and he knows that winning is not enough to get the top prize for the day. The women must come in third!
In a fearless act of self-sacrifice, Nathan throws his body in front Helen to block her from finishing before the "Fourskins." Helen reacts almost instantly, reaching wildly across Nathan's body to finish as Henrik crosses the line for the "Fourskins"... But is it enough? The battle weary warriors will have to wait for a video review for the final judgement.
With great earnestness, Steve reviews the final moments of the race. It is indeed a close one, but in the end, Nathan's heroism pays off for his team, and "Whatevah" takes first, edging out the women for the top prize of the day. So there it is: According to the international regulations, the members of "Whatevah" will enter the drawing for the 15 minutes XP tunnel time and they will each get a great assortment of PD goodies. "The all girls team, the Me" are also extremely happy as they will draw for the Tony Suit 50% off gift certificate, and the "Fourskins" will happily draw for the PD camel back as well. Michael Lehrer's first time at CSC is a prolific one, as he walks away with the camel back. Helen, who is in need of something to replace the old jumpsuit she was borrowing from JaNette, quite fittingly wins the Tony Suit gift certificate. Finally, Eric Bambach, who graduated AFF earlier this season and was already planning on joining the CSC Rhythm XP tunnel camp December 5-7, wins the 15 minutes tunnel time.
The day truly turned out to be exciting for everyone involved. The only thing that could have made it better was if we all had some time in the air. Thanks to everyone who came out and participated. And a big thanks to the Paraclete XP wind tunnel, Tony Suits, Performance Designs and CSC! Also thanks to videographers Kevin Naftzger and Pete Jabczynski. Unfortunately there were no skydives to video, but they were right there ready if the skies cleared.
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