Collegiates, Day 1! (Tuesday)

7:45 am: Good morning ladies and germs, it's an almost beautiful day at Skydive Spaceland. We've got a solid overcast, but the cloud bases are at about 8000 feet, so accuracy is going to be first up. I saw the sun this morning... through a slit in the clouds...

Off to work on team roster pages and photos, be back in a bit!

10:35 am: Accuracy is going strong; competitors are on round 3 of classic accuracy, then it sounds like we'll switch to sport accuracy before round 4 of classic accuracy. (Round 4 will be jumped in reverse order of standings, which will take a bit to sort out.) So far after two rounds of classic accuracy scoring for the master's division (competitors with more than 350 jumps), only three jumps have resulted in the maximum score of 2 m.Good flying, everyone!

Team rosters are posted, and photos will start showing up for the team events once the teams are able to get in the air. Scores will go online shortly as well.

In the meantime, here are a few notes from last night's briefing:

• This is the longest-running skydiving meet in the United States; this is the 52nd year of the National Collegiate Parachuting Championships. 
• Larry Bagley is the USPA controller of the meet, and Bill Wenger is the meet director. John Goetsch is the chief judge.
  
• CBS Sports is covering the meet; we'll let you know when that will air as soon as we find out.
  
• For 2- and 4-way formation skydiving, working time starts either 5 seconds after exit or at the break of the first drawn formation, whichever comes first. 
• Freefall events will use a video pool; teams are responsible for showing points to the videographer and placing him/her for the best view. If the videographer interferes with the team's performance, the team will get a rejump. 
• Sport accuracy: The jumper's first point of contact with the ground must be in the target circle to receive a score. 
• Accuracy: The wind limit is 7 m/s; if winds increase to more than 9 m/s while jumpers are landing, affected competitors will receive a mandatory rejump. A 2-m pad is being used to score classic accuracy for this meet. 
• The official scores will be posted outside the packing room. Scores seen anywhere else are unofficial. 

Final registration numbers: 

• 104 jumpers
• 4-way open: 5 teams
• 4-way advanced: 9 teams
• 2-way formation skydiving: 13 teams
• 2-way vertical formation skydiving: 11 teams
• 6-way speed: 11 teams
• Individual classic accuracy: 45 competitors
• Team classic accuracy: 11 teams
• Individual sport accuracy: 60 competitors

10:55 am: Round 1 of sport accuracy is on a 10-minute call. Woohoo!

11:10 am: Still working on the online results; in the meantime, we have a few very nice shots of 4-way open class team VTSD by local videographer Ori Kuper (from yesterday's practice jumps):

1:10 pm: Round 3 of individual accuracy is done, and USAFA competitor Alicia Bouges has jumped to the top of the master class with a total score of 0.09 m. Christopher Gaulin of the USMA is only 0.04 m back, with Joshua Cook (USMA) 0.04 m behind him.

Intermediate is just about the reverse, with Aaron Greer of the USMA on top followed by six USAFA competitors. Only 0.03 m separate the top three spots!

It's a tight race for the top in the novice class as well... Chester Haner of the USMA is only 0.01 m ahead of his teammate Maxwell Love.

Photos coming soon!

1:25 pm: And the team accuracy event is complete, with the USAFA in gold and silver positions! Air Force Lawn Darts scored a total of 1.62 m, Air Force Groovy Tap-a-Tune scored a 2.59, and West Point Eenie Meenie Minie Moe finished with a 3.14. Congratulations!

This just in... it's starting to drizzle, and the freefall competitors have been released until tomorrow, same time (7:45 am 15-minute call, for an 8 am takeoff). Accuracy competitors are NOT released; stick around and we'll see if we can manage to finish sport and individual accuracy today!

2:10 pm: Well, we got in a few more jumps, but it's drizzling just enough now to run everyone back inside and shut the planes down. We're on hold for the moment, but hoping to get more accuracy in before sunset. 

2:35 pm: And it looks like that's it for the day... we're packing it in due to rain. Everyone is released until tomorrow morning, 8 am takeoff scheduled.

I've just been chatting with some lovely new friends who are shooting video for the CBS College Sports Network. Apparently, they're recording for a complete show on the Collegiates for the Alt Games, which will air sometime in March or April. The schedule will appear at some point on www.cbssports.com, so keep an eye on that! We'll let you know if we find out a definite schedule.

3 pm: Photos!!

Here's what a 0.09-m landing looks like...

Judges run to mark a jumper's initial landing spot in sport accuracy.

Judging sport accuracy can be hazardous... ;-)

With the freefall events on hold and tons of accuracy competitors on the drop zone, there were plenty of spectators to go around despite the chilly weather.

Meet controller Larry Bagley and chief judge John Goetsch go over accuracy scores.

Accuracy competitors, listen up: One jumper has questioned one of his scores because he recalls getting a different score than what was posted on the scoresheet. Unfortunately, because a good bit of time and a lot of jumps had passed since the jump in question, the judges have a hard time recalling any particular jump and can't in good faith change his score, because then what's to keep other competitors from saying they got a different score than they did? Moral of the story: Check the score the judges write down for you immediately upon landing. If you wait, it's too late.

4:30 pm: Final update for the day: Sport Accuracy scores are now posted online through round 2 (sorry for the delay). There's a bit of a surprise in the novice division, where civilian Brad Carrender of Kansas State is currently leading all other competitors including the Army and Air Force jumpers. Ryan Nissim of the USAFA currently leads the intermediate division with the meet's only 0.00 total so far (sweet!). Orlando Zambrano (USMA) leads the master's division with a 0.25.

See you all tomorrow, keep your fingers crossed for good weather!