The USQRA Nationals are now all wrapped up, and were by all accounts quite well run.  Louisville will again be the host for their Division I and II National Championships next year.

The top division has a new champion from cattle country, that one star state where they have more than one star on their team, which features Geremy Tinker from New Zealand and four other current or former US National Team members.  Tinker has had a banner season, winning Best 2.0 at this year's Coloplast International, along with MVP honours at the Demolition Derby.  Gerry's teams won both of those tournaments this season, along with the World Wheelchair Games and the Chris Handy Cup.  He's one to watch in Athens!

This was the Texan's first win in Division I, ending a five year winning spree for the Lakeshore Demolition, who effectively split into two high-performance teams this year, ending up 2nd as themselves, and 4th as the host team, Frazier TNT. 

In the history of the US Nationals, Lakeshore has won 5 times, and placed 2nd twice.  Both the Tampa Generals and Sharp Shadow have won it three times with a single runner-up finish each.  Everyone else is a long way off.

You can check out the full results of the US Nationals at your leisure, but the Canadian highlights include Ian Chan (Best 3.0) and the Bushies placing 3rd, while Garett's California Quake ended up 6th, and Dave and Joe's Hoveround Lightning slipping to 7th.  G's 0.5 playing partner was not there, which probably affected his court time.

There are a few decent articles now posted on the USQRA web site, one by the always appreciated "Helmet Head" and another one with photos by John Ershek.

Meanwhile, back in the north, where there was snow falling in Alberta yesterday and morning temperatures still hovering around 0°C in most of the country, our own nationals are coming quickly into focus.

More on the Canadian Nationals next time.  In the meantime, here are some historical stats from previous nationals.