USA Team Brings Home 4 Gold Medals at 2016 World Space Modeling Championships in Lviv, Ukraine

    LVIV, UKRAINE, October 04, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The National Association of Rocketry is pleased to announce the 2016 USA World Space Modeling team brought home the most medals ever from a world championships held outside of the United States.

Just after the American Olympians dominated the world stage in Rio, another group of American athletes took to the fields of Lviv, Ukraine for the biannual gathering of nations to determine world champions in space modeling. Team USA brings home three individual gold medals, one team gold medal, two individual silver medals, three team silver medals, one individual bronze medal, and one team bronze medal.

The Senior Team USA also placed third overall at the competition to score overall team bronze.

The USA final podium results:

S1B Altitude (Senior):
Individual Gold: Dr. Robert Kreutz (Bricktown, NJ)
To win this event, the modeler has to reach the highest altitude in a given power class. The altitude is measured with an on board sensor and then read into a laptop on the ground.

S5C Scale Altitude (Senior):
Individual Gold: Matt Steele (Sandy, UT)
To win this event, the modeler has to build a scale model of a real rocket, which is judged for accuracy, then fly the model to altitude in a given power class. The combination of scale accuracy plus altitude determines the winner.

S2P Precision Fragile Payload (Senior) World Cup Event:
Individual Gold: Emma Kristal (Royal Oak, MI)
To win this event, the modeler has to reach a target altitude of 300 meters and a flight time of 60 seconds for three consecutive flights, while not breaking the egg on board. The flyer closest to the cumulative target over the three flights is the winner.

S2P Precision Fragile Payload)(Senior) World Cup Event:
Team Gold: USA (Emma Kristal, Matt Steele, Chris Flanigan)

S1A Altitude (Junior):
Silver: Ashley Van Milligan (Colorado Springs, CO)

S1A Altitude (Junior):
Team Silver: USA (Ashley Van Milligan, Allison Van Milligan, Rachel Nowak)

S1A Altitude (Senior):
Team Silver: USA (Dr. Robert Kreutz, Matt Steele, Dr. Steve Kristal)

S2P Precision Fragile Payload (Junior) World Cup Event:
Individual Silver: Ashley Van Milligan (Colorado Springs, CO)
Individual Bronze: Allison Van Milligan (Colorado Springs, CO)

S2P Precision Fragile Payload (Junior) World Cup Event:
Jr. Team Silver: USA (Ashley Van Milligan, Allison Van Milligan, Stoil Aramov, Rachel Nowak)

S8D Radio Controlled Rocket Glider (Junior):
Team Bronze - USA (Alyssa Stenberg, Zack Stenberg, Stoil Aramov)
To win this event, the modeler must use radio control to fly a rocket-powered glider to a target time, and then land the glider in a designated area. The combination of time plus accuracy determines the winner.

Overall 2016 WSMC Results (Senior):
Team Bronze - USA (Dr. Robert Kreutz, Matt Steele, Emma Kristal, Dr. Steve Kristal, Chris Flanigan, Kevin Johnson, James Duffy, Jim Filler, Randy Ringer, Dave O'Bryan, Kevin Kuczek, Jay Marsh, Matt Berk, George Gassaway, Steve Humphrey, Dr. Mike Nowak, Dr. Chris Kidwell)

On winning his second individual gold medal in FAI competition, Dr. Robert Kreutz said: "How does it feel? Pretty darn good! To win, everything has to come together and work at its best. I had good models, good motors and a perfectly vertical flight. We went straight up on this one."

After coming from behind to secure the win, Matt Steele said: "It has taken me 36 years from my first FAI individual medals (bronze in two events in 1980) to finally win an FAI gold medal in one of the toughest events. This is a tough event that combines building a great scale model with squeezing every last meter of altitude out of it. Winning has still not sunk in!"

College student Emma Kristal, remarking on her victory in the S2P event said "This was just amazing on so many levels. It was the first time the event had been held as an official event in world competition, it was the first time I was competing as a senior after 6 years on the team as a junior, and it was the first time I've been on the medal stand. Winning Gold both as an individual and with my wonderful teammates Matt Steele and Chris Flanigan was just fantastic. I know I definitely wouldn't have been there without their help, so to share this with them was perfect."

The National Association of Rocketry (NAR) is a non-profit tax-exempt scientific organization dedicated to consumer safety, youth education, and the advancement of technology in the hobby of Spacemodeling (sport rocketry) in the United States. Founded in 1957, the NAR is the oldest and largest spacemodeling organization in the world with over 5900 members and 165 affiliated clubs across the U.S.

The NAR supports all aspects of safe consumer sport rocket flying, from small model rockets with youth groups to very large high power rockets with serious adult hobbyists. The NAR represents the U.S. in the Federation Aeronautique Internationale World Spacemodeling Championships international program.

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