Team Forest Fire won first place in the Elite Division in the 2008 Utah SPPL Qualifier, while Desert Edge captured both first and second in the Masters Division. In the Rookie Division, BlackLight Company took home first place honors.

In spite of snow showers Thursday before the event, perfect spring weather greeted players for competitive woodsball action at the famous SpecOps Retribution field just outside Salt Lake City, Utah on May 2 and 3. The SPPL (Scenario Paintball Players' League) is in full swing, and 13 teams showed up two compete in the second event of the tournament series, battling for more than $15,000 worth of prizes in the Masters and Elite Division and trophies and medallions for the Rookies.

In the Finals, Forest Fire took on veteran team Run, who saw Tom Cole, Steve Paige, and Dale "Pegleg" Price all guesting on the team during the weekend. The win was especially significant to Forest Fire, who had lost a member of their paintball family, U.S. Marine Dustin Canham, just a few months prior.

As in every SPPL event, sportsmanship was the order of the day both on and off the field. In a sportsmanship vote by the players, nearly every team received a significant amount of votes. The Sportsmanship Award, equal in value to the first place prize package, went to Feel the Paint, recognized for their honesty, positive attitude, and fun-loving nature. Several players also recognized the head refs and team Bad Karma for the exemplary job they did reffing on the rough terrain of the Retribution Field.

The sun had nearly set on the mountain by the time promoter Jayson Nielson finished handing out prizes, congratulating teams and thanking the refs, sponsors and his staff. The SPPL is sponsored by Tippmann, Special Ops Paintball, Smart Parts, Planet Eclipse, Maddmann Paintball, APE/Rampage, Stiffi, VForce, DraXxus, QLoader, Tiberius Arms, Blast Radius Woodsball Podcast and RECON, the Magazine of Woods Paintball.

The Winners:
Rookie:
1st - BlackLight Company
2nd - Suicide Kings
3rd - Feel the Paint

Masters:
1st - Desert Edge Yin
2nd - Desert Edge Yang
3rd - Montana Inertia

Elite:
1st - Forest Fire
2nd - Run
Sportsmanship: Feel the Paint

The SPPL (Scenario Paintball Player's League), a subsidiary of Special Ops Paintball, will host nine Major Qualifier Events and the Championship Finals in 2008. The SPPL also supports Affiliate Events in the three-flag format held across the country. For more information about the SPPL, to compete in the league, or to host an affiliate event, e-mail jayson@playsppl.com or call 801.209.5140.  Official website: www.playsppl.com

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