Eagle Climbing and Fitness hosts American Scholastic Climbing League regional climbing competition
Larry Moore's athletes have turned their eyes toward the USA Divisionals this weekend in Colorado Springs
Veronica Kuffel/Courtesy photo
On Feb. 3 Eagle Climbing and Fitness hosted the Regional Championship for the American Scholastic Climbing League. More than 160 athletes traveled from across the Western Slope to climb in the high school and middle school competition.
It’s one of the most ambitious events gym owner and Co-Regional Director Larry Moore hosts in the gym’s climbing season.
“It’s a massive endeavor to reset the entire gym and it takes a lot of patience,” Moore said. “Special thanks to our entire community for their support, from the parents and the teammates to all the coaches and route setters-–the people that put it all together.”
Ridgway High School won the varsity boys team title with a score of 25,883 points. Leo Smith, Chente Anderson and Andrew Wade helped secure the team win with 3-4-5 placings out of 86 climbers.
CRMS junior Devin Brush took the individual title with 8,838 points, his sixth win of the 2023-24 season.
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“Devin continues to impress everybody, such a strong climber and humble young man,” Moore noted. “(He’s) a great supporter of his team and other athletes in the league.”
Junior Audrey Righter amassed 8,015 points, leaving with the varsity girls individual and team titles for Montrose High School. Hazel Lazar followed right behind with second-place individual and team titles for CRMS.
“Hazel’s amazing, she always thinks she’s not doing as well as she is, and she ends up on the podium all the time,” Moore said. “It’s fun to watch her.”
Sixth grader Kaidence Steinman walked away with the Regional Championship title for middle school girls. Ada Cole, a newcomer to Eagle Valley’s elite competition team, had a strong first performance with a fifth-place win at 3,422 points and zero falls.
Eagle Valley climbers swept the middle school boys championship with Dylan Hewitt, Waylon Larson and Wyatt Larson earning respective 1-2-3 placings. Waylon was the only sixth grader on the podium, while his brother, Wyatt, and Hewitt are currently in eighth grade.
“Some of my goals for the middle school regional competition were to have fun and to engage with my friends, and not be too distracted so I can climb my best,” Waylon said. “The climbs were tough but fun, and it was great to have my brother and friends there to climb with, too.”
Waylon was also one of the Eagle gym’s four athletes who qualified for USA Climbing Divisionals. This weekend, he will join Mary Beth Friery, Brynn Lindal and Finnegan McCurdy at the competition in Colorado Springs.
Moore touched on Waylon’s attributes as a soon-to-be divisional climber.
“One of our most promising athletes is Waylon Larson,” Moore said. “He’s young and just super strong, very coachable and ready to do his very best.”
Each divisional athlete was required to climb at different qualifying events to participate, and the top 26 of those events went to Regionals and the top 13 go to Divisionals. Waylon took seventh overall in the USA Climbing Regionals and qualified for this weekend’s competition.
According to Moore, the most challenging part of the competition will be the face-off between climbers of their opposing region — the Front Range. He noted the area has a high concentration of large commercial gyms and successful climbing programs.
“We’re going up against some of the best athletes in the entire nation,” Moore said. “It’s great that we’ve got some athletes going for the first time to Divisionals, and (we) hope to see some strong performances.”
USA Climbing Divisionals will put athletes to the test from Saturday to Sunday, Feb. 10-11 at the Springs Climbing Center. The results of this weekend will determine who advances to the national championship.
While the competition will be fierce, Eagle Valley climbers like Waylon will climb with determination and a positive mindset, regardless of the outcome.
“I definitely want to keep climbing even if I win or lose in Divisionals,” Waylon said. “Larry, Shaggy, Fred and all my other coaches and teammates really helped me get to where I am today, I could not have done this without them.”
