The Brevard College Climbing team posted impressive results at the USA Climbing Collegiate Southeast Divisional Championships held this past weekend at High Point Climbing in Birmingham, Alabama with several BC student-athletes qualifying for the national championships. Seven Brevard College student-athletes made the trip to the Divisionals with a total of four Tornados qualifying in the discipline of Bouldering for April’s USA Climbing Collegiate National Championships.
Brevard College senior Madison Altman placed seventh in Sunday’s Bouldering Finals in the women’s competition to earn a spot at the national championships in April. Altman, placed eighth in Saturday’s qualifying to position herself for Sunday’s finals where she delivered the top-ten result. BC junior Shyvonne Potter placed 15th in the finals and 18th in qualifying, while freshman Shannon McCarthy placed 24th in qualifying. A total of 34 student-athletes competed in the bouldering event in the women’s competition.
On the men’s side, three Tornados qualified for the national championships after all four BC student-athletes who made the trip qualified for the Divisional Finals. In all, a total of 52 student-athletes from throughout the Southeastern United States competed in the men’s bouldering event with 20 qualifying for the finals.
Junior Caleb Trent led the Tornados with an eighth place final result after qualifying fourth. Kendrick Austin finished 10th, improving upon a 19th-place qualifier on Saturday. Junior Dawson Jacobs delivered a 13th-place result in the Finals after qualifying 14th. Junior Chris Board qualified 13th on Saturday, then placed 18th in the Finals. With their results, Trent, Austin and Jacobs all secured spots for the Bouldering National Championships.
The competition marked the first USA Climbing Divisional Championships for the collegiate level since 2019 due to cancellations as a result of the pandemic. Now, a total of four Tornados will head to Bridgeport, Pennsylvania for the USA Climbing National Championships, also the first event of its kind since 2019.
“After having not competed for two years, to come to Divisionals and walk away qualifying almost half of our team for nationals is extremely gratifying to say the least,” said Brevard College Head Climbing Coach Dan Horne. “These athletes fought to the last minute in qualifiers and really turned it on in finals to make it happen. As their coach, I couldn’t be prouder!”
The USA Climbing Collegiate National Championships are scheduled for April 21-24 at Reach Climbing & Fitness in Bridgeport, Pennsylvania.