Joseph Marvin: Assistant Sports Information Director
BREVARD, N.C. - USA Climbing announced on Monday that the 2019 USA Climbing Collegiate National Championships will be held in Murfreesboro, Tennessee from April 26-27. USA Climbing, which serves as the National Governing Body for Competitive Climbing, will be holding the event only five hours away from Brevard College's campus.
"We are thrilled to bring the 2019 USA Climbing Collegiate National Championship to Climb Murfreesboro and to bring a championship event to the Southeast," says Zachary Brinchi, Marketing & Communications Manager of USA Climbing. "Situated right next to a major university and an exciting city like Nashville, Murfreesboro is a prime location for this event. We can't wait to welcome the competitors, spectators, friends, and family in April 2019!"
The Tornados Climbing team, coming off of their best season to date, sent two athletes to the 2018 USA Climbing Championships a year ago. Caroline Safford (Jr.) and Matthew Stephens (So.) traveled to Houston, Texas to compete last April. Both enjoyed success at Nationals after qualifying in the Appalachian Regionals. Stephens finished 33rd out of 110 males in the speed event to go along with 26th out of 100 in the bouldering event. Safford was able to score a 6100 in the female bouldering event at the 2018 edition of USA Climbing's nationals. The event saw 94 collegiate teams from all across the United States compete for the Collegiate National Championships.
"We are excited to have nationals be so close to home this year," stated Head Climbing Coach Travis Gray. "We have been fortunate to build a great relationship with the wonderful staff of Climb over the last few years and we couldn't think of a better crew and facility to host such a rapidly growing and exciting event, the big stage of collegiate climbing! Our hope is that the location of the competition will make watching our performances at the 2019 USA Climbing-Collegiate National event much more accessible to our family, friends, and fans."
The 2018-19 Tornados Competitive Climbing team boasts their biggest roster in program history, fielding 16 student-athletes. The Appalachian Regional competition schedule is slated to be announced in October, so be sure to click here to follow any news and updates on Tornados Climbing.
All of Tornado nation is encouraged to make the trek to Murfreesboro, TN. from April 26th-27th.
To follow the latest news and updates from USA Climbing, please click here, or follow @USAClimbing on Twitter and Instagram.