BREVARD, N.C. – The Brevard College Climbing team concluded its 2018-19 season with a trip to the USA Climbing Collegiate National Championships held this past weekend at Climb Murfreesboro in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
The Tornados finished in 62nd place out of 94 schools that competed at the national championships. Stanford won the event with Georgia Tech finishing second and Dartmouth placing third.
Seven Brevard College climbers competed in nationals, led by freshman Madison Altman who earned an automatic qualification to the national championships after a third place finish in the Sport competition and a fifth place finish in Speed at the USA Climbing Appalachian Regional Championships in March.
At the national championships, Altman competed in Speed, Sport and Bouldering. In Speed, Altman placed 61st with a time of 21.16 seconds followed by an 89th place finish in Sport and a 102nd place finish in Bouldering.
BC's Danielle Brown also competed in the Female Bouldering and Speed disciplines at the national championships. Brown finished 90th in Speed and 139th in Bouldering.
On the men's side, five Brevard College climbers competed at the national championships with Nathan Boepple, Taylor Everard, Mac Fitzgerald, Carlton Angell and Samuel Willis all seeing action.
The five men's competitors for Brevard each took on the highly competitive Bouldering field at Climb Murfreesboro. Everard was the top finishing Tornado with an 181st place finish followed by Angell (198th), Boepple (205th), Fitzgerald (211th) and Willis (219th).
Boepple also competed in the Sport competition with a 104th place national championship finish in the discipline.
The USA Climbing Collegiate National Championships was the culmination of a successful 2018-19 season for the Brevard College Climbing team under the direction of Head Coach Travis Gray.
"Nationals is always an eye opener for our team," said Head Coach Travis Gray. "Being that it is the biggest event of the USA Climbing collegiate season, it brings out some of the country's best and most talented climbers. I think for us, attending nationals was an opportunity to expose our team to the level that it takes to compete at such a high level."
The competitive schedule began with Brevard College hosting its Fall Collegiate Competition at the Brevard Rock Gym. Altman made her collegiate debut with a second place finish in the Female Bouldering Competition on October 27. On the men's side, Boepple was the highest finishing Tornado placing 12th out of 28 climbers.
The season continued two weeks later at the Wake Forest University competition where Altman won the event in just her second collegiate competition.
With the turn of the New Year, Altman continued her success with a second place finish at the Tennessee Bouldering Authority Collegiate Competition in Chattanooga, Tenn. Brown finished with her top finish of the season with a third place result at the event. On the men's side, five BC climbers finished in the top-15 led by an 11th place result by Angell.
The regular season concluded with a competition at Western Carolina University followed by the third annual Boulder Bash hosted by Brevard College at the Brevard Rock Gym. At the Brevard College Boulder Bash, Altman placed sixth and Jake Roberts finished 16th to lead the Tornados.
The Brevard College Climbing team traveled to the Crag in Nashville, Tenn. for the USA Climbing Appalachian Regional Championships where Altman, Brown, Boepple, Everard, Fitzgerald, Angell and Willis all competed. Altman earned an automatic qualification for the national championships while the remainder of the team gained valuable experience on the big championship stage.
"What made me most proud this season is the support that everyone showed our team," said Gray. "The athletic department, our sponsor Mission Health, and the families traveling to see their students in action have been nothing shy of awesome. As for the team, making it through a full year of training, conditioning and competing is no easy task, I'm proud that they stood together and embraced the challenges and sacrifices head on with dignity and grace."
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