Harrington, Sharma Are National Champs

Emily Harrington and Chris Sharma topped very strong fields at last weekend’s comp near Salt Lake City to be named adult national champions in lead climbing. Paige Claassen forced a superfinal round by flashing the women’s final route, but Harrington, the most successful American climber now competing internationally, used her experience to eke out a win.

The championships, held at the Momentum Indoor Climbing Gym in Sandy, Utah, also determined the final roster of the U.S. Climbing Team for difficulty in 2008. The top three men all made the team; Harrington, Claassen, Tiffany Hensley, and Natasha Barnes were named to the women's team. U.S. team members have access to a $6,000 travel fund for competing at international events.

See all the results and (soon) photos from the comp at www.scsnationals.org.

Men’s Difficulty
1.    Chris Sharma
2.    Jon Cardwell
3.    Dave Graham 
4.    Joe Kinder
5.    Ryan Roden

Women’s Difficulty
1.    Emily Harrington
2.    Paige Claassen
3.    Tiffany Hensley
4.    Sasha Digiulian
4.    Alex Puccio

Men’s Speed
1.    Ryan Roden
2.    Brian Furciniti
3.    Daniel Duran
4.    Kyle McFarland

Women’s Speed
1.    Tiffany Hensley
2.    Amanda Sutton
3.    Stephanie Outland

Date of Event: January 25–26, 2008

Source: www.scsnationals.org

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