National Champs: Carlo Traversi, Emily Harrington

In a two-day comp near Salt Lake City, Coloradans Carlo Traversi and Emily Harrington won the 2009 SCS Adult National Championships, sponsored by The North Face and Sterling Ropes. Ryan Roden and Amanda Sutton won the speed-climbing nationals.

Both the men’s and women’s fields at the Momentum gym were stacked with top U.S. sport climbers, and Traversi entered the final tied with Ethan Pringle and Jonathan Siegrist. (It was Siegrist’s first climbing competition!) The men’s final began with a techy vertical section, followed by a massive dyno. On the steeper upper route, Dave Graham touched but couldn’t hold a big ring three holds below the top. Traversi latched the ring and then tried to dyno off it, failing to clamp the next hold but still giving him the high point for the final.

On the women’s side, Harrington and Paige Claassen tied for first in the qualifiers, closely followed by Alex Puccio, who was docked a few points for skipping the final clip on the second qualifying route and taking the big whip from the final jug. In the final, Claassen grabbed a hold one move from the top, leaving the door open for Harrington, the defending national champ, to complete the flash and seal the deal.

Women’s Lead

1. Emily Harrington

2. Paige Claassen

3. Sasha DiGiulian

4. Sydney McNair

5. Alex Puccio

Men’s Lead

1. Carlo Traversi

2. Dave Graham

3. Ethan Pringle

4. Julian Bautista

5. Jonathan Siegrist

Women’s Speed

1. Amanda Sutton

2. Mykael Ann McGinley

3. Tiffany Hensley

Men’s Speed

1. Ryan Roden

2. Nic Sutton

3. Michael Perry

Dates of Comp: January 24-25, 2009

Sources:USAClimbing.net, Kynan Waggoner

Click here to see a photo gallery from the competition by John Evans

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