Five young climbers from Warren found themselves amid the fray, contending with teams from mega-gyms in cities like Detroit, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. These kids have been training and preparing since September, and have traveled across the region — attending qualifying competitions in hopes to earn their place at this event.

It was intense. The format of this competition was different from the qualifiers. At this event, climbers faced down four separate climbing challenges, limited to only four minutes for each, and without any assistance of any kind. That’s right; no coaching allowed.

The day started early. The first climbers were ushered into the “isolation” zone at 8 a.m. This is where the athletes warm up and prepare to climb. It is blocked off, completely separate from the competition area. In this type of competition, climbers are not allowed to have any information concerning the climbing challenges, so a great deal of effort is placed on keeping them “isolated.” The area felt small. Throughout the day this space would accommodate nearly 220 athletes, plus coaches and officials — all crammed into this space preparing to climb: moving around, climbing the walls and stretching.

It was a struggle to control nerves. And with so many athletes vying for space to climb and warm up, it was difficult to prepare.

Elodie Criswell, left, stands on the podium with her second-place medal in Youth D at the USA Climbing Regional Championships at Iron City Boulders in Pittsburgh. Submitted Photo

As a coach, Dana Harrington’s job is to manage the chaos and make sure kids have what they need to prepare, not just physically but mentally. It is so easy to get overwhelmed. At one point, Harrington nearly met his match. One of his climbers, Grant Criswell, came to him with a bloody nose just as his name was called, which meant they had eight minutes before Criswell was required to leave the isolation zone. What appeared to be fairly benign, quickly erupted into a literal bloody mess. The clock was ticking. If they failed to stop the bleeding, Criswell’s competition would be over. The rules are very clear, any active bleeding would keep him off the wall and once his allotted time expired he would be done. No exceptions. They needed to stop the bleeding, while otherwise keeping Criswell calm and focused on the extreme challenge he would be facing in a few short minutes. By some miracle, they were able to stop the bleeding, and Criswell was ushered out of isolation just in time. Harrington said he was truly amazed by the composure of this 10-year-old.

Climbers are ushered out of the isolation area in groups of five guarded by officials so that they remain secluded from parents and coaches, and are unable to perceive the competition arena. They are moved to a chair and instructed to keep their head down and not interact with anyone. Four minutes in the chair; then a 30-second transition period; then “beep” the judge turns them toward a section of climbing wall, indicating the climb, and their first challenge begins. They have four minutes to attempt the climb, trying to progress to designated “zone” holds, or better yet, the “top” which is the best possible result. After the four minutes are up, they are escorted to another isolation chair, and the process repeats until they have attempted all four challenges. The whole process takes about 40 minutes.

There are five categories for boys and five for girls based on age. Elodie and Grant Criswell both competed in Youth D (10 and under) finishing second and eighth, respectively. And at only 8 years old, Elodie was just one “Zone” behind the first-place finisher. Chase Long, Natalie Muntz and Lily White competed in Youth C (11 and 12) finishing 23rd, 18th, and third, respectively. Plus, as this group is eligible to move on to the Divisional Championships, Lily White will be the first Warren climber to qualify for this event, making her one of the best youth climbers from West Virginia to Nebraska.

So how does the Warren climbing team stack up? Teams are ranked by their top athlete in each category. They are a young team, and don’t yet have athletes in the older categories. So as a team, they only have four opportunities to score versus the 10 available to teams with older kids. Still, the climbers did so well that The Goat Fort Thundering Herd was eighth overall.

Lily White, left, stands with her third-place medal in Youth C. Submitted Photo

Grant Criswell looks to make his next move. Submitted Photo

Chase Long nears the top of the wall. Submitted Photo

Natalie Muntz eyes a way to get out of a tough spot. Submitted Photo