Eight Warren athletes were in attendance: Lily White, Natalie Muntz, Coleman Miller, Grant Criswell, Nina Harrington, Eloise Harrington, Elodie Criswell and Freya Heath.

This was the first event in the region that wasn’t over six hours away, and for many Pennsylvania climbers, it was their first qualifying event of the season. The gym was packed, and every category was nearly full to capacity.

Each climber competed in a category based on their age, and each category had seven different boulders (climbing challenges). Ideally, these boulders are graduated in difficulty to allow a distinct separation in the athletes according to their skills. Unfortunately, Goat Fort climbers found that most categories were a little “soft,” meaning that there were too many easy climbs that almost all of the athletes could compete. In some cases there were only one or two hard climbs. This limited the opportunity for more skilled athletes to differentiate themselves, which definitely impacted some of Goat Fort’s athletes.

In the case of the Female Under 13 category, only one climb separated the top 10 athletes; and the top eight were separated merely by attempts. For example, Eloise Harrington completed all seven boulders, but finished in seventh place with only eight tries between her and first place.

Nina Harrington

Regardless of circumstances, Goat Fort’s climbers were focused and brought their best. The older, more experienced athletes: White, Muntz and Grant Criswell, were as reliable as ever — finishing sixth, 11th and 11th, respectively. Goat Fort’s U13 girls (Nina Harrington, Elodie Criswell and Eloise Harrington) dominated — all three finished in the top 10. Heath, in her first season, was able to score on six of seven boulders. And Miller, in his first event of the season, provided one of the highlights of the day with a buzzer beater — topping one final boulder as time expired.

Goat Fort is halfway through the qualifying season and though there are still three events remaining, it looks like White, Muntz, Grant Criswell, Nina Harrington, Eloise Harrington and Elodie Criswell have likely secured their place at the Regional Championships.

The club will have another six-week break before the next qualifying event. The Goat Fort Thundering Herd will be back in action in Akron, Ohio, on Saturday, Jan. 24.

Eloise Harrington

Freya Heath

Elodie Criswell

Lily White

Coleman Miller

Grant Criswell