“There will always be rocks in the road ahead of us. They will be stumbling blocks or stepping stones; it all depends on how you use them.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
It has been a great experience at Nationals. I am very excited by my placement and all the experience I had at Philadelphia. I am writing this a week after my last run at Nationals. I am glad that all the work I put in paid off. I am thinking about everything I need to do to prepare for next year’s Nationals. I cannot wait to compete again.
Despite the closest 15 meter speed wall being two hours from my house, despite being considered someone who started climbing late at age 12, despite my calf muscle pull injury at Divisionals, despite not being able to train daily on a 15 meter speed wall in the weeks leading up to Nationals, I persevered and focused and got a personal record on my final run at Youth Nationals. The final run! Like a script from a Hollywood sports movie. That run moved me up to fifth place, which I would have never thought was obtainable two years earlier when I couldn’t even crack 19 seconds on the 15 meter wall.
Just a year after I joined Team Texas, the most successful climbing team in the history of USA Youth Climbing competitions, I was able to stand next to my teammates to celebrate our 2nd place finish for the speed team competition. I am thrilled to have contributed to this strong finish for Team Texas, along with Lauren, Maria, Kiara, Oceana, and Kailer. This journey to Nationals 2019 has been filled with not only hard work and dedication, but also fun, shenanigans, and laughter with my teammates and coaches.
Looking to the future, I still have almost a year to prepare for the 2020 Youth Nationals, but I am starting sooner than I did last year. I’m more focused. And I’m putting together a plan. I’m already in discussions with my speed climbing coach about what changes I need to make in my beta and new exercises to increase my strength for the bigger moves I’ll need to make. Despite facing a number of obstacles, I had an incredible finish at this year’s Nationals, but I still hope to improve my standing next year.
In four months, I will compete at the IFSC Youth PanAms in Ecuador, which includes climbers from North, Central, and South America. My strong finish at Youth Nationals qualifies me to represent Team USA at PanAms. It is typically larger than Nationals and will be exciting to meet all of the speed climbers from Latin America. In particular, the Ecuadorians are known to be great speed climbers. Unfortunately, it happens while school is in session for me, so I will have to miss a couple days of high school. Despite missing some school, the opportunity to attend my first international climbing competition is thrilling. I can’t wait to go.
One challenge next year is that it will be my first year in the A age group at youth Nationals, which means I will have to face climbers a year older than me. The competition will undoubtedly be much tougher. Even if I don’t place as strong as I did this year, as long as I place well among the climbers my age, I will have improved.
On top of that I might also go to the US Open Nationals in the spring. It will definitely be the hardest competition that I’ve ever attended. I will have to face the fastest climbers in the United States including US record holder John Brosler, instead of just the fastest people for my age group. With a lot of hard work and a little luck, I might be able to place well.
With all of that ahead of me in the next 51 weeks, I know that there will be a tremendous amount of training and work to be done. I feel more focused than ever and look forward to crushing the upcoming challenges.
