Graduate Taylor, freshmen Kerns, Dausch qualify for next month’s USA Climbing Collegiate Nationals in Arizona

Saturday, April 6

Alexandria, VA

8:00 AM

Liberty University Club Sports

Sportrock Climbing Center Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Nationals Qualification Event

Liberty's men's and women's climbers who competed in the Mid-Atlantic Region National Qualifier near Washington, D.C. pose with Head Coach Tyler Campbell (right).

Graduate Taylor, freshmen Kerns, Dausch qualify for next month’s USA Climbing Collegiate Nationals in Arizona

4/10/2024 10:42:00 AM | Rock Climbing

The Flames and Lady Flames both had three other climbers who would have made the nationals cut in previous seasons before qualifying standards limited it to the top five in each division of each region.

Alex-Dausch-climbs — Alex Dausch finished in a four-way tie for first place in the Men's Intermediate Lead Top Rope division.

Climber-Kate-Kerns — Katelyn Kerns (right stands with the other women's Intermediate national qualifiers.

Liberty University's climbing team qualified three athletes for the May 24-26 USA Climbing Collegiate National Championships after top-five finishes at the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Nationals Qualification Event this past Saturday and Sunday at Sportrock Climbing Centers in Alexandria, Va.

"I was incredibly proud of the entire team's performance," Liberty Head Coach Tyler Campbell said. "This was the most competitive Collegiate National Qualifier Event we have ever been to and it had more competitors than any other Collegiate National Qualifier in the nation."

Katelyn Kerns won the Women's Intermediate Lead Top Rope event and placed third out of 22 climbers in the Women's Intermediate bouldering competition while fellow freshman Alexander Dausch finished in a four-way tie for first place in the Men's Intermediate Lead Top Rope event and graduate Brian Taylor landed in fifth place in the Men's Advanced Lead Top Rope event.

Alex-Dausch-Gareth-Dorey-new — Alex Dausch (left) and Gareth Dorey plan their routes before a lead top rope climb.

"Brian has continued to show growth and remains competitive as the Mid-Atlantic divisional has shown progression overall," Campbell said. "These two freshmen qualifiers have been very promising. Alex has a solid base of experience from being a competitive youth climber. This semester he chose to try out for the team and has done well overall as he has been reintroduced to the sport as a competitor. Katelyn has shown a lot of growth this year and I expect her to continue to be a top performer for three years to come."

Junior Dylan Reese finished seventh out of 49 climbers in the Men's Advanced bouldering competition while Taylor came in 14th.

Senior Arabella King, who had qualified for nationals in previous years, placed ninth out of 15 competitors in the Women's Advanced bouldering event and ninth out of 12 climbers in the Women's Advanced Lead Top Rope event.

Junior Mary Dulaney finished 11th and Amanda Kolandjian came in 13th in Women's Intermediate Bouldering, and they placed sixth and ninth, respectively in Women's Intermediate Lead Top Rope.
Dausch was followed by freshman teammate Gareth Dorey (seventh) and sophomore Lance Schofield (11th) in followed Men's Intermediate Lead Top Rope.

"All but one of my athletes would have qualified (for nationals) if they hadn't changed the rules this year," Campbell said. "It used to be top 13 but now it's top five, so many previous people who placed didn't make the cut this year."

The national competition will be held at Alta Boulders in Chandler, Ariz., and Alta Climbing and Fitness in Gilbert, Ariz., suburbs of Phoenix.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer