Climbers travel to Philadelphia to secure bids for National Qualifier in Alexandria

Sunday, February 22

Philadelphia, PA

Liberty University Club Sports

USA Climbing Tufas Boulder Lounge Qualifying Event

Members of Liberty's climbing team hang out on the LaHaye Recreation & Fitness Center's Rock Wall.

Climbers travel to Philadelphia to secure bids for National Qualifier in Alexandria

2/27/2026 10:23:00 PM | Rock Climbing

Several Liberty team members finished in the top five against Mid-Atlantic Division opponents before beating a snowstorm back to Lynchburg, Va.

In its last USA Climbing Qualifying Event of the semester, members of Liberty University's climbing team exceled at Sunday's event against Mid-Atlantic Division competition in the Tufas Boulder Lounge in Philadelphia.

The Mid-Atlantic Division includes select schools from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. Drexel University, George Mason University, Johns Hopkins University, Lafayette University, the University of Maryland, the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State University, Rutgers University, Towson University, and the United States Naval Academy were among the programs represented at the competition.

Sophomore Asher Talbot tied for first place in the Men's Advanced division. In the Men's Intermediate competition, graduate Ethan Pierce finished first, followed by sophomore teammates Luke Carlile in second, Jonathan "JJ" Gamboa, who finished fourth, and Shane Heard, who placed fifth.

In the Women's Advanced division, Jasmine Liu placed second, and fellow sophomore Paloma Laumann finished fifth.

"Paloma has been working hard to compete in Advanced this year compared to Intermediate last year," Liberty Head Coach Tyler Campbell said.

Junior Ella Zajonc placed second in the Women's Intermediate division.

"Ella has done well and grown a lot," Campbell said. "(Senior) Nathan (Bruckner) has also gained a lot of strength and is a solid advanced climber now, compared to intermediate last year."

The team left Philadelphia in time to beat the oncoming winter storm that blanketed the area with eight inches of snow by Monday morning.

Following the Philly competition last semester and the two contests this semester, every team member is now eligible to compete in a Collegiate National Qualifying Event, according to Campbell.

The Flames and Lady Flames will travel to Sportock Alexandria on April 18-19 for their Collegiate National Qualifying Event to determine which climbers will advance to USA Climbing's Collegiate Nationals, set for May 21-24 at Central Rock Gym in Kennesaw, Ga.

The top eight climbers in each discipline of the advanced competitions qualify for nationals. Ffor Intermediate, only the top five advance.

"The CNQE will be a bit more competitive, but all of the people we competed against in Philly, we will see again at the CNQE," Campbell said.

On Saturday, a select group of Flames and Lady Flames competed in a smaller competition at Rise Up Climbing in downtown Lynchburg, where Talbot placed third in the Men's Advanced category, and Lui finished third in the Women's Advanced division. In the Men's Intermediate competition, Gamboa won the event, followed by junior Alex Dausch in second and Carlile in third. Zajonc placed second in Women's Intermediate, followed by freshman Shiloh Skipper in third.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer