ABS14 Youth National Championships

If you're reading this blog, you probably know that last weekend, the 1st through 3rd of March was USA Climbing's American Bouldering Series (ABS) Youth National Championships.
As mentioned in our first team blog post, all three founding members of Anonymous Climbing Team, Natalie Josefsberg, Charlie Andrews, and Culin Li, crushed at Divisional Championships and qualified for Nationals, and they all trained like mad over the six weeks between the two events.

The Rockies from the sky

 At least 35 climbers in each age/gender category from around the U.S. descended upon Colorado Springs to test their skills on some of the coolest problems I've ever seen in a youth comp, but only ten from each category would make it to finals on Sunday.

Pike's Peak from downtown Colorado Springs.

As I proudly announced on facebook each day, in Qualifiers the team all placed well enough to advance to semis, and in semis they each placed well enough to advance to finals.

Here are Team Anonymous' full results:
Qualifiers: Culin took 10th in Male B, Natalie 12th in Female A, and Charlie 11th in Male Jr.
Semis: Culin 8th in Male B, Natalie 6th in Female A, Charlie 8th in Male Jr.
Finals: Culin 2nd in Male B, Natalie 8th in Female A, Charlie 9th in Male Jr.

I think I can safely say that Anonymous is the only team in USA Climbing to have had 100% of its members in finals at ABS Nationals.  A proud coach I certainly am!
Also, how cool is it that Culin made such a move from 8th going into finals to 2nd place, standing on the podium with a spot on the U.S. Team?! Congratulations dude!

Culin Li and Shawn Rabatou on the podium.

Here are some video clips of the kids from throughout the weekend. I'll be updating with Culin's clips later this week. I apologize in advance for my over-enthusiastic cheering.

Natalie Josefsberg on qualifier number 1

Natalie on  qualifier number 4.

Charlie on qualifier number 2.

Charlie on qualifier number 3.

 Charlie on qualifier number 4.

Natalie on semi number 3.

Charlie sending semi number 1.

Charlie sending semi number 3. I'll admit I got a little too excited watching this one!

Natalie flashing final number 1.

Charlie taking a big fall on final number 2.

We'll be heading outside a lot more as a team now that sport climbing season is upon us, so check back regularly for more sports action updates ... including one I'm about to post about Charlie's big send today!