Eagle County climber just misses qualifying for USA Climbing Lead/Top Rope nationals

Entering his third-career USA Climbing Divisional championship, Waylon Larson’s goal was to make it to finals. Upon advancing to a second competition day, however, the 13-year-old immediately reoriented himself toward a more ambitious target.
“Then I wanted to make it to nationals,” Larson said.

The Eagle Climbing and Fitness athlete came about as close as one can to doing just that.

Larson placed ninth overall in the male youth C category at the Lead/top rope Divisional 4 championships, held last month at G1 Climbing and Fitness in Broomfield. Here’s the kicker: Larson was one of six athletes in the 13-member final to reach the 25th hold — and one of the only to touch the 26th.

“If he would have been able to control that hold, he would have been going to nationals,” Eagle Climbing and Fitness owner and coach Larry Moore said. “You can’t get any closer than going to nationals than he did.”

The tiebreaker was ultimately settled on time taken to reach the 25th hold, and Larson, having gone first in the order, was unable to gauge his status while climbing.

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“It was pretty intense,” Larson said. “If I’d known about the time, I probably would have gone faster and fallen earlier, I think. I’d be more rushed (compared) to not knowing and taking my time.”

Moore qualified four athletes from the Region 41 competition held in May. Iris Sheldon, Ada Cole and Ella Regjo joined Larson in Broomfield from June 15-16. The divisional event combined the 26 qualifiers in each age group from both Region 41 and Region 42.

“It’s a serious endeavor to compete at our divisional championships because they’re competing against some of the best in the nation. So, we always know it’s going to be tough,” Moore said. “They were definitely as well-prepared as they could be and ready and psyched to climb.”

Athletes performed two climbs on the first day of the event, with five minutes and one attempt for each. Only Larson finished among the top-13 who advanced to a five-minute single attempt final the next day.

“I feel pretty good about it,” Larson said. “It feels good to make it a lot farther than last time.”

Ada Cole finished 20th in the female youth C qualifier after making it to the 14th hold.

“She did great,” Moore said. “She was a little disappointed because she felt like she could have done better.”

Eagle Valley junior Iris Sheldon finished 23rd in the female youth B age group.

“I would have liked to do better, obviously, but I had a fun time. It was a great competition, the climbs were really fun,” Sheldon said. “I’ve given myself a little grace because I was kind of out of practice.”

Sheldon had a reasonable excuse. She spent the winter climbing and competing on Eagle Valley’s speech and debate team, ultimately finishing fifth in Informative Speaking at the 3A Colorado state competition. Immediately after her divisional performance, she went to the National Speech and Debate tournament in Des Moines.

“Definitely a very well-rounded young lady,” said Moore.

“It’s a pretty interesting combination,” added Sheldon, who said she climbs for her mental health. “And I love my team,” she continued before pointing out she loves to write, too. “Speech and debate is a really great activity to help me harness those oration skills.” 

Rising Eagle Valley freshman Ella Regjo wound up 24th in the female youth B qualifier.

“I really wanted to do well,” Regjo said. “I was a little disappointed in how I performed.” Regjo said a few unfortunate circumstances which happened outside of the event itself affected her mentality going in.

“It took a toll and kind of blocked the goal I had out of my head,” she said. “I feel like I was really tense when I ended both of my climbs and wasn’t controlling my breathing.”

Regjo still found several positive takeaways from the meet and the season as a whole. For one, Mackenzie Sargent’s composure stood out.

“She’s so calm and pays attention to every moment but doesn’t freak out,” Regjo said of the divisional champion from Team Pinkpoint. “I find that really helpful to learn from.”

Generally speaking, Regjo feels like her self-confidence has grown from the beginning of the year to last month’s finale.

“I also feel like I’ve gotten a lot stronger,” she added. “I’ve been going to the gym myself more often to train.”

This summer, Regjo hopes to get a bouldering pad and head outside with friends. Meanwhile, Sheldon is currently in Nepal for a service trip and will pick up training in August.

Larson — whose two brothers, Wyatt, 14, and William, 10, also climb for Moore’s elite group — is already hungry for next season.

“We’re definitely going to go outside climbing a few more times with Larry,” he said. “But I’m just looking forward to going to the climbing gym a decent amount this summer so I can be ready for next year.”