Written by Alexandra Erdman
As you read this, Team Sender One is sending six athletes to Salt Lake City to compete in the 2024 Yeti National Championships this weekend! I know what you’re thinking: “Didn’t I read about Team Sender One at Nationals a few months ago?” And the answer is, Yes! You Did!
Earlier this summer, Teams Sender One LAX & SNA competed (and placed) at Youth Nationals. The Yeti National Championships (commonly referred to as Elite Nationals) actually falls into the Elite Series, as opposed to the Youth Series. While both series are organized by USA Climbing, Elite Nationals is a series that is essentially for pro climbers; it’s the World Cup/Olympic Track Competitions. Elite Nationals is the first of two competitions in which the National Team for the 2025 World Cup season is selected (the second being National Team Trials which will be Spring 2025). To qualify for National Team Trials, athletes will need to place in the top 40 for Boulder or Lead, or they’ll need to hit the benchmark time in Speed (5.44s). Based on their performances at Yeti Nationals and National Team Trials (with NTT being weighted slightly higher), the athletes are given a National Team Rank, which will determine World Cup Invitations.
Our athletes are specialists. So all six athletes will only compete in one discipline:
Ethan A (Lead)
Maddi H (Speed)
Michael Hom (Speed)
Taede M (Speed)
Alexis P (Speed)
Logan S (Speed)
Aside from the competition itself, Taede is very excited to visit a great taco place he found in SLC. Maddi is most excited for fall colored leaves and see athletes she only gets to see a couple times a year. Logan said he is most excited to compete against really fast climbers.
A long standing tradition for some members of Team Sender One is to make fun bets on the competition; something to help take the pressure off and build team morale! It usually pertains to shaving heads or wearing a Hatsune Miku wig on the podium. Keep your eyes peeled for any silliness at the podium!
A few of the athletes were kind of enough to share their personal goals for Speed Climbing this weekend:
Taede is aiming for 5.5 seconds.
Maddi’s goals are to win a knockout race and get sub 8 seconds.
Logan is going for the Benchmark time (5.44s).
To keep up with the Yeti National Championships this weekend, visit the link here. And join me in wishing Team Sender One luck and speed in Salt Lake City!