Sam Hayden heading to Rock Climbing Nationals

Over the past month KMS Senior Rock Climbing athlete Sam Hayden competed in the USA Climbing New England Regional Championships and USA Climbing Eastern Divisional Championships. This is Sam's final year as a youth competitor. Regionals were held in mid-December at Metrorock in Newburyport, MA. Over 280 of the best climbers in New England were there to compete for ten spots at Divisionals. Sam placed fourth and was one of four climbers who completed four out of six climbs. This was the highest attendance ever at a USA Climbing regional event. This past weekend Sam competed in the USA Climbing Eastern Divisional Championship at Central Rock in Glastonbury, CT. Sam's home Division runs from New Jersey to Maine, and the top ten kids from each region are invited to compete for six invites to Nationals. Divisionals is a two day event. On day one, the 20 kids in each age group compete to be in the top ten and reach the finals on day two. Sam finished third on day one - completing all four problems. On day two, which consisted of three problems, Sam finished two out of three, finishing up the competition in fourth place and securing an invite to Nationals. Sam's local gym, Green Mountain Rock Climbing Center, sent three kids to Divisionals including Sam, and three are moving on to Nationals.

The National Championships are in Salt Lake City at the Salt Palace the week of February 6th. After a few more weeks of hard training, Sam will head west. Best of luck, Sam!