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CRMS claims state climbing title

Staff Report
Post Independent
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
Contributed photoFrom left to right, Torrey Sanson, Lea Linse and Mollie Podmore hold Colorado Rocky Mountain School's first-place state trophy.
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After a five-month long season of training and competing, Colorado Rocky Mountain School girls climbers Lea Linse, Mollie Podmore and Torrey Sanson showed they were the best climbing team in the state by winning at the season finale held in Colorado Springs’ climbing gym CityRock over the weekend.

It was a bittersweet send-off for Glenwood Springs High School’s Jessica Gerstner, who finished her senior season by taking home honors for 10th place after placing second at regionals.

The win capped a strong season by the CRMS girls and marked sweet revenge for last year’s loss to Montrose High School at the state championships.



While Alana Lin of Montrose took top honors, the three local girls finished strong, with Podmore placing second, Linse finishing third and Sanson taking seventh.

As a team, CRMS finished nearly 2,000 points ahead of its nearest competition and atop the standings of the 15 high schools represented at the girls competition.



The girls win capped a strong weekend of climbing for CRMS.

The CRMS varsity boys competed in a talented field of 55 invitees.

Despite lacking one climber needed to complete a full team score, Sammy Martin and Carbondale local Nikken Daniels climbed well. Martin brought home fifth place and Daniels’ efforts yielded seventh. The combined efforts placed them seventh in the state among a field of 23 teams.

Showcasing the depth of the Oyster team, the junior varsity teams fared well earlier in the weekend.

The CRMS JV girls team collected its own state championship. Cleo Ulatowski was the overall winner, with teammate Heidi Cao in second and Marie Kammer rounding out the team scoring in eighth.

The CRMS boys JV squad came up just short of matching them, placing second. Freshman Iain Coolley led the charge in fourth, followed by Josh Carter and Raleigh Gambino.

The fourth year of climbing state championships showed the continued growth of the sport.

Over the season, some local competitions drew as many as 125 high school climbers. Some 80 varsity athletes from the league’s four regions qualified for the finals. Plans are already under way for an even bigger league for next year.


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