First Competition

I apologize for the length of how long I have gone without a post. With training, coaching, college preparation, school loans and just trying to get completed settled in a new place… Finding time to write has been a little tough. However, a lot is continuing to happen and my approach and dedication to my work is never ending. We just returned back from Richmond VA where my athletes competed in the 2^nd annual Dominion River Rock Bouldering Comp. Although I am extremely sick, the trip was in my eye a huge success for my athletes. Regardless of how they finished I truly believe that moving forward we now recognize areas to work on and how to improve.

First competition is now finished since I started training athletes. Gauging increased performance is difficult given the varied amount of training the athletes have had with me. Nevertheless, much was learned.

Courtney Sanders finished in 8th place.

Courtney did a great job! She climbed hard and continued to try hard! I’ve only been working with Courtney for about 2 weeks and in that time we have both seen areas for development. Courtney is extremely motivated and dedicated to improvement as a professional athlete. She’s getting ready to journey this summer to Spain for sport climbing, then bouldering in South Africa’s Rocklands. Upon her return Courtney and I will be working extremely hard to get her ready and focused on Nationals. Courtney is an athlete! She is passionate about performing well and when she doesn’t climb above her standards, she takes it very seriously—focusing her emotions on the next challenge. I love that about her! Some of the greatest athletes to ever play their sports will show emotion and then let that emotion drive them to be better.

Kati Peters Finished in 5^th place

Kati finished well but was not excited about her performance. What limited Kati from having more success was her ability to understand the problem’s intricacies. Kati is strong and was more then capable of completing problems she either didn’t complete or struggled on. Kati had a development weekend. She still fought hard and gave it her all. What she needs is climbing coaching. That’s not what I am trying to do with climbing. My job is to make sure Kati can perform moves easily and more efficiently. A coach’s job is to teach Kati how to read a problem and how to execute at a comp! I believe Kati has the potential to make top 3 at comps. She’s incredibly strong and has the skill set to be more competitive. Every athlete has a weakness and Kati’s is pretty significant; these problems are extremely complicated and take a significant amount foresight complete. You can be the strongest but if you mess up a sequence you’ve wasted valuable time and energy. 

Matt Londrey took 10^th place

Matt is such an awesome guy! I’ve known Matt for about 5 years now and for someone who is just getting into training for the 1^st time in about 4 years, I’m psyched for Matt and his future in climbing competitions. He’s extremely athletic, smart, has confidence and remains calmest when the pressure is the greatest. He’s one of the best overall competitors I’ve ever seen in a sport. I’m so happy and excited Matt has picked me to help him in his journey and quest to become a known and respected competitor.

Daniel Woods took 5^th place

Daniel climbed incredible all weekend long. Do not let the 5^th place finish make you think otherwise. In finals Daniel as like many other athletes were presented a extremely challenging problem. When you are only given 5 minutes to complete a problem that you have never tried before that’s pretty hard. Especially when it involves a move as show above that requires your entire body to be propelled into the air and having to control your body as it swings out of control. Before this final problem Daniel was in prime position to win the competition; he was one of two climbers to send semi’s and the only one to send the second quarterfinal route. As in many competitions it can all come down to the final problem and how well it suites each athlete. Daniel showed amazing athleticism and strength the entire weekend and he is without a doubt still one of the strongest male climbers in the world. He’s determined to get back into the gym to train and to continue his success as a professional athlete. Next up for Daniel will be the TEVA games.

Alex Johnson took 2^nd place

Alex performed very well. She finished in 2^nd place and in my opinion showed an amazing display of how hard she has been working for the past 5 ½ weeks. She looked incredibly strong and extremely motivated to show how much she has improved. With TEVA being her main focus through our training, this comp was a great way to see where we were leading up to the World Cup in 12 days. I think we can continue to work on her power and core strength to make sure the hard, powerful moves will be a little easier and not as desperate. The pressure will be even higher come TEVA and I believe Alex is more than ready for it.

Here are some other photos of my amazing athletes competing at the River Rock Comp:

 

 I want to take this time to congratulate Taylor Nystrom. You always hear about acts of sportsmanship and acts of integrity and honor. If you are fan of sportsmanship and acts of kindness then Taylor's story is just that. After Semi-Finals there was a discrepancy about the scoring of Women's Semi Final's. Upon the challenges Taylor realized that if she challenged that her good friend and fellow competitor Kati Peters would not advance to Finals. Not to discredit Taylor's abilities because she is a fantastic climber, but with her busy school schedule and preparation to begin a highly regarded internship at UVA Taylor's training was not what it could had been. With that fact she knew that strength wise she was not at the level that her friend was at. Realizing the consequences that Kati would have faced she refused to challenge the score. By doing that Kati was able to advance to finals to where she took 5th overall. 

Taylor Nystrom demonstrated how to put aside one's own desires to give back what is best for the sport. She acted selflessly and demonstrated that of what most athletes would not do for others. Well done Taylor! You win the ESPY'S award for sportsmanship in my eyes. You are wonderful and with a heart like yours only good things will continue to happen in your life. :-)

As we continue to train and look toward the future for these athletes, my passion grows. The amount of sacrifice and dedication it takes for them to train, eat right, remain motivated and live daily must not be overlooked. I continue to be motivated to see my athletes win and remain the future of this sport. I want to thank all my athletes that wore my shirts, stickers, spoke my name in interviews and promoted what it is I am trying to accomplish for climbing athletes. I value your friendships, your hard work and your willingness to let me be part of your journey in your amazing lives. You are each extremely important to me and I am thankful every day to call you my friends and the athletes of Kris Peters Athletic Training!