Students from the Cowichan Secondary School Climbing Academy grabbed a pair of gold medals as they hosted a bouldering competition with Stelly’s Secondary at the climbing centre in École Mount Prevost on Jan. 12.
Troy Cowan won the experienced male division, while Charlotte Mackeil prevailed in the advanced female division.
“Overall it was a fantastic day with Cowichan climbers getting seven podium finishes,” academy organizer James Doyle said. “We had over 100 climbers from the South Island competing in the second of four high school comps set to run this year.”
Cowichan was missing two of its strongest climbers due to injury and prior climbing commitments. National and international competitors Aidan and Brennan Doyle passed up the competition and instead were involved in route setting and running routes for the climbers. Also helping out were staff from the University of Victoria and High Performance Climbing in Mill Bay.
Cowichan had top-three results in five of the six divisions. Alisha Pante placed second in rec female, and Jessica Castle was second in experienced female. Kieran Klecke finished third in rec male, Erica Fagan was third in experienced female, and Hunter Winship was third in experienced male.
Other top 10 results included:
Rec female: Rebecka Archbold (fourth), Grace Neufeld (sixth), Sophie Paridaen van Veen (eighth)
Experienced female: Sierra Fraser (fourth), Malina Suezle (eighth), Ali Platt (10th)
Experienced male: Noah Mellemstrand (seventh)
Advanced female: Keanie Whitmore (fourth)
Advanced male: Julio Rebora (fifth)
The climbing wall at École Mount Prevost is now open to the public from 3:30-6:30 p.m. Tuesday and Friday nights for a small fee.