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Youth Movement: Canadian Junior National Team Shine at Youth Pan Am

Photo: Shane Murdoch

Team Canada had a terrific showing at the 2014 IFSC Youth PAN AM Championship, which took place in Mexico City on Nov. 26 to 30, with a number of standout performances from one of the deepest talent youth team in recent memory.

[shareprints gallery_id=”10098″ gallery_type=”thumb_slider” gallery_position=”pos_center” gallery_width=”width_100″ image_size=”large” image_padding=”0″ theme=”light” image_hover=”false” lightbox_type=”slide” titles=”true” captions=”true” descriptions=”true” comments=”true” sharing=”true”]Robert Stewart-Patterson came to Youth Pan Am after a tour of the World Cup circuit for speed climbing. The experience and speed he gained, from competing against the best in the world at the adult level, paid off handsomely. Stewart-Patterson took the gold medal for Junior boys in speed and posting a time of 4.28 seconds in his final round on the 10-metre wall, an excellent send off to his final international competition as a youth

Elan Jonas-McRae, who is teammate with Stewart-Patterson at Boulders in Saanich, B.C.had a near perfect performance. Jones-McRae topped both routes in qualifications, before dominating the final route by going 18 moves past the second place finisher, clinching the gold medal in difficulty for junior boys. Showing he is no one trick pony, Jones-McRae followed that up with solid fourth in the bouldering event.

Photo: Shane Murdoch
Photo: Shane Murdoch

Lucas Uchida’s second international competition of the year gave him he opportunity to show the fruits of his dedicated training. Uchida, who trains out of Boulderz in Toronto, arrived in Mexico City off of a recent win in the open (adult) category at a Tour de Bloc competition. Showing the same form that garnered him his first win at a TdB, Uchida took home the gold medal in bouldering. Like Jones-McRae, Uchida is adept at the endurance oriented difficulty event; he came in fourth in difficulty for youth a boys.

Alyssa Webber, who trains out of the Calgary Climbing Centre, finished her Youth competition career in style. Webber’s final international comp as a youth resulted in a bronze medal in bouldering, lead difficulty, and in the combined overall category for Junior Girls. At youth World Championships earlier this summer, Webber had netted an excellent ninthth in difficulty in her category.

Photo: Shane Murdoch
Photo: Shane Murdoch

Catherine Carkner, of Ottawa, has had an impressive 2014, standing atop the national standings in Youth B Girls all year. Competing at her first international competition at Youth Pan Am, Carkner was similarly outstanding. The 14-year-old netted herself a bronze medal in bouldering for Youth B Girls, showing excellent promise.

Like Carkner, Youth Pan Am was Zach Richardson’s first taste of international competition, and Richardson made the most of his debut, landing not one, but two podiums. The Burlington, Ontario youth, who trains out of Climber’s Rock, took third in top rope difficulty and 2nd in bouldering for Youth C boys. Look out for the 13-year-old in the coming years; Richardson recently came in second in the open category at a recent Tour de Bloc at True North Climbing in Toronto, against much more experienced competition.

Photo: Shane Murdoch
Photo: Shane Murdoch

 

By: Adrian Das and Andre Cheuk

Photos courtesy: Shane Murdoch

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