Ho and Schaefer Win Senior Difficulty Provincials

Jacqueline Ho and Faolan Schaefer became Ontario’s 2022 senior difficulty champions on Saturday night in Hamilton.

Faolan entered finals in 3rd place behind Benjamin Tonnos and Jonah Phillips, who both succumbed to a desperate yellow sloping rail just over half way up the wall (as did the rest of the field). Faolan was the only climber to stick the following black sloper with one hand, and fell attempting to match. Jonah Phillips and Ian Tan stayed competitive by matching the yellow sloper in finals, and relied on their scores from qualifiers to earn 2nd and 3rd.

The women’s podium was reserved for the 3 climbers who topped in finals, all of whom summoned the energy to deadpoint the crux at the penultimate draw. Jacqueline Ho, Evangelina Briggs, and Emilia Callanan were difficult to separate even by countback: all three previously tied with tops on Qualifier 1, as well. Qualifier 2, a steep endurance run up one of Ontario’s longest walls, was the deciding factor: Jacqueline landed a blind throw between volumes that Evangelina and Emilia could not, and minted her provincial gold.

Women
1. Jacqueline Ho
2. Evangelina Briggs (tie)
2. Emilia Callanan (tie)

Men
1. Faolan Schaefer
2. Jonah Phillips
3. Ian Tan

Our thanks to the team at Gravity Hamilton for the fun routes and atmosphere, and to all the volunteers involved.

For complete competition results, visit www.compseason.com.