Collegiate National Qualifying Event - CNQE

 

Well, there is much to learn about the Collegiate National Qualifying Event, or CNQEs, otherwise called Collegiate Divisionals. The event is nothing like youth divisionals in the strictest sense, but it is the penultimate event before Collegiate Nationals, so one can think of them as related.

But there are two very big differences: the first is that a collegiate climber, who has qualified by competing in a Qualifying Event (QE), can attend any CNQE in the country, but only ONCE. If the climber is not among the top 8 climbers, they will not advance to nationals.

The second difference is the real kicker: If a climber makes it into the top 8 in one category, then they make it into both in the Nationals event. So strategy comes into play here: If one makes the top 8 in the morning session, then they do not have to climb the afternoon session. In Brendan's case, Bouldering was in the morning and Lead was in the afternoon.

There are two ways to strategize here as a team. If a climber makes the top 8 and does not climb in the afternoon session, that leaves room for the team to have another climber try to make it in. The opposite of this strategy is that if the top 8 people climb in both categories, they essentially could take up 2 available spots for nationals by making it into the top 8 in both disciplines.

The next thing we noticed was that some climbers were coming from very far away because either their CNQE was full or they wanted to have a better chance of qualifying by coming to a less populated part of the country. It really pays to register early for the event you want because they tend to fill up quickly.

We continue to support Brendan on his journey and learn more about the world of competitive climbing. You heard it here first!

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