CSU’s climbing club reached amazing heights in its first year as a sport club, winning the national championship April 17-18 in San Diego.

CSU’s 24-member team, led by national champion Delaney Miller, easily won the team title with 386 points, beating runner-up Texas (297) by 89 points. Colorado (267), the U.S. Military Academy (260) and Northeastern (240) completed the top five in the 50-team competition.

Miller was first in women’s sports climbing. Hailey Bridgewater (5^th, women’s bouldering), Ryan Fiore (2^nd, men’s sports climbing) and Jacob Gadwa (7^th, men’s speed climbing) also had top-10 individual finishes for the Rams. The event was sponsored by USA Climbing.

In previous years the climbing club existed as a student organization. This was its first year competing as one of CSU’s 31 sport clubs.

The national title is the second this spring for CSU, joining the men’s polo club. CSU has won 27 national sport club titles.