Five local rock climbers from the Bend Endurance Academy are competing at the USA Climbing Youth National Championships in Salt Lake City, with one climber finishing in the top 10.

Nathaniel Perullo, a 16-year-old who attends Cascades Academy in Tumalo, made his way through the qualifying and semifinal rounds of the lead/top rope event to reach the 10-person final, where he finished eighth overall.

“They take all the best kids from across the U.S. and put them in the category together,” Perullo said. “It just makes it really challenging to win.”

The youth nationals started on July 7 and conclude on Sunday, as bouldering and speed-climbing events are still underway.

Placing in the top 10 was a big move for Perullo after two separate finger injuries — a pulley injury on his right middle finger and a fractured growth plate on his left middle finger — kept him from cracking the top-20 rankings at last year’s nationals.

“I was super happy to be back in the top 10 after my injuries last year,” Perullo said. “My qualifying round was a big accomplishment for me.”

To reach the national championships, climbers had to place in the top 13 in their discipline in Oregon to advance to divisionals. Then they had to place in the top six against climbers from Oregon, Washington and Alaska to advance to nationals.

In the 58-man qualifying round, in which climbers had two attempts to climb a roughly 55-foot wall with 44 different holds, Perullo’s first climb was the highest in the field. His second attempt was the seventh-highest to give him the second-highest average score to advance to the 20-man semifinals.

His finish earned him a spot on the USA Development Team — which gives him the opportunity to go to camps and train at the USA Climbing National Training Center in Salt Lake City with the best athletes and coaches.

“Mentally he was in a really good spot. He wasn’t putting a ton of pressure on himself to perform for a certain result,” said Cate Beebe, the climbing director for Bend Endurance Academy. “He showed people what he’s capable of, and showed himself what he’s capable of.”

Two more Bend Endurance Academy athletes competed in lead/top rope. Vance Stanfield advanced to the semifinals and finished 17th. In the junior division, BEA’s Drew Childers placed 37th out of 54 climbers.

Childers, Stanfield, and other BEA climbers are currently still in Salt Lake City competing in the bouldering and speed-climbing competitions.