| Collegiate Nationals 12-Apr-02 Killeen TX MD: Johnny Graham Contest Write-up by Sandra Perron There were 53 collegiate women and 116 collegiate men representing 26 schools who made the trip to Killeen Texas for the national meet. The Plaza Hotel provided a good venue for the meet, and allowed adequate space for spectators and sponsor booths. The heat was unbelievable, but the humidity was even worse. Perspective is an amazing thing, the northerners were complaining of melting while the southerners were commenting on the slight nip in the air when the sun went down. The worst part for us northerners was the pool was closed for the season - apparently they thought it was still winter! On Friday, the first day of the competition, the sunrise saw the first session women standing in line to make weight and later hit the platform. The ballroom was set up nicely with sponsors around the perimeter and lots of spectator chairs. There were several parents and friends in the audience. 44 kg Erin Crapo of Nebraska improved on her total from women's nationals to take first place hitting 107.5 kg in both squat and dead, and benching 55 kg. There was close competition between second and third places. Porter had some trouble on the bench, but edged out Perez totaling 217.5 to Perez's 190 kg. Topping the class was Lauren Johnson a disabled lifter from LA Tech. Lauren barely missed 52.5 kg bench, and was credited with 50 kg. 48 kg There was good competition between the seven women in this class. Two women needed all three attempts to hit their openers, Cahilly unfortunately was not able to get a squat passed by the judges. The benches started out better, but all the women missed their third attempts. At subtotal Jaubert and Braud were tied at 115 kg, closely behind Schuwerk at 127.5 and with Callais closely on her heals with 107.5 kg. In the end, Christy Hunter from LA Tech took first place, a final pull of 107.5 kg and 252.5 kg total. Evelyn Schuwerk from LSU came in second at 230 kg. Braud was third at 220 kg, Jaubert finished fourth with 212.5 kg. Callais was close behind with 207.5 kg, and Ribeipo went 3 for 3 in the deadlift for a 180 kg total. 52 kg Codi Grubbs started out strong hitting a 145 kg squat for a new Collegiate National record, Collegiate American record and Junior American record. She continued her record breaking on the bench breaking the Collegiate American record and tying the junior American record. She attempted a new 18-19 American record deadlift but wasn't able to pull it and finished with a 352.5 kg total. Hollier started out shaky only hitting her opening squat, but hit all three benches and came in second at 312.5 kg. Mitkevicius also had a tough time with squat depth but finally hit her opener on the third try and finished third with an impressive 142.5 kg pull. Rounding out the class was Hasty from U of Texas San Antonio, she hit two squats and two benches, and was the only one in the class to make all three dead lifts for a 250 kg total. 56 kg Romero and Ramirez both started out with trouble on the squats but still hit 122.5 kg and 120 kg respectively. Newman was the only one to hit all three benches, finished with 65 kg and pulled into second at subtotals. Sarah Newman's ability to make all three pulls allowed her to have a perfect day and first place with a 315kg total. Paula Ramirez just missed her last pull of 140 kg and finished second only 7.5 kg behind Newman. Smith from LSU started out slow but pulled all three deads to finish third with 295 and Romero from Baylor missed her final pull to finish just 2.5 kg behind Smith. Kageyama from the Navy only hit her opening squat, took three attempts to get a bench in but still finished at 277.5 kg. Brown from SW Texas also had a tough time with squats hitting only her opener, she missed a bench and one deadlift to finish with 247.5kg. 60 kg Nine women battled it out in this class. Returning champion, Robyn Niederkorn successfully defended her title going 8 for 9 and a 377.5 kg total. She also broke the Collegiate National and Collegiate American squat record. Julia Kaufman finished second with 345 kg, Nicole Sperbeck followed going 7 for 9 and 342.5 kg. Ashley Matt attempted a record pull of 165 kg and although she missed it she still had the biggest pull of the class of 155 kg and finished up with 345 kg. Jan Morello of LSU started off with only a single squat, but came back to hit all three benches and finished with 342.5 kg. Dunn was one of the few to start out strong hitting all three squats and finished 8 for 9 at 292.5 kg. Adams also had a shaky start needing three attempts to hit a squat and finished at 277.5 kg. Her opening squat was the only one Elias got in, but she came back strong to hit all benches and only miss her last pull for a 242.5 kg total. 67.5 kg Returning champion Kim Callier has added a Hooper to her name but still defended her title, starting with a balance problem on her opening squat but finished 6 for 9 with a 410 kg total. Kris Knutson had a strong squat at 150 kg, but Destiny Joyner made up some lost ground with a 72.5 kg bench. The battle for second and third came down to the final pull, Joyner was able to make hers at 152.5 kg for a 365 kg total, Knutson was closely behind with 355 kg. Fourth and fifth places were also closely contested, this time by two women both from the US Military Academy. Harmon stayed just ahead of Szivak, both had perfect squat days, Harmon missed a bench but was able to edge out Szivak in the deadlift, they finished with 340 kg and 332.5 kg totals. Rachel Odom from the Navy had a rough day, going 4 for 9 but still with a 327.5 kg total. Dunivan had a good day hitting seven lifts and finished at 312.5 kg, Tiemann started out slow only hitting her opening squat, but then hit the other six attempts and a 265 kg total. Closely behind Tiemann was Ouellette of the navy with a strong 102.5 kg squat and a 257.5 kg total. 75 kg The 165 lb class was another weight class that saw the returning champion, Julia Loya, successfully defend her title. She started off strong with all three squats and all three benches, but only had enough energy left for her opening dead lift. Her 445 kg total was over 100 kg ahead of the next lifter, Deidra Johnson from the University of Louisiana Monroe who still had a good day with 337.5 kg total. Stacy Dencausse was originally supposed to compete at 148, but not making weight had a positive side as she took 3rd place with a 327.5 kg total. Fourth place was Charity Day from LA Tech, she had an off day only hitting one bench and one dead but still having a 307.5 kg total. Fifth and sixth places were close between Cartus and Pederson. Cartus moved up from 148's, only missed one bench for a 295 kg total, Pederson from the US Military Academy missed one bench and her final dead lift for a 285 kg total. Warncke was close behind Pederson, going 6 for 9 and a 272.5 kg total. 82.5 kg Lacy Picou from Nicholls State started things off well, she moved up a weight class, missed her last squat but was still credited with 137.5 kg. Right behind her was Jamie Albright with a 132.5 kg squat. Kelly Johansen moved up from 165s, and started out not missing a lift going into deads, and Ferrer narrowed the gap hitting a 75 kg bench. Ferrer pulled all three deads finishing with a strong 185 kg pull to get her the first place total of 370 kg. Second and third both had 332.5 kg total, but the tie went to Albright on bodywieght just 0.3kg lighter than Picou. Deadlifting isn't the best lift for Johansen, she finished fourth with 305 kg. Lunsford also moved up from 165s, she had a shaky start on squats but did better with bench and deads and had a 277.5 kg total. 90 kg Lewis started out the class strong, the only one of the three to hit all three squats. When it came to bench it was Misty Bearden's turn to be the only one to hit all three lifts. Kelly Louque and Lewis both had perfect deadlift days, but with an impressive 152.5 kg, it was enough for Louque to have the winning total of 362.5 kg. Bearden had to repeat her second deadlift and came in a close second at 345 kg. Lewis finished 8 for 9 on the day with a 305kg total. 90+ kg Mary Holt and (name) Crittenden were the two women for this class. Both women had some problems with squats, Holt came back and hit all three benches, and two of her three pulls and a 437.5 kg total. Crittenden is new to the powerlifting scene, this is her first nationals she lifted raw and learned what it was like to lift for national judges. Outstanding lifters were named for the women, the lightweight award went to Codi Grubbs from LA Tech, and the heavyweight award went to Julia Loya from the US Naval Academy. Team awards were scored differently this year. The scoring rules changed aligned with the IPF style - each team is allowed to have ten women and eleven men listed and the top six lifters from each registered team score team points. This helps the smaller teams compete with the larger ones. That said, the top five teams were:
4 - Nicholls State University 3 - US Naval Academy 2 - LSU 1 - LA Tech 52 kg The morning session of Saturday had 26 lifters up through the 67.5 kg class. The 56 kg class was impressive to see. Doc Holloway hit an impressive 180kg on his third squat, had a bad day benching, but hit all three squats and attempted a junior American record on his final deadlift. Although he didn't pull the 230 kg, his 490 kg was enough for first place. Second and third were a battle between Matt Holmes and Mark Barbier. Both missed one of their squats, but after that Holmes didn't miss a lift. He finished with 400 kg, Barbier had an off day, only got one bench and one dead and finished at 360 kg. 56 kg This class resembled the 52 kg, there were three lifters with a good battle for second and third. Ryan Leonard was credited with only once squat, but came back to hit two benches and two deads for a 410 kg tota.. Jerel Ona was ahead of Leonard after squats by 2.5 kg, he went 6 for 9 and finished just 2.5 kg behind Leonard. Micah Kiletico, returning champion, started with a big 192.5kg squat, had a perfect bench day getting 125kg, but missed both attempts at an American record deadlift of 220kg. Kiletico finished with a 527.5 kg total. 60 kg Peter Balke and Anthony Sisti were the only two in this class to hit all three squats. Derek Toro was not able to get a squat in. Mike Wiley was one of a trio to hit only one squat, he recovered some hitting two benches, but then after repeating his opening dead tried for a big pull on his final. He didn't pull the 182.5 kg but finished with 397.5 kg in 6th place. Balke was just ahead of Wiley at 417.5 kg, and Brett Vallot, who only got one squat and went 5 for nine, was just ahead of them at 422 kg. Thomas Dirienzo also started with one squat but made up for it hitting all three benches and all three deads, his total of 432 kg earned him third place. Sisti went 5 for 9 and totaled 452.5 kg. Marcus Williams from Louisiana Tech hit a huge 227.5 kg squat and two benches and still have enough energy to hit all three deads including a Collegiate American and National record 257.5 kg - over 4 times bodyweight. He attempted the world record of 277.5 kg, and although he didn't break the record he was happy he was able to get it off the ground. His 602.5 kg total also broke the Collegiate American and national total record. 67.5 kg Only three of the thirteen lifters in this very competitive class hit all three squats. Jorge Martinez went 6 for 9 and totaled 495 kg, only 2.5 kg behind Bret Clark who had a perfect bench day. Mancy Wolfe of the US Military Academy had a solid 6 for 9 day and 505 kg total. Dereck Hargrove was just ahead of Wolfe also going 6 for 9, put up 142.5kg in the bench and totaled 517.5kg. 8th and 9th places were as close as close could be, both lifters had a 525 kg total, and both weighed 67.0 kg. There is a new rule for when there is a tied total and tie in bodyweights, the first lifter to reach the total wins the tie. So, in this case Jim Morris pulled a 195 kg for his second dead, Yu Tan pulled 215 kg on his second. Both lifters missed their third pulls. Stony Portis started off with all three squats, struggled a bit with bench, but pulled 2 for 3 and a 530 kg total. 5th and 6th place both had 535 kg totals, in this case Taylor Pulido from the University of Texas lost to Jason Grubb of Nicholls State by 0.4kg bodyweight. Clint Edwards started with all his squats and benches, but slowed down making only one deadlift. His 555kg total placed him in a solid 4th place slot. 2nd and 3rd was the third tied total of this class. Kyle Kibbler hit all his squats and finished with 227.5 kg. Kibbler his all his benches, David Hammers missed one squat but only got his opening bench. Hammers lost to Kibbler by bodyweight, both at 570 kg total. Leading the class was returning champion Clay Grubbs, although he had trouble with his opening squat he came back, hit all three benches and pulled 245kg to finish with a 585 kg total. 75 kg Two flights were needed for this class of seventeen lifters and were created based on nominations. Jack Tsan had an off day, only hitting openers for a 450 kg total. Tofee Ghazal from the US Military Academy was ahead of Tsan at 475 kg, and Chris Zwicker from the Navy was ahead of Ghazal with 495 kg. Kyle Cockerham from LSU totaled 502.5kg. Isaac Chapa only hit his opening dead, and finished with 522.5 kg just behind Edward Chin of the Navy who had 527.5kg, Ben Brooks from La Tech with 530 kg, and Hace Carter also from La Tech at 532.5kg. Toby Hockridge came in a solid 9th place with 547.5kg. Joel Bell from Winona was only 2.5 kg behind Andrew Fry from Ball State who totaled 560kg. Rick Dawlearn from SW Texas finished 6th at 572.5 kg, 5th place went to Phillip LeBlanc from La Tech with 580 kg. Only 2.5 kg separated 2nd, 3rd, and 4th places. Dan Carinci from Slippery Rock only pulled his opener and finished with a 605 kg total. Both Joseph Sweger and Ricardo Garza had 607.5 kg totals, Garza won on body weight for second. Sweger only had two benches and still put up an impressive 162.5kg. Clint Gallo had a good day, missing one squat but still hitting 235kg, and missing only one dead but pulled 240kg for a 617.5 kg total. 82.5 kg There was an impressive 22 guys in this class and needed to be broken into two flights. Mike Luckett and David Brewer were not able to get a squat passed, Caleb Beraud got his opening squat on the third attempt, but did not get a bench in. Dereck Curry was 4 for 6 going into the deadlift but ran out of energy and was not able to complete a pull. Mike Robertson had a good bench day, but only hit one squat and one deadlift, he had a 510 kg total, just edging out Kevin Westbrook at 507.5kg. Kurt Lebouf was ahead of them at 520 kg, and Jamel Hasty was 20 kg ahead of Lebouf with 540 kg. Kevin Gwin finished in a solid 13th spot with a 567.5 kg total, 10 kg ahead of Clayton Cohn from the US Military Academy, and only 2.5 kg behind Tony Abilez at 570 kg. 9th 10th and 11th places were close, Joe Moroszezyk from the US Military Academy pulled all three deadlifts to finish 9th with 580 kg. Just 2.5kg behind Moroszezyk was Joe Heyman also from the US Military Academy with 577.5 kg, and at 575 kg was Jim Nicolosi of La Tech. 6th, 7th, and 8th were also separated by only 5 kg - Scott McMannus missed his final dead, went 8 for 9 and finished 6th with 592.5kg. Right on his heels was Chris Caffery of La Tech, Caffery attempted 227.5 kg, but didn't get the lift and finished with a 590 kg total. Brice Wergeland needed all three attempts to hit his 160kg bench, and missed his final deadlift to finish just behind Caffery with 587.5kg. Joe Bainbridge of Western Michigan had a little trouble with his opening bench but finished a solid 5th with 605 kg. Curt St. Romain from Texas Tech started out well, hitting all three squats, Rob Hillery of the Navy only got his opener. After two benches St. Romain passed on his third attempt, he missed his final dead and finished with 612.5kg. Hillery hit his opening bench and pulled 250 kg on his final lift for a 615kg total. Brian Michael had a bad squat day, only making one, but came back to hit two benches and two deads for a 625kg total and second place. The winner of the class was Steve MacGillis of the Navy, hitting all his squats finishing with 250kg, only getting one bench but pulling an impressive 260kg for a 642.5kg total. 90 kg Sunday started out with fifteen guys in this class, it would've been 18 had everyone made weight. All through the ranks there were close battles going on for position. Only 5 kg separated the two with the lightest totals. Ben Buchanan had a good day, only missing one pull and finished ahead of Mitch Newton. Another battle for position was between Tyler Stegeman, Tom Duff, and Chris Weber. Stegeman hit all three squats while Duff and Weber only hit one. They all got two benches, Duff was the only one to miss a pull. Stegeman finished at 580kg, and Weber edged out Duff on bodyweight, both having a 582.5kg total. Kris Buda went 7 for 9 and a 590 total. Brandon Felice had a tough day with squats and finished 5 kg behind Tim Piegon who also had a bad day, only hitting openers and finishing at 607.5kg. Brenden Kavanagh was solid with 622.5kg as was Bryan Frizelle with 675kg. Andrew caprari went 6 for 9 and finished 4th with 682.5kg just behind Jarrod Faulk who had a perfect day and a 687.5kg total. Matt Goldin from the University of Georgia only missed one bench and his final dead and finished second with 757.5kg. Jason Beck successfully defended his championship title, but did so with some tension as it took all three attempts to get a 285kg squat. Beck made up for it on deads, pulling a PR 295kg on his second attempt and tearing a callous off his hand. After having the flap of skin cut off with a scissors (nothing smaller available), he came back and pulled a 305kg deadlift and finished with 787.5kg total. 100 kg Eighteen lifters squatted in this class, fifteen lifters finished. Stefan Arnold and Trevor Baumgarter were not able to get squats in, Jesse McCabe hit one squat and two benches but ran out of energy for the pull. Returning champion, PJ Chovanec, squatted 312.5kg, hit all three benches, but only pulled his opening deadlift of 310kg for a total of 817.5kg. Bryon Shannon of Slippery Rock had a good day, hitting a 205kg bench, going 8 for 9 and reaching a 745kg total. Travis Werner also went 8 for 9 and had 737.5kg total. Ken Reynolds missed his final deadlift and finished with 715kg. Steve Kouimanis pulled his final dead to pull within 2.5kg of Reynolds. James Townsend of La Tech went 7 for 9 and had a 705kg total. Bud Baldwin also of La Tech also had a 7 for 9 day, finishing with a solid 675kg total. Shelton Hutson missed his final squat and bench, but pulled all three deads for a 640kg total. Ryan Sandford and Andrew Franks both went 7 for 9, missing a squat and a final pull for 620kg totals, Sandford won on bodyweight. Another battle was between Horton and Thibodaux. Horton missed a squat while Thibodaux was 6 for 6 going into the deadlifts with a 27.5kg lead. Thibodaux only got one dead and finished at 590kg, Horton got two and a 592.5kg total. Closely behind them was Sebastian Tropea, only hit one bench and still finished at 585kg. Benjamin Guillot of Nicholls State was 6 for 9 on the day and a 580kg total and 10 kg ahead of Hugh Potts. 110 kg Bart Lombardi and John Campbell were not able to get squats in and did not finish. Of the six remaining, only Evan Whalen had a perfect day squatting and hit 320kg. Whalen went on to hit all three benches and miss his last pull of 322.5 for a junior American record. Whalen finished first with 820kg. Chris Kahanek hit two squats and all three benches including a 207.5kg, and all deads for 787.5kg. John King struggled with his squats, but came back strong on the bench and finished 3rd at 750kg. Adam Smoot of the US Military Academy went 7 for 9 and finished 4th with 662.5kg. Najemy had some troubles on his bench, blowing a shirt and coming back to get the lift raw, he pulled all three deads for 635kg. Adam Plagens of Eastern Michigan started strong hitting all three squats, missed a bench and a dead for a 620kg total. 125 kg The big boys moved some big weights. Emilio Saldierna missed his third squat, as did all the guys in this class, but still got 342.5kg. Saldierna got credit for all three benches, but missed his final pull. He finished second at 805kg. After a shakey start on squats, only getting one, Matt Wenning of Ball State hit all his benches including 215kg, and just missed a 305kg pull. Wenning finished first with 815kg. Wenning and Saldierna both said they will be back at Junior Nationals in June. Should prove to be another good competition. David Sharon went 6 for 9 and finished a solid 3rd place with 667.5kg. 4th and 5th were a battle between Stephen Hay and Chad Hayes. Hay hit two squats but only one bench. Hayes hit only one squat, but all three benches to take the advantage at the subtotal. Hay made his final pull at 235kg, Hayes missed his. They both finished with 577.5kg, Hay won on body weight. 125+ kg Corey Bradford was the only one of the supers to hit all three squats. Torrey Stott blew a suit on his opening squat of 302.5kg, but came back to get the lift. Josh Bryant was unable to get a squat. Stott was the only one to not hit all three benches, but his second at 227.5kg was a new Collegiate National Record. Interesting that all the supers only hit their opening dead. After two squats and three benches, Justin Mitchell pulled 215kg for a 610kg total. Seth Laviolette needed all three tries to hit his squat, made all three benches and pulled 242.5kg for 692.5kg total. Bradford pulled 237.5kg for a 717.5kg total, and Stott finished it up with a 297.5kg pull and a 827.5kg total Outstanding lifters were named for the men: the lightweight award went to Marcus Williams from LA Tech, the middleweight was Jason Bech from Slippery Rock and the heavyweight award went to and PJ Chovanec from LA Tech.
5 - US Military Academy 4 - Nicholls State University 3 - Ball State 2 - US Naval Academy 1 - LA Tech
4 - Ball State 3 - Nichols 2 - US Naval Academy 1 - LA Tech Most teams hit the road right after the awards (about 6pm Sunday) in order to get home for class the next day. However, not everyone rolled out of town right away, a few stayed in town and I saw a couple of them coming back into the hotel as I was leaving at 4am Monday morning. Some things about powerlifting just can't be explained to the general public. J |
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