USAPL Bench Press National Championships II
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The 2006 USAPL National Bench Press Championships II was yet, another impressive success for USA Powerlifting. Prior to beginning this article, I would like to extend my congratulations to both Jennifer and Donovan Thompson who produced and directed their first national championship and did a tremendous job! Their addition of this year's Bench Press National Championships was a masterfully produced event and a great deal of fun! It goes without saying, the Thompson's make and great team and their skills compliment one another quite well in directing competitions of this nature.
This year's contest was held in beautiful and quaint downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, less than 20 minutes from the Charlotte International Airport. Having logged in a few air miles myself during the past decade, I have been to my share of airports, and the Charlotte airport is one of my favorites. Overall, the contest featured nearly 150+ lifters from 30+ states. An, excellent turnout, considering this was the second time around that we held this event this year to align ourselves with the new IPF Calendar. Championship Venue & Hotel Unlike in previous years, where the events are normally staged in a hotel ballroom, the Thompson's went all out and arranged to have the championship in the McGlohon Theatre, less than four [4] blocks from the Omni Hotel. The McGlohon Theater at Spirit Square Center for Arts & Education has a seating capacity for over 700 people, and is used for local, state and national level performances. The theatre was a former First Baptist Church and the facility is surrounded with stained glass windows and the architecturally stunning and beautiful Byzantine dome. The stage was set with a very large screen which projected Joe Marksteiner's championship program, which included all of the attempts for each lifter, the weight loaded on the bar, lifting order, conversion from pounds to kilograms, etc, which allowed not only the referees and jury to easily follow the competition, but the audience as well. Video and scoring were also piped into the a warm-up area located just 10 feet by the stage where the lifting took place, which as everyone knows is a definite plus for the lifters. Not a bad seat in the house. This feature allows everyone, regardless as to where you're at in the venue to see the lifting take place. Music was played between attempts, which kept the contest upbeat and fast moving! To compliment the McGlohan Theatre, the Omni Hotel, not less than 5 minutes from the venue provided excellent accommodations for the athletes, administrators, coaches, family and friends. Each evening, special planned meals for the lifters were prepared, which included all of the trimmings. This was one very nice detail that I would like to see other meet directors in the future incorporate into their tool boxes. The lifters and attendees enjoyed this very much. Overall, the hotel staff was extremely friendly, courteous and supportive of our group, which made everyone feel welcome and comfortable prior to taking part in the championship. It must be noted also, that during the course of the weekend, many dignitaries from the town, along with the news media, as well as a cadre of students from the school where Jennifer Thompson's teaches at poured into the venue to watch the lifting. This is not often the case and we are thankful to the city of Charlotte for their very generous and warm hospitality - USA Powerlifting looks forward to our return in the near future. Contest Review: Prior to beginning this section of my report, I would like to mention that the lifting and technical coordination of this championship is one of the best I ever seen. I would say this event was nearly flawless in their technical presentation. This high standard of direction allowed the lifters to be at their very best, and made the competition between the athletes, in quite a few of the weight classes, extremely competitive. On the other hand, I must comment on a matter that continues to plague our sport and pains me to no end -- There are still too many lifters opening right at, and well over their maximum capabilities, which needless to say, causes quite a few bomb outs to take place. Dr. Maile and I have discussed this phenomenon of "extreme and all or nothing style of lifting". Furthermore, I would like to bring to the attention of our athletes that this form and style of lifting seems to be found more so in single-lift bench press championships as apposed to powerlifting championships - Counterproductive. On this note, I would like to request from our lifters, a greater degree of command and control when selecting their attempts. Overall, as lifters, coaches and officials, as well as a federation, we can be better. If we really desire the crowds to return to our venues, and for that matter stay to watch; as athletes we owe to public and to ourselves the best performance possible! We can demonstrate the skill, knowledge and expertise of making attempts in a championship - Enough said here for now. I ask that you consider my proposal. On a final closing remark, the lifting by our athletes continues to get better and is as amazing as ever. My compliments on some truly outstanding lifting! Now, onto the lifting highlights of the championship: Contest Lifting: The overall Champion of Champions was awarded to Jennifer Thompson with a whopping 162.584 Wilks, and is one of the highest ever achieved by a female bench presser. Jennifer also upped her IPF World Record with 145.00kg/319lb, and even tried a whopping 151.00kgs/337lbs and just missed it at lockout - Very close. Deb Farrell was a little off this day, after such a great performance at the Worlds in Hungary during May. She is tough cookie, and I firmly believe that next year she will push - legitimately - under the strictest of technical standards the greatest amount of weight ever achieved by any female on the face of the planet. Stephanie Dzurnak another emerging lifter from Ohio at just 22 years of age looks to be a contender in the future. She has all of the tools to become a great one! Probably one our greatest talents' coming up through the ranks is Devon Doan, who continues to astonish us all with her superb bench pressing abilities. Finally, senior grandmaster lifters Ann Leverett and Regina Hackney continue to turn back the hands of time and dominate with some really very impressive lifting for their respective ages. Their performances clearly show that you are never too old to start Powerlifting. Now to the men! The overall Champion of Champions was awarded Scott Lade with a Wilks score of 183.901 - Very impressive! He was followed closely by Bill Gillespie and Kevin Mayer. I would like to comment that this was Lade's day. In the years that I have had the pleasure to see him lift, this was his best ever performance. Scott stroked a beautiful 323.00kgs/712 lb to completion - Awesome display of power! Another epic battle, again took place between Kevin Mayer and David Doan. Both are two of America's best lifters and went head to head for an all slugfest, with Mayer coming out the victor by just a scant 2.5kgs. They're two great sportsmen with a fierce rivalry. The lead changed between these two after each successful attempt, which really made it exciting to watch! Once they were both complete with their third attempts and with places decided, each tried a world record. Kevin the open and David the master's record - both were very close to locking the weight out - Next time! Tim Anderson continues to improve and notched another win. Lance Kirchner at just 82.5kgs/181lbs tried an immense lift of 270.5/596lbs and was extremely close to locking it out. Wow! Mike Hara and Dennis Cieri had off days, but were still very impressive. Most remarkable was newcomer Rick Marrama from Boston, Massachusetts. You will hear more from this young man in the future. He has quite the future in front of him. Veteran Tony Succarotte, again, mysteriously was absent. Rumors were heard that he was still recovering from a fracture to his arm. We wish him a speedy recovery. It was nice to see a leaner Mike Hodge back in the saddle once more. He looks to be on his way back to contention. Each Champion of Champions was awarded a Katana Sword sponsored by Titan Support Systems. Something new and unique and is a very nice prize to give to the best overall lifter at any contest. To close this section of my report, a bench press-for-reps contest was held at the end of each of the four [4] sessions of lifting. Quite a few lifters signed up and were very impressive in their rep capacities. Most notably was the competition between Michael Belk, who hit an amazing 59 reps at 225, and then was followed by Bill Gillespie doing 60 reps -- very exciting finish. Interestingly enough, the best player at this year's NFL combines was able to make only 45 reps with 225. So, maybe they can learn something from our training methods? Officials and Staff: I would like to again, commend the officials and the staff for an absolutely professional job in each of their respective duties and assignments. The referees and staff worked together and produced a simply flawless event, free of injury and misloads. Notably, Tim Morgan has to be one of the best announcers ever. When the red lights went on, and infraction cards went up into the air, Tim took the necessary time to explain the rule violations, which kept the audience tuned into the event all the way through to the end of each session. He communicated several of the rulings by the jury and was very entertaining for the audience to listen to. I believe he missed his calling in radio and/or television - great job Tim! Overall, the officiating and scoring was of high-quality and some of the best ever. I would like to commend the following officials for the time and efforts - Thank you! Referee Category State Bill Clayton I New Jersey Paul Sutphin II West Virginia Vince White II West Virginia Johnny Graham II Texas Regina Hackney II South Carolina Dr. Larry Miller II Ohio Cathy Marksteiner II Ohio Joe Marksteiner II Ohio Jennifer Thompson National North Carolina William Morris National Virginia Glenn Hill National North Carolina Angela Simons National Minnesota Greg Page National Ohio John Shifflet National Virginia Lance Slaughter National California Michelle Sora State Arizona Kathleen Moore State North Carolina Donovan Thompson State North Carolina John Demchek State South Carolina Travis Pardue State North Carolina Brent Hindman State North Carolina Sherman Ledford State Georgia Tim Morgan State North Carolina Joe Andalone State North Carolina Regarding the officiating, I would like to point out that after each session of lifting meetings were held with the platform referees to review and critique, as well as answer any questions and/or provide clarification on particular calls that were made. This was well received and clear step in the right direction to enhancing and improving our officiating and technical direction. Not to be left out, and these guys are the pillars of any event - the spotters/loaders. I would like to publicly commend all of the spotters and loaders for their superior and professional work on the platform. Their alertness saved quite a few lifters from serious injury. Leading the platform crew was veteran handoff specialist Eric Currey from Ohio. I must point out that Eric is one of a kind and has the distinction or likely handing off more bench press attempts than anyone on the planet. He is the master technician and the athletes love this guy -- Great job Eric! It is my understanding that the majority were physicians that work in the ER at the local hospital with Dr. Thompson. It was very nice to see Ralph Young back on the platform. He is doing very well and coaching his son's football team in Ohio. It is my understanding that he is an outstanding athlete like his father. Also, it was nice to see Nectar Kirkiris the veteran of many platform crews. He was recently married and I would like to publicly wish him and his new bride our congratulations! Also, the Thompson's would like to extend special thanks to Todd & Rhonda Shelton, Chris St. Clair and all of the families and friend that supported this event - Thank you! Finally, on behalf of the organization, Larry Maile, Johnny Graham, and I, we would like to thank all of the volunteers for your excellent work and time to assist in making this championship a success. Sponsor Contributions: No championship would ever be successful if it were not for the kind and generous support of our ever faithful sponsors! Jennifer and Donovan, as well as USA Powerlifting would like to take this opportunity to thank the following sponsors for their contributions, which made this contest the grand success it was. They are: Muscle Milk; Titan Support Systems; Quest Nutrition; Core Fitness; Batten Athletics; Phil's Tavern; and Purepowerlifting.com. Steve Mann is the owner of Purepowerlifting.com and developed a very nice championship website for the championship. He was timely with all additions and updates of information pertaining to the championship - Good work Steve! I would also like to thank Paul Bossi from 100% Raw Powerlifting for providing the very professional awards for the show. Paul also lifted in this event as well. Great job! Drug-testing Resume: At this championship, I pulled twenty [20] athletes for drug-testing, with one [1] test being an Out-of-Competition Tests (OCT) on a lifter that was preparing to lift at the IPF World Championships. With 14% of the athletes being tested for prohibited substances, this exceeds the organizations current mandate for testing at least 10% of the lifters in each contest. Furthermore, of the twenty [20] samples taken, six [6] were sent directly to the UCLA laboratory (only IOC certified lab in the United States) for analysis, and the other fourteen [14] tests were sent to Quest Labs in Las Vegas, Nevada. Final Comments and Thoughts: At the completion of the event and party was held at Phil's Tavern for all of the athletes to attend and celebrate their respective accomplishments -- We should do this more often! My sincerest apologies to our host and hostess for not being able to attend, as I was not feeling well after the show, and went back to my room to get some well needed rest, prior to my trip home the next day. Next time for sure! On a final note, it was a pleasure to attend this championship. Again, my compliments to Jennifer and Donovan Thompson for putting on one of the best directed meets I have ever attended. Folks, the bar has been raised another notch! Furthermore, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the athletes much success with their training and preparations for the IPF World Championship next year, and I look forward to seeing everyone back in Denver, where I am sure Dan Gaudreau and Jennifer Rey, and the administration of USAPL - Colorado are gearing up to direct a terrific championship. See you there! Robert Keller IPF Category I Referee Chairman, USA Powerlifting Technical Committee |
A Few Contest Photos
Thanks to Jennifer Thompson        |