It's a strength revolution!
Greetings 306er's,
This past weekend 306 played host to the biggest Powerlifting Provincials in Saskatchewan history, an event put on by our local club, Saskatoon Barbell. Fifty-plus competitors came out to the event, in addition to over 100 spectators through the door. Exciting stuff.
The competition was broken down into three parts: the bench only competition, the females three-lift and male three-lift.
In the bench-only, resident bench specialist Chelsea Sveinbjornson, pressed her way to a new 77.5 kg (170 lb) PR, good enough for the #2 spot on the 306 board.
In the female three-lift, we had nine athletes competing. Kayla Arthurs won gold in the sub-junior (18 and under) 63 kg-class, setting 4 new provincial records and achieved a qualifying total for the 2014 CPU Nationals held this April in St. Catharines, Ontario.
Lana Price-Wright, put in a solid performance, PR'ing (personal record) on all 3-lifts on her way to a Nationals qualifying total and a gold medal in the 84+ Junior division. Chelsea, competing in both sections, PR'd in the squat, an impressive 125 kg, good enough for a qualifying total and gold medal in the 84 kg Junior division. Erin Kemp, was also good for a few PR's, in addition to a gold-medal finish in the 63 kg Open division. Stef Hughes, had a good day in the ultra-competitive 72 kg open division, hitting a few PR's on very minimal training. in addition to (don't quote me on this) the longest successful DL attempt in powerlifting history. Coach Viki Cirkvencic also had a good showing, PR'ing in the bench at 67.5 kg (148 lbs), good enough for a 3rd place finish. Additionally, her Wilks score of 315 pts, a scoring system used to compare lb-for-lb strength in lifters of different bodyweights, pushed her to #10 on the overall list of SK female lifters. Impressive. Rounding out the 72-kg class, we had a superb, 9 for 9 performance by Samantha Mitchell, vaulting her to a silver medal in her first PL meet. This rare 9 for 9 showing displayed the all-around strength of this lifter. Gen Grant, pushed her way to into the SK record books with a 65 kg bench press and a gold medal in the 84 kg Master I class. Finally, we had National competitor, Jessie Buydens, continuing her dominance of the platform in the 84+ kg Open class. Jessie, also went 9 for 9, and had competition PR's in every lift. Her 329 wilk points moved her up to #6 on the all-time list. An improvement to her 410 kg total will put her in the running for a National Championship this year.
In the men's afternoon session, we had four athletes representing 306. On two months training, William Jacklinn-Watt had PR's on every lift in his 9 for 9 performance, with a huge 370-lb deadlift, giving him a Sub-junior and Junior qualifying total and gold medal in the 74 kg Sub-junior class. Kent Brown, battled all day, hitting a big squat PR of 155 kg (341 lbs) at 143 lbs, setting him up for a Nationals qualifying total on his final deadlift of the day, in addition to placing first in the 66 kg Open division and setting ALL of the Provincial Records.
Coach Jason Cain, had an impressive day with lifts of 195 kg (429 lbs) in the squat and 122.5 kg (270 lbs) in the bench, giving him a gold medal victory in the 83-kg Open Class, in addition to introducing the Powerlifting world to a concept2 rower in the warm up room, ;). Finally, we had Jason Joyal, lifting in the 93 kg Open class. Although, Big Jay didn't have his best day, he found a way to hit an impressive 429 lb squat and 490 lb deadlift at a personal-low bodyweight of 202 lbs.
Thanks to everyone who made the day a success, Jason and Rebecca for hosting, our sponsors Inner Strength Products, Criticalbench.com and the Odeon Events Centre, and everyone that came out and cheered on. I was extremely proud of our showing and can't weight to get back to the box this week to resume training. Also, Unparalleled Performance will be holding a "Last Chance" meet in Moose Jaw on December 21st for anyone interested.
- Coach Marc