5th NAPF Championships/2nd Tournament of the Americas
|
Guatemala: the land where it is always spring.
With daytime highs in the upper 70s and nighttime lows in the low 60s, the USA team couldn't ask for much nicer weather during the 5th Annual North American Regional Powerlifting Federation championship, coupled with the 2nd Tournament of the Americas, held in Guatemala City from June 20-24, 2007. The USA brought a strong team of 25 men and 25 women to compete in open, sub-junior/junior, and master's divisions. According to Robert Keller, NAPF General Secretary, this meet has been the largest North American regional championship by far, with 127 athletes participating from 12 nations in North America, ranging from Aruba to the Virgin Islands. The championship was held in conjunction with the World Anti-Doping Symposium. After the opening ceremonies on June 20, competition got underway on June 21 with the women. Jim Hart, women's head coach, said that 13 of the team, over half, had no previous international experience. Nevertheless, he said, all the competitors lifted well. The morning session saw Maria Vasquez of Guatemala become the local heroine in nearly all the city's newspapers, winning the 48-kg gold, edging out Rowena Lopez of the USA who herself edged out Gladys Serrano of Puerto Rico by just 2.5 kg total. According to Hart, Lopez was the least experienced of the women on the team, but she lifted well in the largest class-five in all-of female Open competitors. Continuing the morning session, the USA Women took first place in every other weight class they entered. Janel Brown won the 52-kg class against Marta Carillo of Guatemala. Ashley Matherne turned in 9 for 9 in the 56-kg class. Suzanne Salinis won easily with 7 for 9 in the 60-kg class. The afternoon session had the heavier women, starting with the 67.5-class. Team USA did not have any lifters in this class, which was won by Christy Tyquiengco of Puerto Rico against two other lifters from El Salvador. The 75-kg Open class had Priscilla Ribic lifting in the Tournament of the Americas to allow her teammates to come home with some hardware. Priscilla also was popular with the local press and totaled 615 kg in this outing. Cydney Smith earned the USA gold in the 75-kg class. Malinda Baum fought hard for the gold at 82.5, going 7 for 9 and just edging out Maguena Calalleros of Guatemala. Both were Master's lifters, but Malinda lifted in the Open category this time out. The only afternoon weight class where the USA women had to be satisfied with silver was the 90-kg class. Katey Dodge had a tough day, going 4 for 9 against Giselle Costas of Puerto Rico, the best lifter in the Women's Open. Rounding out the women's competition was Lana Allen with an 8 for 9 day, and the highest total of all the USA women in the competition-530 kg. She also set an American record for Women's Teen (18-19) bench press with a 142.5 kg lift. The USA Women's Open team won the team gold with six first places over runner-up Guatemala. The USA Sub-junior/Junior team was equally impressive. Placings were determined by Wilk's total within each category of SJ light and heavy weight, and Junior light and heavy weight. Michelle Van Dusen took first place in the SJ lightweights over two other USA teammates. Meagan Chappell won the gold in SJ heavyweights, again outlifting two other teammates. The Junior lightweight gold went to Katie Van Dusen, the best female Junior lifter of the competition. The Junior heavyweight division was won by Christy Tyquiengco of Puerto Rico in a five-lifter field. Team USA's Junior Women earned three golds and three silvers to win the team gold in this category over Puerto Rico, El Salvador, and Guatemala. The six-lifter women's Master's team for the USA was virtually unopposed, with only three other female lifters competing. With placings also done by Wilk's formula in this category, the gold in Master's 1 lightweight went to Marta Carillo of Guatemala over Joni Mach of team USA. In the M1 heavyweights, Rhonda Clark took the gold and overall best female Master lifter over Maguena Caballeros of Guatemala and two others including teammate Donna Marts. For the Master's 2, the USA's three unopposed competitors of Gail Moore, Regina Hackney, and Teresa Merrick swept the placings. The six USA female Masters earned the team gold with two 1st places, two 2nds, and two 3rds over Guatemala and El Salvador. Hart said that the USA Women's team is undefeated in four outings at this championship: they were not part of the first meet in 2003. Following the women's success, the men lifted on June 22 and 23. James Townsend, the men's head coach, led a men's squad that he said had only 7 or 8 lifters with previous international experience with some of them never having been to Nationals either. Nevertheless, Townsend said, he felt the best thing about the competition was how the team, from local lifters to previous world champions, men and women alike, pulled together as one unit to help each other. He said some of the assistant coaches lifted in the competition also, setting the team's performance ahead of their personal goals, yet still lifted well. The lightweight men started the morning session of the men's first day. The men's 56-kg open class was won by Ivan Cancel of Puerto Rico over Vladimir Rivas of Guatemala. Wilhelm Guido of Mexico took gold in the 60-kg men's Open. In the 67.5-kg Open class, team USA's Brian Montefolka easily won over the next place competitor with a total of 617.5 kg. The afternoon session saw the men's 75-kg and 82.5-kg classes on the platform. David Hammers of team USA won Open gold with a great 7 for 9 day and a 725-kg total, ultimately earning the men's best lifter award. In the 82.5-kg class, Todd Straub of USA out-lifted teammate Tony Reid to win. The final day of lifting began in the morning with the 90-kg and 100-kg lifters. Jim Brown of the USA took first at 90-kg with a 9 for 9 performance and a total of 747.5 kg. Mike Moylen won the gold at 100 kg over teammate Curt St. Romain with a 677.5 total. The heavyweights rounded out the competition in the afternoon, with local TV stations and newspapers on hand to see the big weights moving. Harold Milan of Puerto Rico won the gold at 110 kg, going 8 for 9 and totaling 812.5 kg. Teammate David Estrada earned another gold for Puerto Rico at 125 kg with a total of 805 kg. Terrance Brooks finished out the day for the USA men's Open team with a first place at 125+ kg. As with the women's team, the men earned the Open team trophy with six 1st places over runner-up Puerto Rico. The men's Subjunior/Junior team from the USA faced strong competition from the other participating countries, with two Subjunior and four Junior weight categories with placings again determined by Wilk's total. Jason Hinkel earned first place in SJ lightweights while Edwin Turcios of Guatemala won gold in the SJ heavyweights. In the Junior 1, Vladimir Rivas of Guatemala, with a Wilk's total of 431.68, edged out Emmanuel Rodriguez of Puerto Rico, whose Wilk's total was 430.10. The Junior 2 category saw Hector Samayoa of Guatemala beat teammate Seelvyn Segura for the gold. Team USA scored higher in the heavier weight Junior categories. In Junior 3, Austin Smith of the USA took first place. For the Junior 4 category, Shawn Stanislaw of team USA won the gold. Guatemala earned the gold in the Junior team results with three first-place rankings and 63 team points over the USA with three first places and 59 points. The men's Master category also faced significant competition, but fared quite well. Again, placings were determined by Wilk's total within each weight-class grouping. Greg Page of team USA won the gold along with the best men's Master lifter award with a 7 for 9 performance in the Master's 1 group I weight class. Jim Brown's performance earned him first place in the M1 group II weight class. Ramon Miranda of Puerto Rico took first place in the M1 group III weight class while teammate David Estrada won gold in the M1 group IV class. In Master's 2, team USA dominated all the weight classes. Bill Clayton took first place in group I over teammate Rich Blaumuller. Floyd Givens won easily in group II, the largest of the M2 groups. In Master's 3, Bill Heimlich set a new world record with his second bench press while easily winning the gold. The men's Master's team ended up with five first-places and 69 points over second-place Guatemala. Team USA also dominated the best lifter awards. Katie Van Dusen won Women's Junior, Rhonda Clark won Women's Master, David Hammer won Men's Open, Jason Hinkel won Men's Junior, and Greg Page won Men's Master. Giselle Costas of Puerto Rico won the Women's Open. But even though the USA team performed so well, lifters from other nation's provided some of the most inspirational moment's of the competition. Paralympian Arnia Perez, Mexico's only female lifter in the contest, lifted 125 kg in the bench press, going 2 for 3 in the 56 kg class. During the men's competition, she was on the platform taking her practical exam for IPF-level referee status. Spectators and lifters alike were on their feet shouting their support during the first session on men's day 2 cheering on Osvaldo Jaime of Guatemala, a 100-kg Master's lifter with a prosthetic right leg. Spotters placed the bar on his back for the squat since he could not back out of the rack. Osvaldo ended up with 6 for 9 good lifts and with a 335-kg total for the competition. In the second session, the crowd again cheered for Carlos Green from Trinidad and Tobago, a blind lifter in the 125-kg class. Led to the platform by his assistant for each lift, he meticulously set up each lift and went 8 for 9, missing only his final bench press. He actually sat in the hole on each squat and powered back up. Making each lift look easy, his performance prompted some of the crowd to cheer "put some weight on the bar. Townsend said this competition demonstrated how NAPF is growing as a region, with the number of athletes having doubled since last year's meet. He said the NAPF meet "shows the work of USAPL, Rob Keller, and Larry Maile to help raise the status of powerlifting toward inclusion in the Olympics." Next year's NAPF Championship will be in Trinidad and Tobago. |
Contest Photos
 Priscilla Ribic squats in the 2nd Tournament of the
Americas in Guatemala (Photo by George Marts)  Flag bearers for USA: Ashley Matherne, Terrance Brooks,
and Jason Hinkel (Photo by Teresa Merrick)  David Hammers, Men's Best Lifter in Open Category, just before
departing for home. (Photo by Teresa Merrick)  Carols Green, blind lifer from Trinidad, buries his third squat.
(Photo by Teresa Merrick) |
|