| Matt
Cole has put together a collection of video clips from this meet and set
it to music. Click HERE
to see the video. I, of course, did NOT choose the music. |
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| Checking
over all my gear before heading to the meet venue. |
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| Trying
to wake up the morning of my first bench flight with some Illini
Powerlifting teammates. |
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| Warmups
were going well. |
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| Waiting
for my turn. |
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| On
Deck . . . time to get serious! |
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| First
attempt with 540.0 in the 54 Titan F6. This was an easy press for
a first attempt. That's Matt Cole of the SIUE team handing
off. He gave great handoffs and he's a terrific motivator on the
platform. Nice glutes, too. |
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| An
easy touch under the watchful (and picky) eye of Ken Snell. |
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| Awaiting
second attempt after changing into the 52 Titan F6. |
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| Talking
strategy with Illini Powerlifting President Blake Richards. |
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| I
was totally confident for this attempt. |
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| Second
attempt with 573.0 in the 52 Titan F6. Another smooth press. |
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| Getting
into the 50 . . . not an easy thing for a 300-pounder. |
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| Yuri
is good with sleeves, but not so good with skin. |
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| This
is a tight, tight shirt. |
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| Third
attempt with 639.2. The shirt was cranked too much and I couldn't
get the bar to touch; it was starting to pull toward the belly. I
needed this weight for the win as 573 only got me a tie which I lost on
bodyweight. I wasn't paying enough attention to how much the shirt
was getting cranked as my guys were getting me into it. You
snooze, you lose. |
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| I
had to start my deadlift warmups at the beginning of the trophy
presentation. I was a wee bit tired. |
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| In
Masters 40-46, I took second to Big Jim Presley. We both got
573.0, but he was a few pounds lighter and thus won on bodyweight. |
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| Getting
my third place trophy for Open Division. |
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| When
Tiny Meeker's in your weight class, it's a dogfight for second (unless
Tiny bombs). |
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| Josh
Reyes kept me company while I waited to pull. |
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| First
attempt with 606.2 . . . a joke. Subsequent attempts, however,
were no laughing matter. |
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| With
Illini Powerlifting, including members of the SIUE team. |
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| With
WABDL President Gus Rethwisch during the team trophy presentation. |
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| With
Joe Head of Headquarters Gym of Seattle. Joe is the coach of Team
Headquarters. |
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| With
Gus and Joe. There was a three-way tie for first in the team
standings: Illini Powerlifting - Team Illinois, Team Headquarters,
and The Bull Stewart Power Team. Illini Powerlifting - Team
Illinois won on tie-breaker points. However, Gus asked if we would
share the title with Team Headquarters. Since I don't like ties
any more than Gus does, I agreed; I also agreed as a demonstration of
the class, magnanimity, and sportsmanship that the members of Illini
Powerlifting, and indeed all the WABDL lifters of Illinois, represent. |