Valkyries solid at Toronto Super Show

Coach Larry Sheppard along with Zara Sheppard, Allison Loyst and event sponsor Hani Kanama. Photo submitted.

TORONTO, ON - Weightlifting was one of the featured sports at the Pro Super Show and Fitness Expo held last weekend at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The lifting event was sponsored by Kanama High Performance Training Centre of Scarborough and featured cash prizes for the top junior and senior aged competitors of both genders.

Allison Loyst of the North Bay Valkyries came out on top of the junior female division with the highest Sinclair ( kilo for kilo ) rating. Loyst weighed in at 122 kilos and made a total of 152 kilos. The nineteen year old Windsor University student, succeeded with 67 kilos in the two hand snatch lift and 85 in the clean and jerk. Zara Sheppard, a last minute substitute for her older sister Bronwynn, was able to take third place overall with a 55 kilo total. The eleven year old Sheppard was the lightest athlete in the field at 40.4 kilos; she managed 25 kilos in the snatch and 30 in the clean and jerk.

Although no North Bay Norsemen took part in the competition, two members of the new Canadore Panthers did lift in the junior contest. Cody Mathewson, at 63 kilos in bodyweight, placed fourth overall with a 142 kilo total. He made 62 in the snatch and 80 in the clean and jerk. Meanwhile, Codie Campbell, at 60 kilos in bodyweight, finished fifth with a 126 kilo total, via lifts of 50 and 76.

Later, in the female open aged contest, Kayla Turner of the Valkyries registered a 156 kilo total at a bodyweight of 63 kilos. Turner, a Nipissing University Physical Education student, snatched 70 kilos and clean and jerked 86 to place second behind the eventual winner, Isabelle Despres of Ottawa.

Submitted to BayToday.ca