On Saturday the Sabaria Weightlifting Club of Oakville played host to provincial junior weightlifting finals.
The North Bay Norsemen and Valkyries team had 11 lifters spread across the roster, and they finished with seven trips to the medal podium.
There were 24 clubs represented, and medals were awarded in six female and seven male weight divisions.
In the female portion of the contest Tori Brazeau led off for the Valkyries in the lightest weight category, 48 kilos.
She placed fifth with lifts of 36 kilos in the snatch and 46 in the clean and jerk. Next up was Whisper Gillespie at 58 kilos; she made 35 in the snatch and 47 in the clean and jerk for fourth place.
In the female 63 kilo class, veteran Valkyrie lifter, Olivia Talbot, put on a spirited display of lifting to finish with top marks of 53 in the snatch and 62 in the clean and jerk. Talbot won the bronze in her category. At 69 kilos, Carli O’Hara broke her personal bests by making 49 in the snatch and 63 in the clean and jerk for a 112 total. In the same weight class, Emily Chute of the Sarnia fury team did 47 and 66 for 113. Chute took the gold and O’Hara the silver.
In the male portion of the competition, the Norsemen had two lifters in the lightest class – 56 kilos. Fourteen year old Steve Forget did 30 in the snatch and 35 in the clean and jerk to place sixth. Meanwhile, seventeen year old Koltin Atkins did 60 in the snatch and 70 in the clean and jerk and took the silver medal behind Connor Bazilsky of Belleville’s Victory barbell team. Then, in the 62 kilo category, Connor Doyle of the Norsemen did 45 and 63 and won the bronze medal. The 62 kilo gold medal went to Joel Asselin of the Sudbury Weightlifting team.
At 77 kilos Kaelan Mathon and Colton Gill broke all their personal records. Mathon made 87 in the snatch and 97 in the clean and jerk to finish in seventh position. Gill made all of his six attempts in perfect form. He snatched 97, 102, and finished with 104; in the clean and jerk he did 115, 121, and 125. Gill’s 229 total was good for the silver.
Dylan Hall- Archibald was the youngest athlete in the 94 kilo class. The 14-year-old Chippewa student broke his personal records with best marks of 55 in the snatch and 66 in the clean and jerk; his total placed him sixth. Dylan’s older teammate, Aiden Woods, had a strong outing to take the silver medal behind Boady Santavy of Sarnia. Woods made 111 kilos in the snatch and 143 in the clean and jerk.
In the male 105 kilo class Liam MacDonald of the Norsemen won the gold medal on his final lift of the day. MacDonald, a Canadore College Strength and Sport Conditioning student, snatched 93, 100, and had a close miss at 105. His main rival, Vladimir Gritsichine of McMaster Barbell, did 98 kilos to sit 2 kilos behind after the snatches. In the clean and jerk Gritsichine started at 115 for a success, MacDonald did 118; both athletes then made 122 on their second attempts. Gritsichine finished with a strong 124 to take the lead by virtue of a lighter bodyweight. With one attempt remaining MacDonald decided to take 125. It turned out to be his best lift of the day and it enabled him to win the gold medal by a three kilo margin.
The team pennant for the top team of the competition, based on the top four scoring males and two females from a club, went to the Norsemen and Valkyries of North Bay. The locals finished with 126 points. In second place was the Santavy Weightlifting team of Sarnia with 104 points. Last year’s champions, the Toronto Weightlifting Club, finished third with 97 points.
The provincial junior team, made up of lifters born 1997 and earlier, will be selected in the next week. The squad will be comprised of the top eight females and twelve males in the province according to competition results from mid-August to the Ontario Juniors. The Ontario contingent will travel to the Canadian Junior finals in Brossard, Quebec on January 14. There are a number of Norsemen and Valkyries in the running for spots on the team.
