Last Thursday, four local high school powerlifters took part in the 2017 Ontario High School Championship hosted by Westdale Secondary School in Hamilton.
The students – three from Widdifield and one from West Ferris Secondary – were able to win three medals, including one gold and two silver.
In the female 63 kilos and under division, Seanna Ashford of Widdifield took the bronze medal with a total of 202.5 kilos. Ashford had top lifts of 72.5 kilos in the squat, 37.5 kilos in the bench press, and 92.5 kilos in the deadlift. Seanna’s teammate, Whisper Gillespie, finished fourth in the same category with lifts of 72.5 kilos in the squat, 25 kilos in the bench press, and 75 kilos in the deadlift for a total of 180.
The gold medal went to Alexis Napper of Dunville High, and the silver to Emma Dyck of London Central.
Dylan Grant of Widdifield was the bronze medal winner in the hotly contested 74 kilo male category. Grant, lifting in his second contest ever, managed to succeed with 102.5 kilos in the squat, 65 kilos in the bench press, and 152.5 kilos in the deadlift for a total of 320 kilos. The silver went to Michael Hogan of St. Anne’s of Windsor, with a 332.5 kilo total; the gold medal to Brandon Berlin of McNabb Secondary in Hamilton. Berlin totaled 422.5 kilos.
The star of the entire contest was Riley Bullet of West Ferris, the far and away winner in the male 59 kilo class. Bullett broke four provincial sub-junior records (18 and under) and put up a total of 471 kilos. The silver medal went to Liam Marshall of McNabb with a total of 287.5 kilos.
Riley made all nine of his attempts on the day. He finished with 165 kilos in the squat, 106 kilos in the bench press, and finally, a phenomenal 200 kilos in the deadlift. His bench press result broke his own Canadian Powerlifting Union record by one kilo, and his deadlift was five kilos over his previous CPU mark. At present, Riley’s deadlift is just 2.5 kilos shy of the International Powerlifting Association’s sub-junior 59 kilo record of 202.5. The record was set in December, 2016 by Soria Diego of Ecuador.
At the end of the contest Bullet was awarded the best male lifter award according to the Wilk’s formula. The formula ranks lifters based on bodyweight and amount lifted. Riley, who weighed in a t 56.5 kilos, finished with a rating of 425.077 points. The second highest rating went to the 120 kilo class winner Eric Bender of Waterloo- Oxford High. Bender totaled 680 kilos at a bodyweight of 119 kilos and scored 391.544 formula points. The best lifter from the female line-up was the 57 kilo champion, Sara Abuwad of Grand River Collegiate in Kitchener.
The local high school lifters were coached and supported by Valhalla Powerlifting Club leaders –Ron Dillig, Zach Este, and Travis Feltz. The Valhalla Club wishes to announce that the next powerlifting event in North Bay will be the fourth annual North Bay Open on Sunday September 28th at Canadore College’s Commerce Court campus.
