Norseman Roberts brings home Gold

The 2008 Canadian Senior Weightlifting Championship, and final Olympic qualifier, was held in La Prairie, Quebec on the weekend. The roster had 110 lifters from seven provinces and the Yukon. Ontario was represented by 15 lifters, including 7 from the North Bay Norsemen and Valkyries team.

Nick Roberts of the Norsemen was the gold medal winner in the 94 kilo class. Roberts matched his best ever lifts by making 145 kilos in the snatch and 180 kilos in the clean and jerk. In the process he defeated last year’s champion, Sarnia’s Dalas Santavy, by a 7 kilo margin. Roberts, a native of Newfoundland, has trained with the local squad for one year.

Canada is sending two male weightlifters to Beijing: Francis Luna Grenier of Montreal, the 69 kilo champion, and Jasvir Singh of Surrey, B.C, the gold medalist at 62 kilos. Roberts now stands as the second alternate.

Next to Nick Roberts, the best individual performance by a North Bay lifter came from Glenn Ogletree. Ogletree, a 32-year-old Special Constable with the OPP, was entered in the tough 77 kilo class and was the only lifter in that category to make all six of his attempts. He finished with a snatch of 108 kilos and a 134 kilo clean and jerk for a 242 total. Both the snatch and total were personal bests. Ogletree placed 8th.

In the 85 kilo division Richard Found finished in 10th position by way of 110 in the snatch and 140 in the clean and jerk.

Trevor Brown was favored to win a medal in the 105 kilo class but had the misfortune of tearing a callous from the underside of his hand on his second attempt in the snatch. Brown made his opening attempt snatch at 130 kilos and had to receive medical treatment before starting the clean and jerks. Despite having trouble gripping the bar, Brown did succeed with a token lift of 150 kilos in the clean and jerk. His total of 280 kilos was good enough for 6th place.

Jason Partridge and A.J. Wendover represented Ontario in +105 kilo, or unlimited weight division. The long time teammates and friendly rivals were the heaviest lifters in the entire lineup and they managed to finish with the exact same totals - 269 kilos Partridge made 120 in the snatch and clean and jerked 149, meanwhile, Wendover made 124 and 145. In weightlifting a tie in total goes to the lighter lifter. In this case Partridge weighed 149.69 kilos to Wendover’s 150.22. They finished 5th and 6th respectively.

Kayla Turner, the reigning provincial champion at 63 kilos, was one of the three Ontario females to reach the qualifying standard to lift in the Canadian Seniors. Turner had a good outing - snatching 63 kilos and clean and jerking 76 kilos for a 139 total and 7th place. Turner’s weight class was won by Christine Girard of Rouyn, Quebec.

Girard will join Marilou Dozois-Prevost of Montreal, the 48 kilo champion, and the 75 kilo division winner, Jean Lassen of Whitehorse, Yukon, as the Canadian female representatives at the Beijing Games.

Submitted to BayToday.ca