North Bay lifters excel at Canadian Juniors

North Bay weightlifters picked up a total of 5 medals, two silvers and three bronze, at the 2007 Canadian Junior finals held in Lachute, Quebec on the weekend.

Courtney Simkins, representing Ontario for the first time, put in an outstanding performance to take the silver medal in the 58 kilo class. Simkins, a grade 8 student at Mother St. Brides, broke all her personal bests, recording 50 kilos in the two-hand snatch lift and 62 kilos in the two hand clean and jerk movement for a total of 112 kilos. Simkins, at just 13 years of age, was the youngest athlete to claim a medal in the contest.

Melissa Ladouceur, coming off a long lay-off, won the bronze medal in the 53 kilo class with a total of 119 kilos, via a 52 kilo snatch and 67 kilo clean and jerk. Ladouceur weighed in at 48.6 kilos and would have easily won the competition in the lighter 48 kilo class. Over the past few years Ladouceur has won four Canadian Junior titles and two Canadian Senior golds all in the 48 kilo division. She is on track to regain her former form, and plans to return to her usual weight class for the upcoming Ontario Seniors and Canadian Seniors.

Another member of the local Valkyries club, Kayla Turner, also broke personal records in winning the bronze medal at 69 kilos. The 18 year old Cambrian College student snatched 59 kilos and clean and jerked 75 kilos for a total of 134. Prabdeep Shangira of B.C. took the silver, by finishing one kilo up on Turner, with a total of 135. Marie-Eve Nadeau of Quebec was the gold medalist.

In the men’s competition, Ontario’s best medal finish was by A.J. Wendover of the North Bay Norsemen. Lifting in the +105 kilo, or heavyweight division, the 18 year old West Ferris student made 110 kilos in the snatch and 135 kilos in the clean and jerk. The bronze medal went to Matthew O’Brien of Toronto; the gold medal to Marc Provost of Quebec.

Jarret Cauchy of the Norsemen was the bronze medalist in the 56 kilo weight class. Lifting also in his first Nationals, the 15 year old Cauchy snatched 56 and clean and jerked 67 kilos for a 123 total. Teammate, Kester Munro of Toronto, took the silver, while Enrique Wiebe of Manitoba won the gold.

North Bay’s other male lifters Andrew Uyeda at 62 and Jarrad Larmand at 85, both place 5th in their respective classes. Matthew Fraser, a Vermont resident with dual citizenship, who also competes for the Norsemen, was 4th in the 77 kilo division.

Submitted to BayToday.ca