On October 18th, Canadore College’s Commerce Court gym was the site of the 16th edition of the Ray Hamilton Classic. The open- aged contest attracted 63 weightlifters from 11 clubs across Ontario and North Western Quebec.
The outstanding performances of the day were put in by junior lifters, Catrina Earnshaw of the Physics Elite team of Ottawa, and Alex Bellemare of the LaSarre Weightlifting Club. Earnshaw won the 58-kilo female class by way of 68 kilos in the snatch and 90 kilos in the clean and jerk. Bellemare took gold in the male 85-kilo division and did 140 kilos in the snatch and 170 kilos in the clean and jerk. Bellemare, a bronze medallist at the recent IWF World Juniors in Taiwan, is now top-ranked male lifter in Canada.
Apart from Catrina Earnshaw, the other female weight category winners were: Audrey Hatfield of Kanama North in Pembroke at 53 kilos, Kaylee Wedge of the Laurentian University Voyageurs at 63 kilos, Amber Perron of the North Bay Valkyries at 69 kilos, Amy Varny of Kanama North at 75 kilos, Sylvie Baillargeon of the Heracles Club of Rouyn at 90 kilos, and Carla Mikkola of the Sudbury Weightlifting Club in the +90 kilo class.
Other local female medalists included Olivia Talbot and Emily Rygus , silvers in the 58 and 90 kilo divisions respectively. Bronze medals went to Valkyries, Naomie Duval at 53 kilos, Haley French at 58 kilos, and Sabrina Picard in 75 kilo class.
The most improved female lifter from last year’s event was Amber Perron of the Valkyries. The best novice – first time ever competitor – was Kaomi Barnhardt from the McMaster Barbell Club in Hamilton. Kaomi, a former North Bay resident and hockey player, won the silver medal in the 69 kilo division with a total of 121 kilos. She made 56 in the snatch and 65 in the clean and jerk.
There were two sessions of lifting to cover all the male categories, and the North Bay Norsemen grabbed four golds from the mix. Steve Forget lead off with a win in the 50 kilo class. The fifteen year old Forget made 39 kilos in the snatch and 48 in the clean and jerk. Then Kenton Atkins topped the 77 kilo division by making 100 kilos in the snatch and 120 in the clean and jerk. Later on, Aiden Woods took the 94 kilo class title with a 270 kilo total by way of 117 in the snatch and 153 in the clean and jerk. In the next weight category up, 105 kilos, Norsemen Liam MacDonald was first with a 256 total. Macdonald snatched 116 and clean and jerked 140 kilos. Other Norsemen making it to the podium were: Tyler Miller – silver at 62 kilos, Brett Sontag- silver at 85 kilos, Duncan Weiszhaar-bronze at 77 kilos, and Forrest Sutherland - bronze at +105 kilos.
The remaining male weight class winners were: Joel Asselin of the Sudbury Weightlifting Club at 62 kilos, Xavier Lusigan of Kanama North at 69 kilos, Alex Bellemare of LaSarre at 85 kilos, and Sylvain Lusigan of Kanama North in the +105 class. The best novice lifter among the males was Eric Ireland of the Laurentian University squad; the most improved male from the 2016 line-up was Pierre-Olivier Gauthier of LaSarre.
The competition, one of the most important qualifiers on the Ontario Weightlifting Association’s calendar, was the collaborative effort of the Norsemen and Valkyries weightlifting club, the Canadore Panthers Weightlifting squad and Canadore College’s Strength and Sport Conditioning diploma program.
