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Record breaking performance by Gagnon at 14th annual Ray Hamilton Classic

Locals impress at Weightlifting event
dylan set to boostoct2015
13-year-old Dylan Hall-Archibald of the North Bay Norsemen set to boost 39 kilos in the snatch. Photo by Steve Newman.

On Saturday, Canadore College’s Commerce Court gym was the site of the 14th edition of the Ray Hamilton Classic. The open aged contest attracted weightlifters from 16 clubs across Ontario and Northwestern Quebec.

Two of the outstanding performances of the day were put in by junior lifters, Nikolay Alexandrov from the Varbanov School of Weightlifting in Toronto, and Vanessa Gagnon of the local Valkyries team.

Gagnon won the 75 kilo female division and set two club records in the process. The 18-year-old Nipissing University student, made 71 kilos in the snatch and 78 kilos in the clean and jerk. The snatch mark and her total of 149 kilos are new Valkyries records. Gagnon is in the running for one of the five spots on the provincial team going to the Canadian Juniors in January 2016.

Other female weight division winners include: Megane Veillette of LaSarre at 48 kilos, Ashley Laley of Pembroke at 53,  Catrina Earnshaw at 58, Lisa Joyce at 63, and Ann Ladouceur at 69 kilos. Earnshaw, Joyce and Ladouceur are all members of the Physics Elite club in Ottawa. In the +75 kilo division the top lifter was Mairi Campbell of Sudbury.

Jessica Kiddey of the Valkyries won the bronze in the +75 class. Earlier in the meet, Emma Mondor and Olivia Talbot were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 63 weight group. In the 58 kilo division Aaaron Paibomsai placed fourth, and Zara Sheppard finished in sixth.

The top male athlete of the day was the 62 kilo champion Nikolay Alexandrov. Alexandrov, who is the reigning Canadian junior champion, set new provincial junior marks in both the snatch, clean and jerk and total. The seventeen year old Toronto lifter, made all six of his attempts, finishing with 107 kilos in the snatch, 135 in the clean and jerk, and a total of 242. Nikolay is coached by his father, Alex Varbanov Alexandrov, a former three- time world champion from Bulgaria.

Gold medalists in the other light male weight classes were Richard Davis of LaSarre at 46 kilos, Pascal Desbien of LaSarre at 51, Peyton Lockwood of Pembroke at 56, and Mario Robitaille of Rouyn at 69. As for local lifters, a silver medal went to North Bay’s Nicholas Cundari in the 46 kilo category, while Hunter Edmonds was fifth in the 62 kilo category.

The 77 kilo class was won by Kenton Atkins of the North Bay Norsemen club. Atkins snatched 90 kilos, and clean and jerked a new personal best of 117. Second place went to Alex Liu of Scarborough and third to Norsemen lifter Sean Pulyk. Justin Santos of Toronto was the male 85 kilo class gold medalist. In the same category Norsemen Caleb Mady was eight, and Dylan Hall Archibald was ninth.

In the heavier male session, the 94 kilo champion was Kyle Gentle from the Varbanov School of Weightlifting. The +105 class winner was Robin Baron-Morasse of the Rouyn Hercules squad.

In the interest of promoting athlete development the Ray Hamilton Classic contest has always offered special individual awards. All calculations are made according to the Sinclair formula which ranks all lifters according to bodyweight and amount lifted.

The trophies for the best novice, or first time, competitors went to two lifters from the same club. James De La Cruz, the bronze medallist in the 85 kilo class, was the top male novice; his teammate Mariane Ferrer, the silver medallist in the 58 kilo class, was the best novice female. Both young lifters represented the Canuck Weightlifting team from Toronto.

Each year, Ray Hamilton himself, provides embroidered gym bags for the male and female lifters who show the most improvement from the previous year’s competition. The male award went to Miguel Francouer- Grenier of the Rouyn Hercules team. Miguel also won a bronze medal in the 94 kilo class. The most improved female was Vanessa Gagnon of the North Bay Valkyries.

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 team, and Canadore College’s Strength and Sport Conditioning diploma program.