Turner leads locals at Senior Weightlifting Championships

Valkries lifter Kayla Turner completes her first clean and jerk attempt at 78 kilos - she later made 82 and 85. Photo by Jean Lebouc.

The 2010 Canadian Senior Weightlifting Championship was held in Sainte-Hyacinthe, Quebec on the weekend. The competition featured 115 lifters from seven provinces; the male divisions were contested on Saturday and the women’s classes on Sunday.

Ontario was represented by 18 lifters, including six from the North Bay Norsemen and Valkyries team. A pair of former Norsemen, Nick Roberts and Buck Ramsay, won gold and silver medals respectively. Later, two current members of the Valkyries, Melody Ogletree and Kayla Turner, were fourth place finishers.

Nick Roberts, who first won a Canadian Senior title in 2008 as a member of the Norsemen club and Ontario squad, was the gold medal winner in the 94 kilo class. This time however, he scored the victory for his new adopted province of Quebec. The 26-year-old Roberts did 148 kilos in the snatch and set a new Canadian record clean and jerk with a success at 194 kilos. His total of 342 placed him well ahead of last year’s Canadian title holder, and North Bay native, Buck Ramsay. Ramsay won the silver medal for Ontario by snatching 141 and clean and jerking 183 for a 324 total. Both Roberts and Ramsay will likely represent Canada at the 2010 Commonwealth Games this October in Delhi, India.

Melody Ogletree was one of the two Ontario representatives in the women’s 53 kilo class. Ogletree, the Ontario record holder, made 58 kilos in the snatch and 77 kilos in the clean and jerk for a 135 kilo total. Melody finished immediately behind the bronze medalist, Florence Lavoie of Quebec who made 139. Rosemary Densmore of Manitoba was the gold medalist with a total of 150. Taylor Findlay of Toronto finished in 7th place with a 128 aggregate.

The best showing of all local lifters was put in by Kayla Turner in the female 63 kilo class. Turner, a 22-year-old Laurentian University student, made all six of her attempts, finishing with 73 kilos in the snatch and 85 kilos in the clean and jerk for a total of 158. Both the clean and jerk and total marks are new Valkyrie club records.

After Turner completed her last clean and jerk she was in the bronze medal position. Then, Virginia Provencal of Quebec, who had registered 68 kilos in the snatch, was able to muscle out 90 kilos on her last clean and jerk attempt. And, since Provencal weighed 61.9 kilos, to Turner’s 62.1, the Quebec lifter was awarded the bronze. Tanya Whelan and Pamela Bougie, both of Quebec, were first and second.

Norsemen Glenn Ogletree had a tough outing in the male 77 kilo class. Glenn, the current provincial champion, missed all three of his attempts in the snatch and registered a no- total.

Next up, in the 85 kilo division, were North Bay representatives, 32-year-old Chris Lemieux, and 16-year-old Logan Baker. This class had 19 lifters and was divided into two lifting sections. Lemieux, a Metro Toronto police constable, did 102 kilos in the snatch and 131 in the clean and jerk for a 239 total and 14th place. Baker, the current Ontario junior champion, lifting in his first Canadian Seniors, did 102 and 127 for 229 and 17th place.

A.J. Wendover of the Norsemen was one of the three Ontario representatives in the +105 class. Wendover, a Nipissing University Physical Education student, finished in 6th spot with lifts of 125 in the snatch and 155 in the clean and jerk. Former Olympian, Akos Sandor of Toronto, won the bronze medal behind gold medalist, George Kobaladze of Quebec, and the silver medalist Parm Phangura of British Columbia. The 2010 Canadian Junior champ, Matthew O’Brien of Scarborough, missed all his clean and jerks at 166 kilos, and scored a no-total.

So ends a successful season of lifting for the Norsemen and Valkyries weightlifting team. A new yearly competitive schedule resumes in July with the Variety Village Open in Scarborough. First though, the club will host its 5th Annual Father’s Day Silent Auction at the YMCA. Items will go on display June 16 and bidding will close at 2:00 p.m. on June 19.

Submitted to BayToday.ca