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Inaugural Women of Steel Summer Showdown

I am pleased to announce that the inaugural Women of Steel Summer Showdown (USA Powerlifting sanction: MN-2016-05) will occur on July 16 at American Strength in Maplewood. This meet is only open to women and will be capped at 40 lifters. Ray Law will direct this exciting new event. I would like to thank Ken Graack for his hospitality in letting us once again use American Strength as the venue for a USA Powerlifting event. Ken and his staff always go above and beyond as event hosts. The entry form for this event will be released here in mid-April. The Facebook event page can be found here.

Southeast RAW Showdown: Entry Form Now Available

The entry form for the inaugural USA Powerlifting Southeast RAW Showdown has been posted. The event will be held on April 23 in Rochester, MN. A Facebook event page has also been created. Thank you to Kyle Milnes for creating this new USA Powerlifting event in Minnesota. This event will be limited to the first 60 entries received so if you are interested in competing in this meet, please submit your entry form as soon as possible.

Rochester Meet Confirmed; Two Other Meets Added

I am pleased to announce that Kyle Milnes will direct the inaugural Southeast RAW Showdown in Rochester, MN on April 23, 2016. As soon as the entry form is available, it will be posted here. Please spread the word about this meet since it is only 10 weeks away. Two other meets have also officially been approved and sanctioned. The 8th annual Twin Ports Raw Open is scheduled for June 11 in Duluth and the 2nd annual Noonan Barbell Raw Open occurs on October 22 in Alexandria, MN. Please see the Coming Events section for a list of all USA Powerlifting meets in Minnesota.

Potential April Meet in Rochester: Input Needed

Please see the message sent to all current USA Powerlifting members and those who were members in 2015 in the following states: MN, WI, SD, ND, IA, IL. If you are interested, please respond no later than Sunday, February 7. Please forward this message to anyone who might be interested. The message can be read by clicking here.

MN Lifters and Referees Travel to WI

This past weekend, 9 lifters from MN traveled to Greenfield, WI (Milwaukee area) to compete in the USA Powerlifting Wisconsin State Open which had over 200 lifters from 7 states (WI, MN, IL, IN, MI, OH, NY) competing on 4 platforms. The lifters from MN were: Scott Sullivan, Nick Gagnon, Eric Lohman, Justin Grensing, David Dellanave, Nick Viegut, Garrison Gless, Kyle Kampschroer, and Harrison Speltz. All competed in the men’s raw open division. Notable performances include Scott Sullivan’s 470 Wilks score which earned him first place (out of 46 lifters) and Nick Gagnon’s 453 Wilks score which was strong enough to earn third place. When the field is 46 lifters deep, gold and bronze medal performances are about as good as it gets. For those unfamiliar with the Wilks score, it is simply a method by which to compare performances of lifters of different bodyweights. For more information about the Wilks score, see the “Formulas and Coefficients” section on the MN USA Powerlifting website. Please see the WI State Open meet results for details of everyone’s performance. Congratulations to all who competed.

 

On the other end of the state, three MN referees (Angela Simons, Wade Kish, and Joe Warpeha) spent the day in Osceola, WI judging at a WI High School Powerlifting Association (WHSPA) Region 1 meet. This high school meet had over 200 lifters competing on 5 platforms. Anyone who has never been to a WI high school meet before should see one. The performances, sportsmanship, and atmosphere at these high school events are unlike anything else in our sport and it is truly inspiring to watch these boys and girls compete. Imagine a high school gymnasium full to capacity with lifters and spectators from several different high schools in the region (all wearing their school colors) and you can start to get an idea of what a high school powerlifting meet is like in Wisconsin. Equally impressive is the machine-like precision with which these events are run from the setup, to the competition itself, to the breakdown. None of it is possible without an army of dedicated people.

Passing of Joel Ford

It is my sad duty to inform the Minnesota powerlifting community of the passing of Joel Ford. Joel was a longtime member of USA Powerlifting of Minnesota and a regular competitor and coach at our contests. While Joel is credited with numerous state records, I believe his lasting legacy will be the joy and sense of camaraderie he brought to those of us who were fortunate enough to know him. Joel will be missed by his many friends and powerlifting family. Visitation and funeral information can be found by clicking here.

USA Powerlifting Coaching Course Coming to MN

USA Powerlifting of Minnesota is pleased to announce that MN will be hosting its first-ever USA Powerlifting coaching course on April 16. Information can be found on the Coaching Course page.

2016 USA Powerlifting Raw Nationals Hotel Information

To those thinking about going to USA Powerlifting Raw Nationals in October in Atlanta, the hotel information was recently posted. This is the “meet hotel” which means this is where the lifting actually takes place; most lifters agree that nothing beats being able to walk out of your hotel room, get in elevator, and walk into the lifting venue. Many from MN have indicated interest in going. If you are even thinking it is a possibility, you should consider reserving your hotel room early since the meet hotel allows you cancel your reservation up to 72 hours before your check-in time/date. The meet hotel for last year’s Raw Nationals filled up months in advance and the nearby hotels also filled up which forced some people to find accommodations several miles away. This year’s Raw Nationals is likely to be another very large event so those who wait until the last minute may be forced to go with less-than-ideal hotel accommodations (e.g., more expensive, further away from the venue, etc.). According to the meet website, the tentative schedule “will be posted soon.” The online reservation system is up and running and can be accessed here

Drug Testing Information and Resources Added

Information/resources have been added to the Drug Testing section of the USA Powerlifting of Minnesota website. With the drug test failures of a few prominent USA Powerlifting athletes in 2015, this is probably a good time to reiterate three important things: 1) every athlete is responsible for what he or she puts into his or her body, 2) any USA Powerlifting member can be tested anytime and anywhere for any reason, and 3) some nutritional supplements, preworkout products, and prescription and over-the-counter medications contain banned substances. For information on banned substances and drug testing, please visit the Drug Testing section of the USA Powerlifting of Minnesota website.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year from USA Powerlifting of Minnesota. I am pleased to report that we had a total of 333 Minnesota members in 2015 which is up significantly (55% increase) from 215 members in 2014. On the national level, USA Powerlifting had a total of 11,362 members in 2015 which is up (36% increase) from 8,355 members in 2014. It was only a few years ago that the goal for USA Powerlifting was to break 5,000 members and here we are with over 11,000 members spread throughout all 50 states. It is a great time to be a part of USA Powerlifting and I would like to thank all of our Minnesota members for making our state organization and our events great. The year 2015 saw a significant increase in Minnesota members as well as the addition of new events. As state chair, my plan is to continue this trend in 2016. Thank you all for your continued support of USA Powerlifting.

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