2020 Postal Series
By Al Myers
The USAWA has 4 postal meets per year (March, June, September, and December), with the last one being designated as the Postal Championships. All these together make up the Postal Meet Series. Each postal meet a lifter competes in generates points for him/her, that total up for the final Postal Series Ranking.
The way the points are generated is pretty simple. I take the overall placings of the meet and then reverse “the count” for the points earned for each lifter. I.E – if three lifters compete lifter number 1 gets 3 points, lifter number 2 gets 2 points, and lifter number three gets 1 point. The Postal Championships is worth “double points”. Obviously then, as more lifters enter more points can be earned for winning the meet, and ALL lifters earn points regardless where they place overall. Just entering will earn points toward the Postal Series Ranking.
Overall there was good participation in the USAWA Postal Meets last year. A total of 39 lifters competed in the various postal meets, which is 10 more lifters than competed last year. The first Postal Meet had 19 lifters, the second had 25 lifters, the third had 31 lifters, and the Postal Championship drew 24 lifters. Several lifters competed in ALL of the postal meets last year and they deserve to be recognized. These lifters are the GRAND SLAM WINNERS: Eric Todd, Abe Smith, John Strangeway, Denny Habecker, Dave DeForest, Barry Pensyl, Dean Ross, Bill Clark, RJ Jackson, Elizabeth Skwarecki, Sylvia Stockall, Phoebe Todd, Lynda Burns
Now for the overall rankings for the 2020 USAWA Postal Series!
2020 POSTAL SERIES SUMMARY
Postal Meet Winners
| POSTAL MEET | MEN | WOMEN |
| 1st Quarter Postal | John Strangeway | RJ Jackson |
| 2nd Quarter Postal | Abe Smith | Elizabeth Skwarecki |
| 3rd Quarter Postal | Jeff Ciavattone | Amorkor Ollennuking |
| Postal Championships | Eric Todd | RJ Jackson |
GRAND SLAM WINNERS: Eric Todd, Abe Smith, John Strangeway, Denny Habecker, Dave DeForest, Barry Pensyl, Dean Ross, Bill Clark, RJ Jackson, Elizabeth Skwarecki, Sylvia Stockall, Phoebe Todd, Lynda Burns
Final Postal Series Rankings
WOMENS DIVISION – TOP TEN
| PLACING | LIFTER | MEETS ENTERED | POINTS |
| 1 TIE | RJ Jackson | 4 | 33 |
| 1 TIE | Elizabeth Skwarecki | 4 | 33 |
| 3 | Sylvia Stockall | 4 | 30 |
| 4 | Lynda Burns | 4 | 17 |
| 5 | Phoebe Todd | 4 | 16 |
| 6 | Natalie Collins | 1 | 10 |
| 7 | Janet Thompson | 3 | 9 |
| 8 | Amorkor Ollenuking | 1 | 8 |
| 9 | Olivia Collins | 1 | 4 |
| 10 | Crystal Diggs | 3 | 3 |
MENS DIVISION – TOP TEN
| PLACING | LIFTER | MEETS ENTERED | POINTS |
| 1 | John Strangeway | 4 | 76 |
| 2 TIE | Abe Smith | 4 | 71 |
| 2 TIE | Eric Todd | 4 | 71 |
| 4 | Denny Habecker | 4 | 56 |
| 5 | Dave DeForest | 4 | 55 |
| 6 | Barry Pensyl | 4 | 52 |
| 7 | Barry Bryan | 3 | 41 |
| 8 | Tony Hose | 3 | 39 |
| 9 | Al Myers | 2 | 34 |
| 10 TIE | Christopher Lestan | 1 | 30 |
| 10 TIE | John Carter | 2 | 30 |
It was very CLOSE for the overall winner in the Women’s Division, and ended up being a tie between RJ Jackson and Elizabeth Skwarecki. Sylvia Stockall was very close behind these two, only trailing by 3 points. A total of 11 women competed in the various postal meets (the most ever) so for the first time we had a TOP TEN for the Women’s Division.
The Men’s Division was very close as well, with John Strangeway taking the title of Overall Champion of the USAWA Postal Series. Behind him was a close tie for second with Abe Smith and Eric Todd. The strength and depth of the Mens Division was the best ever, and it took competing in every postal meet to make the top five overall. A total of 28 men entered at least one postal competition which is the most ever.
I want to thank everyone who participated in our Postal Meet Series. This participation is what keeps our Postals going every year. I also want to mention and give credit to our Postal Meet Director Denny Habecker who makes all this happen. A full historical archive of the past Postal Meet Series is kept on the website, under “history”.