The IAWA World Postal Championships has been announced! It will still be the “Andy Goddard Memorial”. Andy was a great friend and supporter of the IAWA and as long as I’m involved promoting the World Postal Championships it will be done in Andy’s memory. As it has been the past few years, the lifts for this World Postal will be the first day lifts of the upcoming Worlds. Read the the info sheet as it outlines the “rules of the competition”. Send your results to me at amyers@usawa.com. Also, please send in the official entry form with your club results. If you have more club entries than on the entry form just include extra entry forms.
It’s that time of the year again to nominate deserving lifters for the yearly awards! The USAWA award program was started in 2009 to honor those individuals that displays outstanding achievements throughout the year in different categories. I have been the USAWA Awards Director that entire time and was the one who started the USAWA Awards Program. Part of the USAWA budget goes to these awards, which means that part of your membership dues support this program. These awards are awarded at the Annual General Meeting of the USAWA, which occurs at the same time as the National Championships. Usually the USAWA Awards are “yearly” – meaning they are for the previous year’s accomplishments. I would consider “yearly” as being the time since (and including) last years National Championships. Now for a little “overview” of the rules for nominations:
You must be a USAWA member to make a nomination or cast a vote
Nominated individuals must be a USAWA members to be eligible
Only one individual may be nominated per person per award
Two nominations for each award may be submitted, one for your choice of the Winner and one for your choice of the runner-up.
The awards are for the accomplishments since last June
An individual may be nominated for more than one award
These are the different awards for which you should chose your nominations for:
Athlete of the Year – This award is for the individual who has accomplished the most athletically within the last year in the USAWA. Top placings at the Nationals and World Championships should figure in high. Also, participation in other Championship Competitions such as the Heavy Lift Championships, the Grip Championships, the Club Championships, the OTSM Championships, the Team Championships, or the National Postal Championships could factor in. Participation in elite IAWA events such as the Gold Cup should make an influence on earning this award as well.
Leadership Award – This is for an individual that has shown exceptional leadership qualities within the USAWA during the past year. Things that should be looked at are: going above the level expected of an Officer position, promoting sanctioned events with emphasis being on promoting National or World Competitions, promoting the USAWA by developing a strong club, writing articles for publications about the USAWA, or through other means.
Sportsmanship Award – This goes to an individual who possesses and shows great sportsmanship within the USAWA. The act of sportsmanship may be by conduct at all events, or by an specific example of exceptional sportsmanship.
Courage Award – This goes to an individual who shows the courage to overcome an obstacle in order to return to competition. This may be a comeback from an injury, or just having to deal with difficult personal issues but still shows the courage to compete in the USAWA.
Newcomer Award– This award goes to an individual who in new to the USAWA or has become involved again. It doesn’t have to go to someone in their first year of being involved in the USAWA.
As stated earlier in the rules, I would like you to submit your choice for the WINNER and your choice for the RUNNER UP for each award. I will score it this way: for each nomination per award I will give 2 points for the nominated winner and 1 point for the nominated runner up. I will then add up all the points from all nominations with the person receiving the most points declared the winner and the one with the second most points the runner up. So you can see that the Award Winners are chosen by YOU THE MEMBERSHIP! That’s the way it should be done.
Please email me at amyers@usawa.com with your nominations. The deadline for nominations is May 15th. That’s giving everyone a couple weeks to make their decisions. My experience with this is that if a person does not make their nominations shortly after reading this announcement, it never gets done. So make it easy on yourself (and me!) and turn your nominations in today!!!!
It was a great day for the Dino Gym Challenge – a day we honored the longtime USAWA and Dino Gym member Dean Ross who passed away a year ago.
Larry Traub made his return to the USAWA lifting platform and put on an outstanding performance. Larry’s last trap bar deadlift of 500 pounds is one I will remember. He won the outstanding lifter award for his great lifting.
Chad Ullom provided a stellar performance as well – highlighted by his 105 pound swing with his new shoulder!
Amber Elder was the only women’s lifter and lifted great. She finished her day with a big 215 pound trap bar deadlift.
Denny once again made the long trek from Lebanon, PA to attend a meet at the Dino Gym. He had a good battle with my dad LaVerne all day long and just edged him out in total points. I was very impressed with my dad when he lifted 303 pounds in the Trap Bar Deadlift for a new record.
I want to truly thank everyone for attending the Dino Gym Challenge. I also want to thank the lifters who participated unofficially who could not attend as I know there were several.
Meet Results:
Dino Gym Challenge
March 9th, 2024
Dino Gym, Abilene, KS
Meet Director: Al Myers
Meet Scorekeeper: Al Myers
Officials (1 official system): Al Myers, Dave Glasgow, Chad Ullom, Denny Habecker, LaVerne Myers
Group picture from the 2024 USAWA Grip Championships
Ten USAWA masters athletes took the platform to contest the 2024 USAWA Grip Championships held at Dino Gym in Abilene KS. Weigh-ins and rules briefings were conducted, and the meet was contested using three officials, Chad Ullom, Randy Smith and in training was Sanjiv Gupta. We started with the Pinch Grip, Strict and conservative openers were taking as lifting got underway. Being a grip event, the texture of the plates makes a big difference. The best competition lifts were between 80 and 120 pounds with Jason taking the top spot. We started with 25 pound plates, then 35 pound plates and finally 45 pound plates as the center plates and evenly loaded change plates on either side.
Next was the Vertical Bar, 1 Bar, 1” and hand declarations were made as this can be contested with the left or right hand. The range on this was more extreme with best competition lifts between 115 and 225 pounds. Ben had the top spot and did not even open until everyone else was done. Then came the Deadlift, Fingers, Index. This lift is as much about finger strength as it is about pain tolerance. The range on this was pretty extreme (95-225 pounds) with some lifters just taking a single attempt. Chad had the top spot. Chad opened along with Ben at 205 pounds after the rest of us were done.
Then came the Deadlift, Fulton, Ciavattone Grip. This lift is tough as hand size is as much a factor as raw grip strength. The range of lifts were from 173 to 318 pounds. Chad had the best lift at 318 pounds and took a successful extra attempt for a record at 323 pounds. Finally, we contested the Rim Lift. This is a relatively new lift that we contested on a bar with 20-inch collar to collar spacing. While straddle, hack or conventional deadlift is acceptable, we had one straddle lifter and everybody else pulled conventional. We used plates with a shallow rim depth for my liking. The range of lifts was tight with lifts between 180 and 290 pounds. Chad again had the top spot at 290 pounds.
A fun time was had by all.
MEET RESULTS:
2024 USAWA Grip Championships
February 17th, 2024
Dino Gym
Holland, KS
Meet Director: LaVerne Myers
Meet Scorekeeper: Sanjiv Gupta
Officials (3 official system used): LaVerne Myers, Chad Ullom, Dave Glasgow, Sanjiv Gupta, Lance Foster
Lifts: Pinch Grip – Strict, Vertical Bar Lift 1 Bar 1″ One Hand, Deadlift Index Fingers, Deadlift Fulton Bar Ciavattone Grip, Rim Lift
WOMENS DIVISION
LIFTER
AGE
BWT
PIN
VB1
DLIF
DLFB
RIM
TOT
PTS
Stacy Todd
41
195
80
180L
150
173
180
763
705.1
MEN DIVISION
LIFTER
AGE
BWT
PIN
VB1
DLIF
DLFB
RIM
TOT
PTS
LaVerne Myers
79
216
100
160R
160
263
270
953
1142.6
Randy Smith
69
196
110
180R
120
263
235
908
1065.5
Chad Ullom
52
230
105
185R
225
318
290
1123
1051.3
Ben Edwards
48
230
100
225L
205
283
250
1063
959.9
Sanjiv Gupta
52
200
100
160L
125
243
250
878
886.6
Dave Glasgow
70
260
90
115R
120
233
235
793
807.3
Jason Payne
58
286
120
160R
95
253
260
888
784.8
Lance Foster
58
236
90
170R
160
173
210
803
781.1
Chris Todd
44
278
110
170R
160
223
250
913
721.7
NOTES: BWT recorded in pounds. All weights listed in pounds. R and L designate right and left. TOT is total pounds lifted. PTS are overall adjusted points corrected for bodyweight and age.
Dean Ross competing in the 2019 IAWA World Championships in Abilene, Kansas.
This year the Dino Gym Challenge will be dedicated to a long time Dino Gym club member, Dean Ross. Dean passed away last year on March 9th, at the age of 80 so this competition will mark one year since his death.
Dean was liked by everyone. He attended almost every event at the Dino Gym and always had plenty of interesting stories to tell. He traveled to USAWA events all over the country, and always drove. He often would finish a comp and then get in his truck to drive overnight home to Tulsa.
Dean loved all the lifts, and broke many records in a wide array of different lifts. For this memorial meet I picked these lifts for a reason as they were some of his favorites as he performed them in Gold Cups or Presidential Cups.
MEET DETAILS:
Meet Director: Al Myers – Email: amyers@usawa.com
Meet Date: Saturday, March 9th, 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Location: Dino Gym, 1126 Eden Road, Abilene, KS 67410
Sanction: U.S.A.W.A Memberships cards can be purchased on meet day
Weigh-ins: 12:00 – 1:00 PM the day of the meet
Divisions: Depends who shows up
Awards: Don’t expect one
Entry Fee: None – but please notify me in advance if you plan to attend
