Century Club
by Al Myers
Joe Garcia is moving up the Record List Count faster than anyone else! This past year he has went from 9th to 5th. This picture is from the 2011 Heavy Lift Nationals in York, PA where Joe added another USAWA record in the Hand and Thigh with this 1400 pound lift. Joe has more H & T records (17 total) than anyone else, everywhere from the 90 KG class to the 110 KG class.
A couple of years ago I tagged the term “Century Club” as a way of identifying lifters who currently hold over 100 USAWA Records. It has been a while since I have given an update on these record-setting lifters, so I think it is time I revisit this topic again. I believe it has been a year (after last year’s National Championship) that I gave my last update on the current members in this Century Club. I know I have highlighted the “records race” between Denny and Art a few times since, but now since Denny has stretched his lead over Art 401 USAWA records to Art’s 378 USAWA Records, the drama with this has been subdued and the records race has taken a seat on the sidelines until Art starts to make “a run” on Denny.
The Century Club is an ever-changing list, and it changes constantly. It is based on CURRENT records, so it is possible to be on the list and then if some of your records are broken, you may fall out of the club. I sadly report this has been the case this past year. John Vernacchio’s record count has fallen to 97 records, and now he is out of the Century Club. No one new has joined since Scott Schmidt in the fall of 2009! Scott was sitting at the number 20 spot when he made the Century Club in December 2009, climbed to spot 17 after last year’s Nationals, and now resides at the 15 spot. By John falling off the list, the Century Club now stands at 19 members. Who will be the next to join?? Two Dino Gym members are “knocking at the door” of accomplishing this. Rudy Bletscher just BARELY missed the list this time as he currently stands at 99 USAWA Records. Chad Ullom made a big push on his USAWA records this past year and now has 97 records. With Chad hitting the Masters Class next year that will open up the record book for him to set more records as he will then be eligible for age group records. I got my money on both of these guys to make the Century Club this summer!
There were some changes in the orders and number counts, but the same names hold the Century Club down. The top four spots on the list remained the same. The biggest dropper was Bill Clark, as he dropped from the number 5 spot to 10th with only a decrease of records from 214 to 199. I know the reason for Bill’s decrease in records as I’ve been lifting with this guy in meets all winter and have watched him break several of Bill’s records. I’m talking about Mike Murdock. The biggest increaser on the list is our USAWA Records Chairman Joe Garcia. Joe added several new records this past year and moved from the number 9 spot to 5th overall with 226 records. Dennis Mitchell notched up one spot to number 6. Take notice of all the USAWA Hall of Famers who are members of the CENTURY CLUB (marked with a *).
Century Club
1. 401 Denny Habecker *
2. 378 Art Montini *
3. 274 Al Myers
4. 247 John McKean *
5. 226 Joe Garcia *
6. 223 Dennis Mitchell *
7. 214 Noi Phumchaona *
8. 206 Frank Ciavattone *
9. 201 Bob Hirsh *
10. 199 Bill Clark *
11. 171 Howard Prechtel *
12. 138 Dale Friesz *
13. 134 Ed Schock
14. 132 Jim Malloy *
15. 131 Scott Schmidt *
16. 123 John Monk
17. 117 Mary McConnaughey
18. 114 Chris Waterman *
19. 106 Joshua Monk