Record list and century club updated
By Eric Todd
Amorkor in action with the Steinborn Lift at the 2006 USAWA National Championships, in which she won Overall Best Female Lifter.
First point of order, a huge hats off and thanks to our records director, John Strangeway for doing a seemingly thankless job. Our record list is pretty extensive with so many lifts, so a big kudos for him for taking on this huge undertaking.
So, I took this opportunity to update our century club. The Century Club is for members who have achieved at least 100 records. The Women’s Century club remains pretty much the same, with RJ Jackson out in front, and a total of 4 women being represented. The first thing that struck me in the men’s division is that Al Myers quietly slipped into the 6 century club, amassing over 600 records. This body of work spans around 20 years. He is creeping up on our president, Denny Habecker, who is the only other lifter in USAWA history to have over 600 records. We had a number of major movers in the men’s division. I jumped up 30 records, but not a single spot in the rankings. Abe Smith jumped up 26 records in the list, and also jumped from number 28 to number 22 in the rankings. Barry Pensyl increased by 24 records and improved from number 21 to 17 in the rankings. Bill Clark’s recent return to the USAWA saw him add 20 records to our list and move a spot in our rankings from number 12 to number 11. Stalwart LaVerne Myers jumped up 19 records, and one spot in the rankings. Young Aiden Habecker added 13 records to our list.
I also dove in to see if we have any lifters in danger of joining the list lift they persevere through a few more competitions. In the women’s division, Armorkor Ollennuking has 98 records, only 2 away from the century club. A few years ago, she re-emerged to compete at Clark’s. If she shows up one more time, I will bet she will go over. Young Phoebe Todd is at 84 records. If she sticks with it, she may go over by the end of 2022. Misty Fritz is at 83 records, but she has not been in action since 2008.
The charge in the men’s division is led by 2 Clark’s gym team members. Dave DeForest and Dave Emslie have both amassed 89 records in our organization. Not far behind is Dan Wagman with 84 records. All would be worthy additions once they achieve that 100 record mark.