By Al Myers
Susan Sees performs a Trap Bar Deadlift at the 2016 IAWA Gold Cup in Abilene, KS.
The USAWA Lifter of the Month for June goes to Susan Sees, for her outstanding performance at the 2017 USAWA National Championships. Susan won Overall Best Womens Lifter at the meet to mark the THIRD overall she has won at Nationals.
Congrats Susan!!!!
by Al Myers
Susan Sees competing in the 2012 USAWA National Championships in Las Vegas.
I have just updated the USAWA Record List from this summers competitions and there’s BIG NEWS – Susan Sees has just joined the Century Club! The Century Club recognizes lifters who hold over 100 USAWA records. In the Women’s Century Club there are only FOUR lifters who have this honor – 1. Noi Phumchona (260), 2. Ruth Jackson (258), 3. Mary McConnaughey (146), and now Susan at 105 USAWA Records. Our USAWA Record goes way back to the first competition held under USAWA sanction close to 30 years ago. There have been alot of great women lifters in the USAWA, but this group is the elite record setters.
Congrats Susan! I know you have worked hard to achieve this and the entire organization is proud of you.
by Al Myers
Susan Sees (left) and Bob Geib (right) at the 2013 USAWA National Championships. At this meet Bob eclipsed 100 USAWA records and joined the Century Club.
The Presidential Cup is coming up fast (THIS WEEKEND)! It is hosted by our USAWA President Denny Habecker at his gym, Habeckers Gym, in Lebanon, PA.
I have my plane ticket bought and ready to “join in” this premier Record Day event in the USAWA. The Presidential Cup is modeled after the IAWA Gold Cup, to allow each lifter to showcase their favorite and best lifts. There will be a champion crowned. As per rules of this event, the President is the one to make the decision on which Record Lift performed impresses him the most and that person will be awarded the Champion of the Presidential Cup. Last year at the inaugural USAWA Presidential Cup the late Dale Friesz was awarded the Championship trophy. Everyone was in agreement that Dale rightfully deserved this honor. Dale will forever be known as the FIRST PERSON to be crowned the champion of the Presidential Cup.
It has been awhile since I have given an update on the Records Race and the members of the Century Club. After doing a little figuring, I was surprised to see the number of record increases and the new members of the Century Club. I should have recognized a few lifters before now! The Century Club has now grown to 25 members (from 23 on last count). I accurately predicted recent Hall of Famer Bob Geib would be joining the list after his latest resurgence in the USAWA, and Ruth Jackson has came out of nowhere to join the Century Club!! Ruth has had a stellar year in the USAWA – capped by winning Overall Best Female Lifter at the IAWA World Championships last October. Congratulations to both of these two for this accomplishment. Since the list has now grown, I am going to break it down into two listings – one for women and one for the men.
WOMEN’S CENTURY CLUB
(as of August 7th, 2013)
| RANK | LIFTER | CURRENT RECORDS | PREVIOUS COUNT | CHANGE |
| 1 | Noi Phumchona | 263 | 265 | – 2 |
| 2 | Ruth Jackson | 180 | new | —— |
| 3 | Mary McConnaughey | 117 | 117 | 0 |
MEN’S CENTURY CLUB
(as of August 7th, 2013)
| RANK | LIFTER | CURRENT RECORDS | PREVIOUS COUNT | CHANGE |
| 1 | Denny Habecker | 480 | 447 | + 33 |
| 2 | Art Montini | 425 | 413 | + 12 |
| 3 | Al Myers | 411 | 396 | + 15 |
| 4 | John McKean | 291 | 292 | – 1 |
| 5 | Dennis Mitchell | 266 | 260 | + 6 |
| 6 | Frank Ciavattone | 265 | 262 | + 3 |
| 7 | Joe Garcia | 238 | 243 | – 5 |
| 8 | Bob Hirsh | 229 | 229 | 0 |
| 9 | Chad Ullom | 200 | 195 | + 5 |
| 10 | Bill Clark | 198 | 200 | – 2 |
| 11 | Howard Prechtel | 174 | 175 | – 1 |
| 12 | Dale Friesz | 160 | 162 | – 2 |
| 13 | Dean Ross | 155 | 132 | + 23 |
| 14 | Jim Malloy | 153 | 153 | 0 |
| 15 | Scott Schmidt | 151 | 148 | + 3 |
| 16 | John Monk | 148 | 148 | 0 |
| 17 | Ed Schock | 138 | 142 | – 4 |
| 18 | Chris Waterman | 137 | 137 | 0 |
| 19 | Rudy Bletscher | 131 | 126 | – 5 |
| 20 | Mike Murdock | 107 | 104 | + 3 |
| 21 | John Vernacchio | 102 | 105 | – 3 |
| 22 | Bob Geib | 102 | new | ——— |
As you can see there are no “major changes” at the top of the Century Club. Denny has stretched his lead over Art to such a degree that I won’t even call it a records race anymore between them (I’m calling you out Art to kick it in gear a bit!!! haha). Denny has added the more records to his count since the previous count (33 records) than anyone else. He is on pace to break the 500 barrier by the end of this year! I also added a “change” number to this list. That is how much the lifter’s record count has changed since the last count. You have to remember these are absolute counts, so you may think you have set more records than listed (which is probably true), but some of the records you previously owned might be getting broken in the process. The only way to keep going forward is to add more records than you are losing – and that is only accomplished by meet participation! I’ll again mention Art here – as I know Denny is getting great satisfaction out of breaking Art’s records in the 70/85 KG class, thus adding one for himself and taking one away from Art at the same time!!!
I’m getting to pride myself of making predictions on who the next Century Club members will be. I have been pretty much “right one” with every one. Now let me make my next predictions. Pretty easy if you ask me – it will go to a Ciavattone, either Joe Sr., Joe Jr., or Jeff. They are all “knocking on the door” of getting 100 USAWA records on the books. Now don’t let me down guys on this!!!
I’m looking forward to celebrating the USAWA this weekend at the Presidential Cup. See everyone there!
by Al Myers
Overall Women's BEST LIFTER Susan Sees set the most records at the 2012 USAWA National Champinships, with a total of 18 new records.
I have finally found time to look over the records that fell at the 2012 USAWA National Championships. I was quite surprised to see that a total of 83 records were set! That is much more than I would have guessed, but then again, there was alot of exceptional lifting going on. Of these 83 records, 26 were new NATIONAL RECORDS. National records are records that are set only in competition events at the National Championships, and represent the highest amount of weight ever set in each weight class. Age groupings are not recorded, but instead just the overall BEST RECORD LIFT in each weight class. As I’ve said previously in a Daily News Story, setting records at the National Championships is not like setting a record at a record day or small meet. The officiating is TOP NOTCH (and always 3 officials are used) and the meet’s pressure makes setting records at Nationals harder – that is why this National Record List was developed.
The women’s OVERALL BEST LIFTER Susan Sees set the most records. Susan set a total of 18 records, 6 of which were National Records. The top 5 records setters were:
| LIFTER | TOTAL RECORDS | NATIONAL RECORDS |
| Susan Sees | 18 | 6 |
| Al Myers | 12 | 5 |
| Larry Traub | 9 | 3 |
| Dennis Mitchell | 9 | 0 |
| Dave Glasgow | 7 | 1 |
For a complete list of records (PDF) – 2012 National Records