Zercher Meet
by Joe Garcia
Saturday was a great day at Clarks Gym. The Zercher meet, the longest running event through USAWA’s history, was contested once again. This year we had a total of six lifters, Bill Clark as the head official, Tom Powell and James Foster for loading and even two spectators. Eric Todd showed up with Lance Foster and Chris Anderson. Dean Ross and Mike Murdock were there and I rounded out the crew. Richard Coder and his wife, members of the gym, were the spectators. I mention Richard because he at one time worked out with some of the old time greats like John Grimek, etc out at York. They both stayed for the entire contest and even joined us at Golden Corral.
Once everyone was weighed in, we got started. As usual, the leg press was first. This particular model is the version where the weights go straight up and down, none of the angled stuff. Chris had the top lift as Eric tried a little too big of a jump for his last attempt. Mike Murdock started putting the pressure on Dean with a 500 to 450 lift. In the Military Press, Eric came out on top even though he was nursing a bad right elbow. Same thing happened in the Clean and Jerk, with Eric topping Chris by twenty pounds. We had a three way tie in the one hand deadlift with Eric, Chris and me all getting 275 though I have to admit that my lift was a lot slower than theirs. In the Heels Together Deadlift it was no contest with Eric out lifting everyone by 100 lbs. We got a little rest for our backs and went to the other side of the gym to do the Bench – Feet in the Air. Again Eric had the top lift with 350 lbs.
After the bench, it was time to troop to the back of the gym for the rest of the meet, starting with the Hack lift. Eric topped Chris 365 to 355 to earn top lift in this event also. Next up was the lift the meet is named after, the Zercher lift. Eric had the top lift with 385, but probably would have done more if he hadn’t missed 385 on his second attempt. The problem wasn’t that the weight was too heavy, it was that he pulled it up too fast. It looked about like he was cleaning the weight and when it hit his thighs he lost his balance and fell backwards on the floor. So for the third attempt he just stayed at the same weight. In everyone’s favorite, the Steinborn, Eric again came out first with 375.
After finishing with the regular bar lifts, it was time for the big bar to make an appearance. To make things easy on our loaders, we decide to contest the lifts together, simply increasing the weight and the lifters would perform their lifts. So what you would have seen is the Hand and Thigh, Hip and Harness being attempted one after another, just by different lifters. In the Neck lift, Eric again had the top lift of 525 with both Chris and I getting 425. Even though I did better this year in the Hand and Thigh than last year, I couldn’t duplicate my efforts at the Heavy Lift Nationals and Eric had the top lift with a 1305. Chris did very well with a 1055 and in fact was great in all the big bar lifts despite never having done them before. I’m not sure that he had even seen some of them. In the Hip lift, we finally got someone else with the top lift where I was able get 1875 to Eric’s 1675. Each year I also try to beat my old record of 2049 but once again was unsuccessful. The final lift of the day was the Harness and I was again able to top Eric with 2445 to his 2225. The end result of the day was Eric having the most poundage lifted, but with the magic of age, weight and a calculator, I won the event with Eric second and Chris third. Full results are shown below.
During the morning, Dave Beversdorf also came in and set a couple bench records in the One Hand Bench. Dave loves the bench and all variations of it and holds a number of USAWA records.
It was wonderful day at the gym, and tremendous to see everyone that showed up. Eric and company needed to get on the road, but the rest of us ended up at Golden Corral for our normal post competition fest. The only thing that was forgotten by both Bill and me were the Vanilla Wafers, a Zercher meet fixture for many years.
MEET RESULTS:
Zercher Strength Classic
Clarks Gym, Columbia, MO
January 28th, 2012
Meet Director: Bill Clark
Official: Bill Clark
Lifts: Leg Press, Deadlift – one arm, Hack Lift, Continental to Chest and Jerk, Clean and Press – Heels Together, Zercher Lift, Steinborn Lift, Neck Lift, Hip Lift, Harness Lift, Hand and Thigh Lift, Bench Press – Feet in Air
LIFT | Joe Garcia | Eric Todd | Chris Anderson | Mike Murdock | Dean Ross | Lance Foster |
AGE | 58 | 37 | 23 | 71 | 69 | 46 |
BWT | 95.2 | 115.2 | 136.1 | 107.1 | 125.2 | 142.9 |
Leg P | 400 | 750 | 800 | 500 | 450 | 400 |
DL-1 | 275R | 275R | 275R | 185R | 185L | 185R |
DL-HT | 315 | 550 | 450 | 245 | 275 | 375 |
Hack | 265 | 365 | 355 | 165 | 165 | 185 |
C&J | 175 | 285 | 265 | 95 | 0 | 135 |
C&P | 155 | 245 | 225 | 120 | 120 | 145 |
Zerch | 225 | 385 | 365 | 205 | 205 | 135 |
Stein | 195 | 375 | 325 | 145 | 145 | 0 |
Neck | 425 | 525 | 425 | 125 | 125 | 305 |
Hip | 1875 | 1675 | 1205 | 655 | 755 | 805 |
Harn | 2445 | 2225 | 1505 | 955 | 1005 | 1005 |
H&T | 1205 | 1305 | 1055 | 505 | 550 | 655 |
BP-FIA | 225 | 350 | 315 | 175 | 175 | 175 |
Total | 8180 | 9310 | 7565 | 4075 | 4155 | 4505 |
Points | 8463.9 | 7326.0 | 5491.4 | 4395.2 | 4080.8 | 3426.8 |
Place | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th |
NOTES: BWT is bodyweight in kilograms. All lifts recorded in pounds. Total is total pounds lifted. Points are adjusted points for the lynch correction and age adjustment.
EXTRA RECORDS:
Dave Beversdorf (46 years old, 299# BWT)
Bench Press – Right Arm: 170 pounds
Bench Press – Left Arm: 165 pounds