Five members of the powerlifting division of the barbell club will compete at the Collegiate National Championships this weekend.

Matt Heiny at 123 pounds, Brian Walters (132), Ken Bingaman (165) and Glenn Adams (198) will compete in Chicago tomorrow and Sunday. They will be joined by Paula Lundgren, the only woman to qualify from the club, at 129 pounds. The American Drug-Free Powerlifting Association (ADFPA) conducts the championships.

Adams, the team's captain/adviser, doesn't expect the team to win the title this year, but hopes they'll gain experience to help them contend next year. He hopes each lifter can finish in the top five and earn All-American status.

A competitor has three attempts to get the best overall weight in each of three events -- the bench press, full squat and dead lift. An attempt is a lifter's best lift of three tries. The lifter with the highest overall total in each class will be the winner.

In 1987, Adams, while at the United States Air Force Academy, finished fifth at 181 and earned collegiate All-American honors. He is the only Penn State lifter with experience in collegiate national meets. Adams said he hoped to squat 650 pounds.

Lundgren is the current ADFPA women's collegiate American record holder at 129 pounds, in the bench press (170 pounds). This year, however, Lundgren said she is going to the nationals just to go to the event.

"There are a lot of good people in my weight class," Lundgren said. "I'm not looking to winning my class. But I am looking to break my record in the bench press this year."

Bingaman said that his goal at the beginning of the year was to meet the qualifying standards for nationals. To qualify in his weight class Bingaman had to lift a total of 1250 pounds, and he wants to add 50 pounds to the total at nationals.

"There is, of course, going to be competition," Bingaman said. "But I have to treat it like anyone other meet."

Bingaman, who has been lifting for nine years, said he competes at the meets mainly for himself.

"When you compete you compete for yourself first then the team," Bingaman said. "I do not believe some people who compete for team, team, team. You train by yourself, you drive yourself, you compete for yourself."

"It's an individual sport and you do it for yourself," Adams agreed.

Bingaman said the club gives those athletes who were not good enough to play collegiate sports an opportunity to participate at the collegiate level.

"I played football and I wrestled in high school," Bingaman said. "But I was not good enough to play in college so the club gave me a chance to compete collegiately."