PSU powerlifters place second in collegiate championships

By Max Pipman
Collegian Staff Writer

The Penn State powerlifting club is ending Spring Semester on a high note.

As a team, it placed second in the men's division at the USA Powerlifting National Collegiate Powerlifting Championships, held April 15-16 in Colorado Springs, Colo. In addition, club vice president Angelo Poulich placed first in the men's competition.

With such a substantial victory, the club hopes to grow in membership and recognition.

"We have about 20 members and are growing," said Seth Abrams, the club president.

The national competition is held once a year, but there is a qualifying event held earlier in the semester. The event consists of three lifts, the squat, bench press and dead lifts, done in that order. Adding up the highest combined weight lifted makes the total ranking. If there is a tie, the person who weighs less is awarded the victory.

A lot of training goes into the competitions. The lifters train three to four times a week for about two hours a day, according to club secretary Caroline Binkley. The members of the club almost always lift together.

At the national championships, the environment is like night and day. When not lifting, "you need to save energy," said club treasurer Kip Reybitz, who attended as a student coach and manager.

When getting ready to lift they need to put their game faces on.

"You had to get in their face and psych them up as much as possible," Reybitz said. "They need to be in a state of mind where they don't care how much weight is there, they just want to lift it."

The club sent six men and two women to compete. The results are as follows, respectively: Poulich (first), Eric Steiner (third), Abrams (fourth), Jeff Finkelstein and Andy Halco (tied for fifth). Bleb Epilbaum tied for fourth, but his weight dropped him to seventh.

In the women's division, Marlana Hamfeldt was second and Sarah Bar finished fifth.

Other notable schools that competed were Virginia Tech, Texas A&M, Air Force, Navy and Army.

Sponsored by East Halls Gym and the Penn State barbell club, the powerlifters officially became a university club this semester. For more information, visit the club's homepage at www.clubs.psu.edu/Powerlifting.