Nick Mercurio lifted almost twice his body weight and broke a state record at the Northeastern USA Regional Bench Press and Powerlifting Championship this weekend.

Mercurio (senior-mechanical engineering), a member of the new Penn State powerlifting club, competed in the 198-pound weight class and suffered an arm injury earlier that day. However, he still managed to bench 391 pounds, 22 pounds more than the previous state record.

"I wasn't really pushing myself," he said. "I'm in a lot of pain right now, but hopefully, I'll be OK in a few days. I'll probably do better once I've recovered."

Mercurio and seven other Penn State students competed at the two-day event in Philadelphia, representing the Penn State powerlifting club for the first time since its reinstatement last October.

In 2000, the powerlifting team disbanded because of lack of interest in the sport. Last year, Mercurio and Dan Continenza (senior-criminal justice) reinstated the club to create a team atmosphere for campus lifters and to represent Penn State at competitions.

"The club's been growing ever since we became active," said Continenza, who serves as club president. "We've got a lot of great talent, and Penn State could be in the top five teams in the country this year. Next year, we hope to be the top team."

Now, the club contains about 50 members. In April, 11 team members will travel to the U.S.A. Powerlifting Collegiate National Competition in Kileen, Texas, and compete against about 200 athletes from schools across the nation.

To compete, the weight lifters need to reach a certain weight in three kinds of lifts: the bench press, the squat and the dead lift.

"I think Penn State will surprise other teams at nationals," Mercurio said. "Many teams have been competing for 20 years or more and are very serious. They won't be expecting to see us."

So far, five members have qualified for the national competition, and eventually, the club hopes to take a girl's team.

"We've got five girls on the team right now, and they surprise me every day," Mercurio said. "They're so strong."

During this weekend's competition, the lifters competed against athletes across Pennsylvania as young as 16 years old and as old as 80 years old.

"We didn't have a whole lot of collegiate competition," Mercurio said. "The meet was mainly to help our new members gain experience for other competitions this winter."

Students don't need lifting experience to join the team, and the team atmosphere aids in training for this sport, Mercurio said.

"You really need to train with other people," he said. "You need other people to watch and make sure you don't get hurt. Plus, it's more fun to train with other people."