Although a sixth-place team finish at a national competition is impressive, for Penn State's powerlifting club, the finish is even better considering the circumstances.

Penn State finished No. 6 out of the 12 competing schools during the 2007 USA Powerlifting Collegiate Nationals, which started on April 13 in Killeen, Texas.

However, a year ago, the now-competitive organization was not even in existence.

Despite Penn State's lifting club having a decorated history, including a second place finish at the Men's Collegiate Nationals in 2000, the team went inactive after that year when it lost a lot of high-quality lifters, Dan Continenza, the club's president, said.

Now, just a year into its new revival, nine athletes -- eight men and one woman -- qualified to compete nationally against major collegiate programs. Powerhouse schools such as Ohio State, Texas A&M, United States Military Academy, and Louisiana State University all had teams present at this year's nationals.

Programs like Texas recruit its athletes, and in some cases, they are on scholarship, current vice president Nick Mercurio said.

The rebirth of the program began after Continenza and Mercurio wondered why such a big university could no longer find the interest in powerlifting. They took action last year and began filling out the paperwork to form the team.

Both Mercurio and Continenza had competed as individuals, without Penn State, because the powerlifting club was not yet operational for them to compete as a team.

"Our goal this year was just to get the team back together," Mercurio said.

"Now with all of our team returning we are already looking forward to Nationals in Denver next year."

For a relatively inexperienced team going to a major collegiate match, Penn State did well with four members finishing in the top ten of their respective weight classes and the team finishing sixth overall in the competition.

"I'm hoping that we positioned ourselves to be in the top three next year," Continenza said.

Although the team does compete, they also have as many as fifteen members who are just there to work out. The team practices four days a week for three hours in the East Area Locker Room gym, according to its Web site.

"It's a great group of people, I'm really happy about the kind of kids we've got," Mercurio said. "I'm hoping just to keep adding more members and keep getting interest in the program."

Besides its ambitions to continue to be a successful national competitor, the club is also planning to attend a collegiate qualifier and The American Open Powerlifting and Bench Press Championships in Scranton, which are being held on Dec. 1.

As a club, it also participates in various charity and fundraising events throughout the year, including the Interfraternity/Panhellenic Dance Marathon.

"We just look for people who are dedicated and want to have fun," Kelly Dormer said. Dormer, the only female to compete for Penn State at nationals, will take over as the vice president from the departing Mercurio next year.

With the sport powerlifting quickly gaining popularity around the country, the team hopes to someday generate enough interest to also field a women's squad, too.

This past year Penn State competed coed and currently there are about seven females who strength train in the program, according to the Web site's roster.

"I understand that it's not really looked at as a feminine sport but if you train the right way it really shows you how strong you can be as a girl," Dormer said.