A powerlifting competition in Slave Lake on April 30 had 37 powerlifters. Kaylee Fehr (9), from Le Crete was the youngest one. Cole Garvin (74), from Calgary, was the oldest.
“The event was probably the smoothest we’ve had,” says organizer Khalil Mouallem. “It went great and everyone was happy with it.”
Jad Mouallem (27) was the only lifter in the competition from Slave Lake. All nine of his lifts were successful. He was one of only six competitors who made all nine lifts.
Jad’s largest squat was 185 kg. His biggest bench press was 145 kg, and his largest deadlift was 240 kg. This brought his total to 570 kg. This earned him 74.72 GL points.
GL points are used to compare lifters across different weight classes, says Khalil.
Jad beat out three other lifters in the 93 kg men’s open category for first place in that class. He also took first place overall in the open class based on GL points. This was out of 11 men and women. Out of all 37 competitors, he had the third highest GL points.
Maya Winckers (23), from Fort McMurray, had the second highest overall with 82.79 GL points. She competed in the 63 kg female junior category.
Another junior lifter, De’lano-j Woodbine (22), from Fort McMurray, was in the highest weight class 105 kg. He lifted the most weight overall. He lifted 790 kg in total – a 265 kg squat, 195 kg bench press, and 330 kg deadlift. He won best overall with 97.93 GL points.
The Champions Fitness Open was held at Champions Health and Fitness in Slave Lake. It was a Alberta Powerlifting Union sanctioned event. It was the sixth powerlifting event Champions has organized in Slave Lake, including provincials in 2022.
Khalil adds, “The organizing it took for provincials made this feel like a breeze. Provincials also helped expand the reach of the sport in northern Alberta and allowed us to sell out so fast that all we had to focus on was setup and not registrations.”
Of the 37 lifters, 18 were from northern Alberta.
Khalil adds, “The addition of a youth division was huge in Slave Lake, the biggest youth turn out in a Canadian meet yet. I hope this leads to the sport becoming another option for kids like soccer or taekwondo.”
Of the 37 competitors, 22 were female.
Nine female lifters were from the south peace area – Girouxville (three), Falher (three), McLennan (two), and Donnelly (one). Six of these were under 18, one was in the junior category, and two were in the open category.
by Pearl Lorentzen
May 10, 2023
Loading new replies...
Join the full discussion at the TheRegional / Chat →