The team members of the LSU powerlifting team gathered at the Student Recreational Facility Wednesday night to accept their third-place national trophy.
There was no fan-fare, no tailgaters, only about 15 team members and a couple of administrative assistants.
“I’m proud of this team,” said LSU powerlifting team president Kenneth Reynolds. “I think we did great. We came in with significantly fewer people than before. To finish one point below Texas and other people ranked up there was tremendous.”
The national championships were held in St. Louis, and LSU finished third out of 35 teams from across the country. This year’s collegiate national championships were the largest ever.
Louisiana Tech took the championship title while Texas came in second.
Two LSU powerlifters took home national championship titles. Sophomore Jan Morello took the championship for the middle weight class.
She lifted the collegiate record for the squat and the teenage total record for 18-19 yr. olds. The total record is the combination of the squat, bench press and deadlift.
“That meet I had a personal best total,” Morello said of her performance at nationals.
The Baton Rouge native qualified for the world championships in Poland. In May, Morello will start a 16-week training cycle to prepare herself for the world championships which will be held in September.
“She’s truly one of the most intense and goal-oriented people I’ve ever met,” said LSU powerlifting coach Arval Bridges. He said Morello bench presses 200 pounds in practice.
Steven McLawchlin took the championship in the 165 weight class after lifting 576lbs. in the squat, 346lbs. in the bench press and 553lbs. in the deadlift. McLawchlin, a Texas native, came to LSU for the powerlifting club.
“At nationals Coach Bridges and the [LSU powerlifting] president came to me,” said McLawchlin, who was the high school national powerlifting champion.
“He’s awesome,” Bridges said. “He’s unbelievable.”
McLawchlin said the national competition was a lot bigger than he expected.
Reynolds said each member of the team had to qualify individually for the United States Powerlifting Association National Championships by lifting a certain weight in a USPA sanction meet.
The team participated in about eight meets this year, including the University Cup between in-state universities such as Louisiana Tech and Louisiana Lafayette and out-of-state competitions such as the Longhorn Open at Texas.
Reynolds will be competing at the end of May in the teenage nationals to be held in Baton Rouge. He hopes to also qualify for the world championships.