The Carleton Ravens powerlifting team raised the bar—literally—as they competed in the Ontario Classic Championships, held in Hamilton, Ont. Nov. 28-30.
Jazz Smyl-Joly, Jackson Spencer, Maya Levin, Joshua Reyes, Mohamed El Sherif, Justin Reeson, Phil Brougham, Anthony Singeris, Kerry Dennison, and Erik Willis all competed for Carleton at the meet.
The Ravens came up big at the provincial championships, winning one bronze medal, two silver medals in different classes and two gold medals.
Spencer placed second in the 105 kg junior class, while Maya Levin won in the 63 kg open class and Brougham placed second in the 120 kg class.
Dennison placed third in the 93 kg class and Willis won his class for the second year in a row.
Also for the second year in a row, Willis set a national record with a 315.5 kg deadlift on his second attempt.
On his third attempt he pulled 325 kg, a personal record.
Willis also set a national record for the total in his 120 kg category. Spencer also set a national record of 255 kg in the 105 kg junior weight class.
The Ravens also ended up tying for third place in the best male team category, after event organizers decided to separate the men’s and women’s teams in this category.
“While a better placing would have been great, powerlifting is ultimately an individual, not a team sport,” Ravens powerlifter and team president Reeson said in an email.
Willis said the meet, while not a new experience for him, was bigger for some of the other members.
“It was the first championship meet for a lot of the new lifters,” Willis said in an email. “The judging was harder, the atmosphere was electric, and the days are long.”
For Reeson, it was the last powerlifting meet for the foreseeable future.
“For the past year I’ve switched gears and been training for the sport of Olympic weightlifting, and I’m going to be focusing on that for the next few years,” he said. “This was my last year as a junior (under-23), and my last powerlifting meet for a while. As such, I had some big goals going in.”
Reeson managed to hit three personal records at the meet in the squat, bench press, and deadlift categories.
“There were some incredibly strong guys I was up against, and it was really great to lift with and against them,” Reeson said. “I’m fairly satisfied, but I wanted more from myself.”
Reeson said he was proud of the overall team performance despite the emphasis on the individual.
“All of our lifters improved in some way, hitting personal records on one, two, or all the lifts,” Reeson said.
“Everybody took a step forward of some kind, and while that’s awesome for each individual person, it’s also great for team morale.”
Up next for Ravens powerlifters is the College and University Challenge that will be held in February at Seneca College.
For Willis, it’s just another opportunity to show off the strength of the team.
“We will be looking to defend our title of strongest school,” he said.
