The Ravens powerlifting team, also known as Carleton Barbell, kicked off their year at the North Bay Open Classics on Oct. 18 with a dominant showing of their raw talent, winning awards for best team at the meet and best male and female lifter.
Erik Willis, who was competing in the 120-kg division, went into the competition as favourite to win best male lifter and did not disappoint.
“Going in, our goal was to win,” he said. “Personally, my goal was to win best lifter and to squat [661 lbs]. Both of which I achieved.”
Maya Levin had an impressive outing, winning her 63-kilogram division and earning the best female lifter title. She squatted 253 lbs, bench pressed 147 lbs, and pulled 341 lbs with the best deadlift in her division.
The team showed their depth at the meet with lifters Josh Reyes, Jackson Spencer, Mohamed El Sherif, Kerry Dennison, and Anthony Singeris all contributing to the team win.
Spencer, who is one of several new team members, went into the competition competing in the 105-kilogram division.
“I think the meet went really well for myself and for the team,” he said. “My goal was to hit a 551 lb squat, and to qualify for provincials.”
Spencer accomplished both goals in helping the team win the competition.
Team alumni and co-founding member Phil Brougham attended the competition to help coach new members competing in their first powerlifting meet.
“I got exactly what I expected from most of the lifters. I also expected to take home the best team award. That would have the biggest disappointment if we didn’t accomplish that,” he said.
With provincials nearing at the end of November, Brougham has high hopes for the team.
“Erik, Jackson, and Maya will almost certainly be Ontario champions,” said Brougham. “Both Josh and Justin [Reeson] have good chances to be as well.”
In only its second year as a team, the Ravens powerlifting team is working hard to be recognized by the school and the powerlifting community, now that they have broken into the competitive club status.
“We’ve accepted much more responsibility as a team in areas such as funding and developing a charter. Everything is much more official this year,” team president Reeson said.
As the year goes on, Brougham said the team hopes to draw interest and appreciation from the student body that hears of them or sees them training in the fitness centre.
“We have very specific goals when we go to train. We go and beat the crap out of ourselves to see the results that we expect to see months from now,” he said. “We don’t train to get bigger. We train to get better at powerlifting. Our team believes in training systems just like any other varsity team because this is our sport. We hope people start to see and appreciate that we train not only for ourselves, but for the school.”
