Salem Strength Team had 7 athletes competing at the USAPL Rookie/Novice MetroEast Showdown at McKendree University Sunday. This meet was unique, as it was designed to allow lifters that are new to the sport or have less than 5 competitions total compete for placing. Salem had 3 first time competitors in the Rookie Division. McKenzie Camp, Ethan Crouse and TJ Gillett. All three finished strong on the day with Camp finishing 7/9 on the day with one of the highest DOTs scores of the meet. Crouse was perfect on his day going 9/9 and Gillett finished strong with a 7/9 performance with both lifters smashing new personal records and setting expectations high for their next performance.
In the Novice Division Salem had Kyle Friend and Matt Wilson competing for placing. Kyle Friend went 8/9 on the day with a 1st Place finish and a new USAPL Illinois State Bench-press record and in the process qualified himself to compete at Bench Nationals in Arizona in August. Matt Wilson fell short of placing due to a bad day in the bench-press but finished his day strong with a solid squat and deadlift performance going 6/9 as he returned to FullPower competition.
Salem had two lifters competing as quests due to their experience level. Eric Brubaker returned to the platform going 8/9 on the day and qualified for Bench Nationals. Tim Crawford had another strong performance finishing 9/9 and setting new USAPL Illinois State Records in Squat and Bench and qualifying for Bench Nationals as well. Salem Strength Team will move onto events later in the year beginning with USAPL Bench Nationals in August and several athletes competing at The Fall Brawl in Terre Haute, Indiana in September.
