Las Vegas, NV. — The UT Men and Women’s Weightlifting Team took to the national stage for the 2022 U25 National Championships with their goal of becoming repeat champions, after both winning team titles at the 2021 U25 Nationals in Detroit.
Tuesday, 28 June 2022
Amelia Kushner, sophomore, and U25 Nationals first-timer took to the stage first for the women's team. With a 6:00AM weigh in after just two hours of sleep due to flight cancellations and delays, Amelia’s leadoff 5 for 6 performance in the 55kg class set the tone for a repeat U25 National title bid. With a 50kg snatch and a 66kg clean & jerk combing for a 116kg total, Amelia totaled just 1kg under her best, with her clean & jerk being a competition PR in the 55kg class. Her performance earned her 15th place in a highly competitive weight class.
Up next, Aaron Xu, a spring graduate from the Cockrell School of Engineering took to the stage at his first U25 Nationals to get things started for the men's team. Aaron secured his second national podium finish in the 55kg class with a 5/6 day, and competition PRs in the snatch, clean & jerk and total. His 66kg snatch earned him his first ever gold medal, and his 77kg clean & jerk and 143kg total earned him silver in both. This was a 5kg increase from his first national competition in March at the University National Championships. Following Aaron, national team veteran Maanas Sathaye closed out the first day of competition in the men’s 73kg class. His 4 for 6 day recorded all new competition PRs in the 73kg class, going 86/114/200 and furthered the men’s campaign for the U25 National title with a top ten finish!
Wednesday, 29 June 2022
The second day of competition continued on the men’s side with Luis Leyva, Environmental Engineering freshman and another first time competitor at the Under 25 Nationals. With a strong 4 for 6 day, Luis hit 83/114/197, matching his previous University National total in the 81kg class. He was close to a PR Day with a 117kg clean and jerk, but lost the jerk during the recovery. Following Luis’ performance, junior Business Management major and team treasurer, Fernando Miranda-Fred made a grand debut on the national stage with a 6 for 6 performance. His big day finished with 98/120/218 and earned him all new competition PRs!
On the women’s side, senior Brie Gomez had an incredible 3 for 3 snatch performance, ending with a stunning 88kg all-time PR snatch which earned her gold in the women’s 64kg class. Unfortunately, her 6kg lead did not hold up for gold in the total, as her 96kg clean & jerk left her 1kg short, and finished with silver in the total. At this point of the three-day meet, Brie's podium finish helped solidify a repeat national team title for the Longhorn women.
Maddie Moore, recent graduate of the Nursing School and new Labor & Delivery Nurse, finished out the day on the women’s side with a first-time 6 for 6 performance. Maddie matched her best training snatch at 78kg and recorded a new PR in the clean & jerk at 98kg for a 176kg PR total. Maddie's performance in the 71kg class earned her bronze medals in the clean & jerk and total, and qualified her for the North American Open Finals in December!
Thursday, 30 June 2022
On the final day of competition, four athletes remained for the UT Weightlifting Team. On the men’s side, triple-major (Electrical Engineering, Mathematics & Plan II Honors) senior Chiadika Obinwa got things started with a 4 for 6 day, snatching 95kg on his third attempt and most notably, hit a 122kg clean & jerk for an all-time PR and a total only 1kg under his best! Following that performance, recent Mechanical Engineering graduate Zach Rickmeyer contributed an impressive and gutsy 5 for 6 performance, going 100/125/225. Zach had suffered an injury a few weeks before the competition that left him unable to split jerk, but he was able to perform a 125kg PR power jerk that was only 4kg under his best split jerk! Zach finished 13th in the 102 class.
Team President and Athletic Training & Exercise Science double major sophomore, Victor Delgado closed out the competition on the men’s side with a PR 6 for 6 performance that was many competitions in the making. Victor set all new competition PRs with a 119/144/263 performance for a 6kg total increase. His big day earned him 9th in the 102 class and brought the team many valuable team points, second only to Aaron Xu’s podium finish on the first day of competition.
The final lifter for either team was recent graduate and national team veteran Jamie Pearce. Jamie made 5 of 6 lifts to finish 5th in the 87kg class. Jamie snatched 70kg and clean & jerked an all-time PR of 89kg to finish with a 159kg total, just 1kg under her best ever!
When all the barbells had been hoisted over the course of the mid-week competition, the University of Texas Men and Women’s Weightlifting Teams stood as repeat Under 25 National Champions, following up their 2021 titles in Detroit with even better team performance in Las Vegas. Both teams combined to make 82% of their lifts, with every lifter making at least 4 of 6 lifts! The team collected 2 gold medals, 3 silver medals and 2 bronze medals, including 3 podium finishes in the total!