The University of Texas Weightlifting Team saw their most impressive performance to date. The team had 10 members compete and made 92% of their lifts! Three athletes made their debut: Luis Leyva, Amelia Kushner and Andrea Spina. All three went 6/6 with huge performances! Luis went 80/112/192 in his first ever meet, took Silver in the Underclassman division, and punched his ticket to 2022 University National Championships! Amelia turned in 44/60/106 and brought home silver in the Underclassman division! After just joining the team at the beginning of the school year, Andrea snatched 36kg, 38kg, 40kg, and then clean and jerk 42kg, 44kg, 46kg for an 86kg total!

Veterans to the team, Jamie and Maddie had big PR performances with 6 for 6 and 5 for 6 days respectively. Jamie had the perfect day with a snatch PR, clean and jerk PR and total PR! Her 70/85/155 (6kg total PR) performance earned her silver in the Graduate(d) division! Meanwhile, Maddie matched her all time PRs, and put them together on the competition platform for a 5kg total PR! Maddie went 77/94/171 and took Gold in the Upperclassman Division! Both ladies qualified themselves for University National Championships in Columbus, OH!

On the men’s side, Chiadika, Kevin and Zach all turned in 6 for 6 performance with huge PRs! Chiadika went 90/115/205 for an 18kg PR total. He also took bronze in the Upperclassman Division and qualified for University National Championships in March 2022. Kevin hit 63/75/138 for an 8kg PR total increase! His 63kg snatch matched his best ever snatch and his 75kg clean and jerk was a PR! Zach snatchined 105kg, clean and jerking a PR 127kg, and 6kg PR 232kg total! Zach also took silver in the upperclassman division and he qualified to 2022 University National Championships!

To close out the men, Fernando churned out a 7kg total PR performance with an 84kg snatch, a 111kg clean and jerk and a 195kg total! Aaron went 5 for 6 on the day, finishing off with a pressout on his PR 74kg clean and jerk. 🤷‍♂️ Officially 58/71/129 for a big PR total in 55kg class. Both punched their tickets to Columbus, OH with the University National Team!

The University of Texas Weightlifting Team will compete at their next National University Qualifier on January 29th at Cowboys & Kilos, hosted by Tarleton State University!

Results -

UNDERCLASSMAN FEMALE
Gold - Teresa Porter, Austin Community College, 195.282
Silver - Amelia Kushner, University of Texas, 141.116 Bronze - Lucy Jahns, Temple College, 122.512

UNDERCLASSMAN MALE
Gold - Alex Balderas, Austin Community College, 249.122
Silver - Luis Leyva, University of Texas, 233.984
Bronze - Josh Egwaikhide, Texas State University, 196.779

UPPERCLASSMAN FEMALE
Gold - Maddie Moore, University of Texas, 213.012
Silver - Kela Kauha’aha’a, LSU Shreveport, 189.105
Bronze - Vivien Choate, 84.339

UPPERCLASSMAN MALE
Gold - Ryan Johnson, Univ of Mary Hardin-Baylor, 266.461
Silver - Zach Rickmeyer, University of Texas, 256.973
Bronze - Chiadika Obinwa, University of Texas, 253.090

GRAD STUDENT FEMALE
Gold - Julie Brown, Texas State University, 191.597
Silver - Jamie Pearce, University of Texas, 180.088

GRAD STUDENT MALE
Gold - Derek Lucio, Univ of Mary Hardin-Baylor, 265.294

DEVELOPMENTAL FEMALE
Gold - Ella Vaughn, Vaughn Weightlifting, 133.099
Silver - Norah Burke, Bobcat Barbell, 109.943

*Awards were given based on Sinclair to the top 3 underclassman, upperclassman, and graduate students for both male and female.