Regional lifters compete today

[KFDM COOP]

Regional lifters compete today

TOM HALLIBURTON

The Port Arthur News

Halasi Harper probably never heard of Palacios, Texas, and the talented Nederland powerlifter may not have expected to spend part of her spring break there.

Jessica Perry looks comfortable about dealing with the Palacios part of spring break but she's already looking forward to attend the Nederland Heritage Festival.

"We're going (to the Heritage Festival) on Thursday night," the region's top 198-pound 4A power lifter said.

Harper, Perry and two vans full of Nederland coaches, parents and athletes headed to Palacios on Wednesday morning. It's southwest of Houston near Bay City. It's also the site of the Region IV girls powerlifting championships.

The winners and top qualifiers advance to the state powerlifting championships -- Mar. 21 in Corpus Christi for the girls and Mar. 28 in Abilene for the boys.

Four boys advanced to Abilene by qualifying at regionals last Saturday in Katy Mayde Creek High School. Josh Wright (1st in the 198s), Blake Brooks and Mikey Poirier (2nd and 5th in the 165s) will represent Port Neches-Groves at state, with Wright having an excellent chance to become a state champion. Nederland's lone boys state qualifier was Robert Johnson (3rd in the 165s).

To nobody's surprise in Golden Triangle circles, PN-G's Wright broke the previous regional record of total pounds lifted with 1680 (previous record 1675). Josh also was named outstanding lifter, outstanding squat lifter and outstanding bench-press lifter in the heavyweight division.

Yet in a sport that has been more traditionally dominated by males, powerlifting seems to have been embraced more at the Mid-and-South County schools by females in recent years.

Coach Kevin Jones is bringing 11 regional qualifiers to Palacios from the red and white colors of Bridge City. Standout veteran instructor Jule Joffrion is heading there this week with nine girls regional qualifiers and two alternates from Titan Territory at Port Arthur Memorial. Terry Pool and trusty strong man Jae Stoker of Nederland have five girls and three have excellent chances to reach state.

Only at PN-G could coach Carl Broussard observe the regional boys outnumbering the girls, 3-1.

Nederland's best bets today belong to three girls. Perry is the region's top-rated 4A lifter in the girls 198-pound class with a 770-pound total.

Trinity Pierce also holds that top-rated 4A distinction in the girls 105-pound division. She qualified with a 495 total. Halasi Harper enters regionals with a 670 total but she already owns a state qualifying total, even though she ranks behind LC-M's Meghan Fontenot (885) in the 123-pound class.

Reaching the state meet can be tricky because competition can vary from one class to another. For example, Port Arthur Memorial's best bet at regionals likely would be hard-working Mysheka Bill in the 198-pound division. Bill qualified with an 840 composite, whereas Nederland's Perry had a 770 composite. Bill has the third most in her weight class while Perry is fifth.

Yet Memorial's girl trails Alvin's Francia Acosta (940) substantially for the regional 5A lead, while Nederland's Perry leads among 4A qualifiers.

Joffrion has at least three other Port Arthurans to rank among the regional leaders. Maria Petry rates fourth in the 220-pound division at 815 pounds. Ashley Norman (800 pounds) stands sixth among the super heavyweights and Kayla Rougeau (775 pounds) is sixth in the 181-pound weight class.

BC's Jones will not allow Cardinal Country to back down to any of the larger-enrollment schools around here. Alexa Richmond ranks first among all lifters in the 114-pound regional qualifier's list with 675 pounds. Brittney Meyers leads the 132-pound class for 3A lifters with 775 pounds. Valerie Brown is second among all 198-pound regional qualifiers -- ahead of Memorial's Bill and Nederland's Perry -- with a 920 composite.

[Powerlifting]

Good showing for SETX again this year.

WB won the 5A Regional Championship and are sending several girls to state with a great shot at winning the 5A State Championship.

Bridge City won the 3A Regional Championship and the overall 1A - 5A Championship for a 2nd year in a row, and are sending 6 kids to state including two defending State Champions, Valerie Brown won the "outstanding lifter" award in the heavy weight division for Squat, Deadlift and total.

LCM Placed third as a team.

Megan Fontenot won the "outstanding lifter" award in the light weight division for Squat, Bench, Deadlift and Total, breaking several regional records.

Vidor, Lumberton, Port Arthur, Ozen, and PNG all represented SETX well, sending several kids to the State Meet in Corpus Christi next week.

[blinky]

Heard the judging was terrible as always. Alot of good lifters didnt make it to state.

[fatboysofttail]

Terrible isnt the word for it . There were many bad calls made at this meet.

[blinky]

Coaches need to get the regional director back in this area.

[Guest stircrazy]

Heard the judging was terrible as always. Alot of good lifters didnt make it to state.

Katye Harris was scratched at the 1st station Squats. Protests by coaches and other schools coaches were no help. The region director had to call down these judges all day for STUPID calls. The girl from Crosby who was ranked #1 in the 220 class along with KH did not make it past SQUATS. Out of 12 lifters in this class only 5 finished the meet. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! Our region will not have the top lifters in 4A there because of unfair judging and I am not talking about just my daughter. Several of the top lifters were kicked out because of JUDGING ERRORS!!!!!

[Powerlifting]

Heard the judging was terrible as always. Alot of good lifters didnt make it to state.

Katye Harris was scratched at the 1st station Squats. Protests by coaches and other schools coaches were no help. The region director had to call down these judges all day for STUPID calls. The girl from Crosby who was ranked #1 in the 220 class along with KH did not make it past SQUATS. Out of 12 lifters in this class only 5 finished the meet. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! Our region will not have the top lifters in 4A there because of unfair judging and I am not talking about just my daughter. Several of the top lifters were kicked out because of JUDGING ERRORS!!!!!

I wouldn't say judging errors, just different philosophies on what an actual squat is. Most coaches in this area, and the judges at State, believe that if you put a lifter 1 to 2 inches UNDER parrallel then it is conisidered a good squat.

They are looking for 3 to 5 inches under parallel in Palacios. It really does a disservice to the Regional lifters, our region will not be represented by all of our top lifters at state. The difference in philosophy will also make it real hard for WB and BC to win State now, even though they both dominated the Regional meet, both teams lost some of their best lifters at the meet, costing them valuable points at State.

[StangBacker]

First and foremost, I think that many of the SE Texas girls were cheated at this meet due to bad or biased judging.  Think about it - how many girls from WB, BC, PAM, and PNG were red lighted because of depth when they were clearly low enough according to THSPA rules?  It was hard to tell exactly what the judges were looking for.  I am aware that sometimes judges want a little more depth, which is fine, as long as they are consistent and remain aware of the lifter situation.  A girl from PNG was DQed for "dumping" the bar when she really just lost her grip.  I watched her fall back to the mat with the bar but the judges kicked her out of the meet.  A few lifters later, an Edna girl dumped the bar clearly and the judges simply looked at each other and shook their heads!!  I even saw the Anahuac girl bomb in the squat because her knees were bent when the head judge gave the squat command.  I think the call was bogus - I have never heard of it before!!

As far as the regional director spot, it was up for election/vote this year as the spot becomes open every two years.  No one stepped up to "run" against the current director nor was anyone nominated - he was automatically put back in within seconds.

I would like to see judges from our area judging in OUR regional meet instead of ex-Palacios powerlifters calling the shots.  I don't think that one judge was over 21 years old.  Next year, be sure to contact the regional director with judges names from this area in order to have representation at the meet.  I have already spoken to several that would be interested.

[Hitch]

The judging was not as bad as people state.  The ones that are disgruntled are the ones that did not get the calls they thought they should have.  I witnessed the lifts and have seen many of the lifters attempt squats that were not deep enough.  The rule states that where the "v" is formed at the hip at the bottom of the squat must go below the top of the kneecap.  Before you start talking about the judging, how come the coaching did not put them where they were supposed to be.  And yes, I had two lifters there, they got their lifts but did not medal. 

Teams have gotten away with high squats all year due to judges at invitational meets that do not strictly enforce the rules.  Then when you go to regionals and state, they want to complain that the judging is too tough.

Today at the boys meet, the same thing happened.  In the 220 class, only 3 lifters were still in the meet at the end.  There were kids that bombed out as well as disqualified for dumping the bar and cursing. 

[Guest stircrazy]

The judging was not as bad as people state.  The ones that are disgruntled are the ones that did not get the calls they thought they should have.  I witnessed the lifts and have seen many of the lifters attempt squats that were not deep enough.  The rule states that where the "v" is formed at the hip at the bottom of the squat must go below the top of the kneecap.  Before you start talking about the judging, how come the coaching did not put them where they were supposed to be.  And yes, I had two lifters there, they got their lifts but did not medal. 

Teams have gotten away with high squats all year due to judges at invitational meets that do not strictly enforce the rules.  Then when you go to regionals and state, they want to complain that the judging is too tough.

Today at the boys meet, the same thing happened.  In the 220 class, only 3 lifters were still in the meet at the end.  There were kids that bombed out as well as disqualified for dumping the bar and cursing. 

You most not have watched the 220 class. They stunk. The LCM girls all go to the same personal coach and he gets them technically ready. Mine was DQ'd for touching the rack , come on she would have had to do the splits for that to happen. How about the judges asking each other why they did not see a good lift ? They are supposed to be INDEPENDENT and call it like they see it. Not like the other guy sees it. Gabby Brown moved her toe in her shoe and was scratched on 1 lift. Her foot NEVER moved. But if you think sending girls to state that lift 100 or more pounds lighter than those who should be there is fine that is your opinoin.When 10 or more people come to you a say how your kid is getting screwed they all can't be wrong.

[Powerlifting]

The judging was not as bad as people state.  The ones that are disgruntled are the ones that did not get the calls they thought they should have.  I witnessed the lifts and have seen many of the lifters attempt squats that were not deep enough.  The rule states that where the "v" is formed at the hip at the bottom of the squat must go below the top of the kneecap.  Before you start talking about the judging, how come the coaching did not put them where they were supposed to be.  And yes, I had two lifters there, they got their lifts but did not medal. 

Teams have gotten away with high squats all year due to judges at invitational meets that do not strictly enforce the rules.  Then when you go to regionals and state, they want to complain that the judging is too tough.

Today at the boys meet, the same thing happened.  In the 220 class, only 3 lifters were still in the meet at the end.  There were kids that bombed out as well as disqualified for dumping the bar and cursing. 

I don't agree with this statement.

According to the THSWPA website this is "convincingly deep."  However, the squat pictured in the diagram would be significantly too high in Palacios, and I believe that is wrong.

[Hitch]

As I stated previously by the rule, the "V" of the hip is below the knee cap.

I also noticed how many kids go with an extremely wide base with their feet.

The wider you go, the harder it is to get deep for your squat. 

The mechanics of the hip joint will not allow it.

A statement was made that they go to a personal trainer.  In the "old" handbook, it stated that the the athletes could only work out at the school.  I went back to look to see if it was still in there since you mentioned it and I have yet to find it.

I have been coaching this sport for 19 years.  The best thing I have ever seen that has helped this sport is the use of the Power Squat rack.  Kids today do not have to be afraid of crashing all the way to the floor.  The old single jack standards were scary and dangerous.

I have been in the coaches meetings and there is a push to go away from the suits or to designate one type of suit or bench shirt.

This sport is about the strength of the individual, not the suit they wear.

The rage, phenom and f6 can all add an additional 40 to 70 pounds to a bench.  I have witnessed kids who cannot "touch and go" in a weightroom with 275 be able to pause bench in a meet with 350 and make it look easy.  To me, that is the shirt doing the lifting.

The great Marcus Henry from Silsbee never competed in a suit and he did perfectly fine. 

From thspa.us

D.    All competitors must be sponsored and coached by a full time staff member of his school. Training for competition is to be done using school facilities and under the direction of the above-mentioned coach.  Competitors who use private clubs or gyms as their primary training site may be declared ineligible for competition by the T.H.S.P.A. Executive Committee.

[Powerlifting]

As I stated previously by the rule, the "V" of the hip is below the knee cap.

The part I didn't agree with was saying that the complaints were coming from disgruntled people who put their lifters too high all year, then complain about solid judging at a Regional Meet. My point is, many coaches were putting their kids at or right below that diagram and getting red lighted because the Palacios coach has taught his judges that if it's not at least 4 to 6 inches below parrallel, then it's not a good squat. The feet moving, bar dumping, cussing at the platform... I have no problem with that being called everytime. Discipline has to be a part of powerlifting, or someone would get hurt.

I'd be all for one suit or shirt designated.

4.      All competitors must be sponsored and coached by a full-time staff member of her school. Training for competition is to be done using school facilities and under the direction of the above-mentioned coach. Competitors who use private clubs or gyms as their primary training site, may be declared ineligible for T.H.S.W.P.A. competition. Complaints of suspected violations may be submitted to the Regional Director for submission to the U.I.L. District Chair. Established U.I.L. guidelines will be followed.

[Hitch]

I have no problem with your last statement.  But, if the coaches have a problem, then they should have selected a new regional director.  The regional meet will be in Palacious again for the next 2 years. 

[blinky]

A more fair way for judging regional compition would be to have one judge from the Palacios area, one judge from the Houston area, and one judge from the Beaumont area.

[Powerlifting]

A more fair way for judging regional compition would be to have one judge from the Palacios area, one judge from the Houston area, and one judge from the Beaumont area.

That's a great idea, and should be seriously looked into.

[Guest stircrazy]

That is a VERY GOOD IDEA. Even if we had to take up a collection to pay for a room it would fine. Add an extra 5 dollars per girl at each meet and hire professionals to judge regionals where a state birth is at stake.