For the first time in Stevens’s history, Powerlifting sent students to the USA Powerlifting (USAPL) Collegiate Nationals. Senior Chloe Brenna and sophomore Abigail Izzo traveled to Atlanta, GA, to take on the 56 kg and 52 kg bodyweight classes, respectively, in the Female Raw category.
The pair qualified for the meet, which took place from Thursday, April 11, to Sunday, April 14, during the New Jersey Collegiate Championships last December. While Stevens took third overall, Brenna and Izzo took first in their weight classes.
Towards the beginning of the semester, the team faced a slew of logistical challenges, primarily, their gym being shut down. They were then able to transition to the varsity gym, where the next challenge they faced was the equipment in the gym, or lack thereof. While the Stevens gyms are generally well-equipped for weight training, Brenna noted the importance of having specific equipment. Minor changes between what you practice with and what you compete with make all the difference between getting the bar up or not. Learning to thrive with the resources available, the team was split into percentages based on their readiness for nationals or how close their lifts (a combination of squat, bench, and deadlift) were to nationals qualifying.
Brenna and Izzo traveled to Atlanta with their head coach, Ryan Erasmus, and the Assistant Director of Campus Recreation for Club Sports, Paige Moriarty, on the Wednesday before the meet began to settle in. After arriving in Georgia, the group headed to the Georgia International Convention Center to begin the registration and check-in process.
A start time of 8 a.m. for Session 1 on Thursday, April 11, meant a 5 a.m. wake-up for Izzo, which began with weighing in at 6 a.m. before gearing up in her singlet at 7:30 a.m., as well as beginning her warmups. Izzo began her squats at 92.5 kg (or 204 lbs) before increasing to 97.5 kg (215 lbs) and finishing at 100 kg (around 220 lbs). Next came her bench, where she was towards the back of her flight, meaning her starting weight was higher than the others in her weight class. Izzo benched weights of 62.5 kg (138 lbs), 67.5 kg (149 lbs), and 70 kg (154 lbs) before deadlifting 112.5 kg (248 lbs), 117.5 kg (259 lbs), and 122.5 kg (270). Due to Powerlifting’s technicalities, Izzo went 8/9, the one lift missed in her final bench when the judges called her on downward motion, which means the bar did not go back up in one coherent movement. She lifted a total of 290 kg, or 639 lbs, and set multiple records in her home state of Rhode Island, including the Junior record for deadlift and the Junior and Open records for squats and total.
Brenna began in Session 2 at 1 p.m. the same day, having geared up at 10:30 a.m. and weighing in half an hour later. Her squat began at 100 kg (220.5), followed by 105 kg (231.5 lbs, meeting her current personal record), and finally hit 110 kg (242.5 lbs), though in hindsight, she feels that she should have lifted more weight. She was the first in her flight for the bench, which began at 40 kg (88.2 lbs), then 45 kg (99.2 lbs), and finally, 47.5 kg (104.7 lbs), followed by her deadlifts of 115 kg (253 lbs), 120 kg (264.6 lbs), and 125 kg (275 lbs). Brenna totaled 282.5 kg (622.8 lbs), finishing with 26/27 white lights, her one red coming once again from a technicality, having jumped a “squat” command
Brenna and Izzo acknowledge Coach Erasmus as a huge support throughout their journey to nationals, who they say is “great at making lifters comfortable.” Brenna also notes that it was “absolutely huge for Paige to be there and see it” as the “equipment in the UCC is all brand new but it’s nothing close to what powerlifting is.”
Tomorrow, April 27, the team will be hosting their own mock meet, targeted at newer lifters to give them a glimpse of what competition looks like but without the pressure. Next week, on May 4, part of the team will be attending a meet in Brooklyn, where more experienced lifters will be competing to qualify for 2025 Nationals.
The two say that “we’re really proud of this team but also it’s incredible to be women leading this charge,” and that “it doesn’t take being a powerlifter to join the team, it just takes being willing to try something new.”
