Sunday May 30th Final Day of Lifting
The day started off with our top ranked female lifter Sarah Robles and Holley Mangold in the 75+ kilo class. This was Sarah’s second Pan American team. Sarah hit a new Personal Record in the snatch with 106 to finish third in the snatch behind the Venezuelan and girl from Ecuador. In the clean and jerk sarah hit 133 to move ahead of the Venezuelan for silver. Sarah finished in second place behind the Ecuadorian for the overall title. Sarah was our highest female finisher. With her points the women’s team finished 7th in the competition and 6th overall for the Pan American Games. This earned our Women’s team 5 slots for next years games. As the Head Women’s Coach I am very proud of all over our girls performances. We had a goal of finishing top 6th and they all lifted contributed to the effort. Holley had a tough road to travel getting a little food poisoning during her stay leading up to her session. But despite a couple of obstacles Holley was able to snatch 90 kilos and just missing a close Personal Record at 96 kilos. In the Clean and Jerk Holley came back from a near tragic miss with her opener at 115 to make it on her second and nail 120 on her third. Holley gained a lot of experience on this trip.
1. Seledina Nieves ECU 118 142 260
2. Sarah Robles USA 106 133 239
3. Yaniuska Espinoza VEn 106 132 238
8. Holley Mangold USA 90 120 210
105 kilo class was next to go. Donny Shankle and Cody Gibbs were both in this session for the US. Cody had a great day Snatching finishing third in the Snatch with 165 kilos. Donny hit 158 on his third attempt to solidify him in 5th in the snatch. The clean and jerks saw a major swing on the total board and it came down to the last clean and jerk to determine the outcome. Cody Gibbs hit 191 on his opener and that was all that he was able to do that day. Shankle hit 200 on his third to move him into 5th in the clean and jerk. With that lift and a little good luck Donny was able to move into 3rd overall in the 105 kilo class. Cody finished in 5th.
1. Lazaro Lopez CUB 173 215 388
2. Jorge Arrollo ECU 177 200 377
3. Donny Shankle USA 158 200 358
5th. Cody Gibbs USA 165 191 356
Last up for Team USA was the 105+ kilo class. We had two of our top lifters in Colin Ito and Patrick Judge competing. Ito had the meet of his life going 6 for 6 hitting 155 snatch and 202 clean and jerk (PR) for 357 total (PR). Colin came ready to lift. Big Pat Judge rounded out the meet with a Gold medal snatch of 168 kilos and a Bronze Medal overall performance. Pat had the opportunity to go for the overall Gold but today was not his day. Pat clean and Jerk 210 with two narrow misses at 218 to finish him tied with the Cuban but the Cuban was lighter than Pat so he finished in third place. This is the second year in a row that Pat finished in third.
1. Julio Cesar Arteaga ECU 167 222 389
2. Sertanis Teran CUB 167 211 378
3. Patrick Judge USA 168 210 378
7th Colin Ito USA 155 202 357
It was a great competition with many ups and downs. All the athletes totaled and many went after Personal Records. The Men’s Team finished 3rd overall behind Cuba and Colombia earning 6 slots for next years Pan American Games in Mexico. The Women’s team finished 7th and earned 5 slots for next year’s games.
On a more pressing note we have been delayed here through at least Wednesday. Several of our athletes were supposed to leave last Friday. As of right now the Guatemalan Airport is still closed. We have heard all kinds of rumors about when the Airport will open and when we will be able to fly out. There is discussion about driving to El Salvador and flying out to Miami from there. I can’t confirm this or not. The safety of our team is our top priority. Thankfully Dr. Kyle Pierce, the Men’s Head Coach, has many connection here in Guatemala. His phone seems to be the only one that does work down here and has been in constant contact with USA Weightlifting’s National Office. Most of the athletes are in good spirits but they all want to get home to their families as soon as possible. If this situation persists I can see the moral of the team getting a little worse day by day. We took most of the team to the Guatemalan Weightlifting Center for a little workout today. The coaching staff felt it would serve two purposes. One to get the athletes out of the hotel and second get back to their routine of training. For many of the lifers it is a great treat to be able to train with this many talented lifters they don’t get that opportunity to train all together often. I will try to write more on my thoughts of the competition and the events of that this volcano and tropical storm have created. Stay tuned