Records Smashed At American Open
In one of the most anticipated performances of the American Open, Darren Barnes and CJ Cummings did not disappoint. Barnes set American records for the junior and senior age groups in the men’s 56-kg weight class for his 112-kg snatch and 237-kg total. “I PR-ed my snatch, which was a really big deal because it was twice my body weight,” he says. “I’m really happy with how the competition went.” Barnes says he hopes to compete again in March, although he is not sure what competition he will participate in yet. “Until then it’s lifting and training,” he says. Cummings, a 14-year-old athlete competing in the men’s 69-kg weight class, shattered American youth records for his age group and the 16 and 17-year-old age groups with a total of 270 kgs. “In 2020, he's your man," says Ray Jones, Cummings’ coach, in a recent article for The State. “He's the guy you're looking at to say 'Hey, he has a shot to do really well.’” Alex Lee, an athlete in his mid-20s from East Valley CrossFit in Chandler, Ariz., edged out Cummings to take gold with an American record-breaking total of 305 kgs. Other Olympic hopefuls had strong showings throughout the three-day event, which took place in Washington D.C., Dec. 12-15. Team USA athlete Ellen Kercher set a new PR with a 75-kg snatch, earning silver in the women’s 53-kg total. “I was very happy with my snatch,” says Kercher. “If I would have made my clean and jerks that would have made a huge difference in my performance. I only made half of my lifts so there is lots of room for improvement.” Kercher has her sights set on the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio, March 5-8. Team MuscleDriver USA also had a strong showing with six athletes making it to the podium for totals. Jared Fleming swept the men’s 94-kg weight class with a 167-kg snatch, 196-kg clean and jerk and a 363-kg total. Fleming went six for six in his lifts, setting new PRs and earning the best lifter award. “Big thanks to everyone for all the support and helping me get through my back injury to now hitting lifetime PRs and putting me back to the top of USA Weightlifting,” he wrote on social media. “More to come and pushing for Rio 2016.” Fleming’s scores helped MDUSA male athletes secure the men’s team title. MDUSA women took second for the women’s team title. “This group of lifters truly [pour] their hearts and souls out on the platform day in and day out, and as their coach I am jacked to watch them do battle,” MDUSA coach Travis Mash wrote in a blog post. Phil Andrews, director of events and programs for USA Weightlifting, says he hopes the success of the American Open is indicative of future events USAW will host. "Bringing this event to one of America's iconic cities saw the introduction of a city wide schools weightlifting program, record breaking performances from our athletes, outstanding efforts from our event volunteers and marks another step as we prepare to host the World Championships in 2015,” he says. (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); Post by Jared Fleming.
Dec 15, 2014