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LSUS students in Junior World meet

Three Shreveport junior weightlifters who train under Dr. Kyle Pierce at the LSUS USA Weightlifting Development Center were part of the eight-man team representing the U.S. in the Junior World Championships in Minsk, Belarus in late May. All three lifters will be LSUS students this fall.

Kendrick Farris, who graduated from Byrd High School in May, finished 14th in the 77kg category with lifts of 127.5 in the snatch and 165 kg in the clean & jerk for a total of 292.5 kg.

Pierce, who was assistant coach of the men’s team and the U.S. Women’s Team coach in Minsk, said the result in the clean & jerk and total were personal records for Farris, competing in his first Junior World Championships. He has two years remaining as a junior competitor.

Cody Gibbs, a May Northwood High School graduate, finished 13th in the 105kg category with lifts of 142.5 kg in the snatch and 165 kg in the clean & jerk for a total of 307.5 kg.

Derrick Johnson, an LSUS sophomore, was entered in the 62 kg category, but scored only in the clean & jerk with a lift of 132.5 kg.

The U.S. Junior World Team comprised the top eight ranked junior lifters in the country. Johnson was ranked fourth among all junior men lifters – age 20 and under – in the U.S., Farris was ranked fifth and Gibbs was sixth.

Gibbs was a member of the 2003 Junior World Team. Johnson and Farris were members of the 2003 Junior Pan American Team. All three also finished first in their respective weight categories at the National Junior Championships in February and Johnson won the national weightlifting championship in the 62 kilogram division in Merrillville, Ind., in mid-March. He set the national junior records in the snatch, with a lift of 110.5 kg, and in the total (242.5)

Two other lifters who train under Pierce and will be enrolled at LSUS when classes start in August have achieved national recognition as well.

LSUS sophomore Monica Davis finished third at the February National Junior Championships in the 75+ kg category with lifts of 77.5 in the snatch and 85 kg in the clean & jerk. She was also a member of the 2003 Junior Pan American Team.

Tulley Covington, a May graduate of Parkway High School, finished 5th in the 85 kg category. He is currently 18th in the junior men rankings and an alternate for the Junior Pan American Championships to be held in September in Santiago, Chile.