LSUS to host national championships 01/31/02

Top weightlifters from around the country will be on the LSU in Shreveport campus Saturday and Sunday competing in two national meets. The U.S. Weightlifting Development Center at LSUS will host the USA Weightlifting National Age 23 and Under Championships and the National Collegiate Championships.

The collegiate division is the primary qualifier for the World University Championships to be held in Ankara, Turkey, June 28-30. The 23 and under division is the primary qualifier for the Guatemala Cup to be held in Guatemala City June 19-22.

The competition will be in the Health & Physical Education Building on the LSUS campus, and is open to the public free of charge.

Eight former USA Junior World Team members will compete in the championships, as will a 1999 World Team member and two weightlifters who won both the 23 and under and the collegiate divisions last year. The 11 competitors span the country coast to coast and border to boarder, coming from Savannah, Ga., to Jan Jacinto, Calif, and Minneapolis to Austin, Texas.

Dr. Kyle Pierce, director of the U.S. Weightlifting Development Center, said six local teen-agers will compete in the championships. “All six have distinguished themselves with championships and medals in previous competitions,” Pierce said. “They will all be competitive this weekend.”

Pierce said four local teens are the youngest men entered in the competition.
Joshua “JJ” Johnson, 16, is the national champion and current national record-holder in the age 23 and under championships in the 69 kilogram category. He was national champion and outstanding lifter in Age 16 and Under Division at the 2001 National Junior Championships and at the 2001 USA Weightlifting Junior Olympics. He was the youngest male competitor in both the Junior Pan American Championships in Mexico City and in the USA Weightlifting National Championships. Johnson was featured in November “Sports Illustrated for Kids” in Hot Shots.

Kendrick Farris, a 15-year-old C. E. Byrd High School sophomore, also competes in the 69 Kg category. In 2001, he was national champion at the USA Weightlifting Junior Olympics, a member of USA Weightlifting National Junior Squad, and silver medalist in the USA vs. Canada Competition in Montreal.

Tulley Covington, 16, a sophomore at Parkway High School, is an 85 Kg lifter. His 2001 accomplishments include being national champion in 16 and under at the National Junior Championships, a member of USA Weightlifting National Junior Squad, and gold medalist in the USA vs. Canada Competition in Montreal.

Cody Gibbs, a 94 Kg lifter, is a 16-year-old sophomore at Northwood High School. In 2001, he was national champion at the USA Weightlifting Junior Olympics, and national champion and outstanding age 16 lifter at AAU National Junior Olympics.

Two local girls will compete in this weekend’s championships.

Michelle Sicard, a 14-year-old Loyola College Prep freshman, competes in the 48 Kg category. Last year she won second place in the 16 and under division at the National Junior Championships and at the USA Weightlifting Junior Olympics, and was a member of the USA Weightlifting Junior Squad. She was the bronze medalist in the USA vs. Canada Competition in Huntingdon, Quebec, in 2000, and a member of USA Weightlifting National Junior Squad.

Monica Davis, who competes in the 75+ category, is a 16-year-old sophomore at Booker T. Washington High School. In 2001, she was 16 and under national champion at the National Junior Championships, a member of the USA Weightlifting National Junior Squad, and gold medalist in the USA vs. Canada Competition in Montreal.
Schedule of Competition