For years, members of Country Strong Fitness have competed across the country on the national stage at the USA Weightlifting National Championships. But this year, those weightlifters had the opportunity to compete close to home on the national stage.
The USA Weightlifting National Championships took place in Pittsburgh at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center earlier in the month of June.
“It’s a great opportunity to compete on a national stage in Pittsburgh,” said Tim Griesser, owner and head coach of Country Strong’s Weightlifting Team. “Most of these kids that are competing have their families here and will be able to get to see them compete live. We have competed everywhere across the country so to have it so close to home where their friends and family can come to cheer them on it means a lot to them and it means a lot to me too.
"It brings a good notoriety to the area and the sport.”
Last year at nationals in Colorado Springs, CO., Griesser’s team collected 14 medals overall.
This year, Griesser was excited to see how his group would perform in Pittsburgh and the growth that his athletes have achieved moving up in age divisions.
“If we could match that total from last year that would be great, but to watch their totals grow is something that I am proud of. We have had a lot of people that have stepped up to the junior level and when you step up to that class it gets more and more competitive," Griesser said. "I do think that we can equal that total this year and maybe even do a little bit better but it is going to be tough. There are always some new kids that come along and maybe they were a really good football player and they discovered weightlifting and you get some kids that are freaks of nature out there that are talented and it is a competitive field.
"We are excited to compete because we know that we have put in the preparation and we know that when we put in that preparation it leads to success on the platform.”
A total of 10 individuals around the Beaver County took the short trip down to Pittsburgh to compete on the national stage in their hometown.
The Country Strong Weightlifting nationals roster consisted of individuals lifting in the 11U age group, all the way up to the U23 age group with three athletes taking home a combined 12 medals across the board.
Alena Griesser, who competed in both the U13 and U11 age division took home three bronze medals in U13 in the 36 k.g. weight class and three silver medals in the U11 age category. Aidan Griesser also medaled in the U13 age division, taking home the bronze medal in the snatch and the silver medal overall in the 55 k.g. weight class and the clean and jerk.
Besides both Griessers medaling, Alec Coulter also took home three medals as he repeated as the U23 national champion, taking home gold in both the snatch, clean & jerk and the overall medal for the U23 division 73 k.g. weight class.
Along with the aforementioned medalists, there were a number of different storylines that surrounded Country Strong Fitness during the USA Nationals week in Pittsburgh as the hometown gym lifted in the Steel City.
Jackson Thomas, who ran Track & Field at Geneva College, hasn’t had the opportunity to compete on the national stage for three years due to attending college.
But with nationals being in Pittsburgh this year, Thomas was eager to lift in his hometown and the chance to get back to weightlifting on the national stage.
“I love being able to have the opportunity to lift in Pittsburgh,” Thomas said. “With college, I haven’t been able to travel with student loans so with this year’s nationals being so close to home it is a blessing. It feels so great to be able to focus on this and not have any distractions, stresses, or anything that is going to take me away from weightlifting. I can just hone my abilities as a weightlifter so it is awesome.”
Most of the athletes that will be competing on the national stage do not focus on weightlifting full-time due to some being in the workforce with full-time jobs or being involved in sports outside of weightlifting during the high school and collegiate athletic seasons.
Thomas finished in fifth place overall in the U23 division, finishing in seventh in the snatch and fifth in the clean and jerk.
For weightlifters like Alec Coulter and Adriana Gilliam, juggling weightlifting pursuing a degree, and working a strenuous job cannot always be an easy task.
Coulter has had a lot to be proud of throughout his journey to repeat as a national champion as he has been having to balance his job as an Emergency Room nurse in Sewickley with weightlifting as he prepared for the national championships.
“Adjusting to the life of having to go to work and my work schedule has been one of the biggest challenges that I have had to face,” Coulter said. “It was something that I think that I underestimated at first but over time it has become one of my biggest strengths because I can work 36-40 hours in a week and still get into the gym for five sessions training for around two hours and hopefully bring home another national medal.”
Gilliam is another athlete who has had a lot on her plate to juggle as well as she enters into her junior season in the fall competing on the women’s volleyball team at Bethany College in West Virginia.
Along with being on the volleyball team at Bethany College, Gilliam is also pursuing her Bachelor's degree in Physical Education and Sports Studies along with a minor in Sports Management in just three years.
This year’s national championships marked the first time that Gilliam competed on the national stage after training hard for this moment for the past two years.
With everything else going on in her life, she is excited to see all of her hard work paying off being able to lift on a national stage for the first time.
“I would have to wake up at 6 a.m. for volleyball practices and still have to get five to six sessions a week of lifting and complete all of my school work so that took a physical toll on me making sure that I got everything done and perfect those skills. I am looking forward to competing on the national stage for the first time because those two years of work are finally coming together. No matter how I lift, I know that I have worked so hard for this moment that I need to just put it all on the mat.”
As the national championships wrapped up, it was another successful year for Country Strong fitness as it saw many of its athletes grow as competitors and take their next steps in their weightlifting journey.
Most Popular
Comments / 0