HEIDELBERG, Germany — Ramstein powerlifter Robin Riley squatted with 584 pounds, bench-pressed 451 and dead-lifted 633 for a total of 1,669 pounds Saturday to win the 2005 Powerlifting Clinic Invitational.
Not bad for a guy who’s just now getting back into shape.
“I’ve been gone all summer. I’m just getting back into the gym,” said Riley, 37, the defending USAFE and U.S. Armed Forces 242-pound champion after he outdistanced runner-up Scott Thomas of Stuttgart by 231.5 pounds to win that same weight class.
The gym is where Riley, along with his Ramstein teammates, wants to be.
“We’re pointing toward all the meets,” Riley said. “We want to win USAREUR and send a team back to the Military Nationals.”
Riley said that the team aspect provides the appeal of his sport.
“What I like about powerlifting,” he said, “is the camaraderie. It’s not based on competing against each other. All the lifters work for all the others. You help them to their personal best, and they help you to your personal best.”
Paced by Riley and men’s 165-pound champion Kenyatta Wilson, who more than doubled his body weight in the bench press en route to a 1,207-pound day, Ramstein finished second in the team scoring to Stuttgart’s 1,000-Pound Club made up of George Brockman, Wally Hatfield, Thomas Esters and Brian Broussard.
Hatfield won his weight classes in putting Stuttgart ahead of Ramstein 37-24 in the team standings.
“We want to use the momentum of the 1,000-Pound Club and our effort here to restart powerlifting in Stuttgart,” said Anthony Jones, the Stuttgart coach and the founder of the 1,000-Pound Club for lifters who achieve that total in the three lifts used in the sport.
Inexperience ruled the show in the women’s field.
“This is just my second official meet,” said Vilseck’s Karen Edmond, a former aerobics instructor who won the women’s 165-pound class with a 639-pound total that was some 30 pounds more than her teammate, Celesta Williams.
Edmond, who competed despite a sore right hand, said she took up the sport at age 36 “because I was bored with working out.”
2005 Powerlifting Clinic Invitational
Saturday at Heidelberg, Germany
Team (men and women) — Stuttgart 37, Ramstein 24, Vilseck 21, Heidelberg 17, Vicenza 8, Kaiserslautern 8, Ansbach 7, Darmstadt 6.
Women
132 pounds — 1, Debra Jackson, Kaiserslautern, 297.5 kilograms. (182.5 squat, 155 bench press, 130 dead lift).
165 — 1, Karen Edmond, Vilseck, 290 (110-62.5-117.5). 2, Celesta Williams, Vilseck, 275 (72.5-85-117.5).
Men
165 pounds — 1, Kenyatta Wilson, Ramstein, 547.5 (182.5-155-210). 2, Hildred Mathews, Ansbach, 425 (120-125-180). 3, Edwin Palagar, Heidelberg, 350 (100-100-150).
198 — 1, Wally Hatfield, Stuttgart, 575 (170-177.5-227.5). 2, Thomas Esters, Stuttgart, 529.5 (170-157-192.5).
220 — 1, Brandon Hutson, Vicenza, 635 (205-185-245). 2, Timothy O’Gorman, Darmstadt, 622.5 (215-180-227.5). 3, George Brockman, Stuttgart, 432.5 (117.5-160-155).
242 — 1, Robin Riley, Ramstein, 757.5 (265-205-287.5). 2, Scott Thomas, Heidelberg, 652.5 (237.5-177.5-237.5). 3, Brian Broussard (Stuttgart) 554.5 (212-137.5-205).
