Outstanding Athletes

Awards Process

Eligibility Criteria: The NY WSO recognizes achievements in the following categories for male and female athletes: Junior, Senior, and Masters. To be considered for an award the athlete must be a member of the NY WSO. Eligible athletes must be listed as the top ranked NY WSO athlete within a weight class. State Rankings are compiled based on data collected in the USA Weightlifting BARS website.

Top ranked athletes for an awards year will be from the following weight classes:

55, 61, 67, 73, 81, 89, 96, 102, 109, +109 kg.
45, 49, 55, 59, 64, 71, 76, 81, 87, +87 kg.

The NY WSO board will determine who the most outstanding male and female athlete is across the 10 weight classes in the Junior and Senior categories using a points-based grading system.

Due to the large number of masters age groups, we’ll first determine who the top masters athlete is for the above weight classes across multiple age groups by using the Sinclair-Meltzer-Faber (SMF) formula for men and the Sinclair-Huebner-Meltzer-Faber (SHMF) formula for women. Click here to access the SMF formula.

Example:

Athlete 1: Male, 35 years old | 96 kg body weight | 200 kg total | 241.463 SMF.
Athlete 2: Male, 45 years old | 96 kg body weight | 180 kg total | 243.874 SMF.
Athlete 3: Male, 55 years old | 96 kg body weight | 157 kg total | 244.893 SMF.

If no other athlete in the other unlisted age groups has a higher SMF, Athlete 3 is the best Masters male lifter in the 96 kg weight class. This athlete is the top ranked masters athlete in 96 kg weight class and will advance to have their data compared to the other top masters men in other weight classes.

Award Recipients

The New York WSO finds great pleasure in awarding the following athletes for their outstanding achievements in the sport of weightlifting during the years listed below.

2024

Outstanding Junior Female: Angelina Mintz
Outstanding Junior Male: Trever Weeden
Outstanding Senior Female: Juliana Riotto
Outstanding Senior Male: Marc Marquez
Outstanding Master Female: Amanda Cann

Outstanding Master Male: Ryan Hansen

2023

Outstanding Junior Female: Marci Baldinger
Outstanding Junior Male: Connor Lacey
Outstanding Senior Female: Lucie Gehringer
Outstanding Senior Male: Dean Otsuka
Outstanding Master Female: Stella Ladao

Outstanding Master Male: Robert Santoro

2022

Outstanding Junior Female: Jasmine Nautel
Outstanding Junior Male: Andrew Smith
Most Improved Female: Staci Stadler
Most Improved Male: Juliann Poserio
Outstanding Senior Female: Juliana Riotto
Outstanding Senior Male: Robert Marvald
Outstanding Master Female: Joelle Von Bischoffshausen

Outstanding Master Male: Brett Andrus

2020/2021

(Combined Years)

Outstanding Junior Athlete: D. Irizarry
Outstanding Junior Male: Alec Paganuzzi
Most Improved Female: Jessica Rodriguez
Most Improved Male: Shaaf Syed
Outstanding Senior Female: Juliana Riotto
Outstanding Senior Male: Nicholas Bader
Outstanding Master Female: Libby Elias
Outstanding Master Male: Brett Andrus

2019

Outstanding Junior Female: Alexis Jones
Outstanding Junior Male: Larry Mintz, Jacob Senate, and Andrew Smith (three-way tie)
Most Improved Female: Lyn Kajihara
Most Improved Male: Andrew Smith
Outstanding Senior Female: Jessica Jean-Augustine
Outstanding Senior Male: Brian DeGennaro
Outstanding Master Female: Stella Ladao
Outstanding Master Male: Sigfredo Rivera

2018

Outstanding Junior Female: Sophia Fasone
Outstanding Junior Male: Larry Mintz
Most Improved Female: No Award (There were no nominees)
Most Improved Male: Jacob Senate
Outstanding Senior Female: Claire Weche and Melissa Manzer*

*With the vote on outstanding senior female deadlocked, the board voted on presenting two senior female awards with 9 in favor and 1 opposed.
Outstanding Senior Male: James Corsitto
Outstanding Master Female: Stella Ladao
Outstanding Master Male: Mark Ongyberg

2017

Outstanding Junior Female: Ursula Posesenin
Outstanding Junior Male: Adam Bakatsias
Most Improved Female: Taylor Payne
Most Improved Male: Larry Mintz
Outstanding Senior Female: Rhiannon Reynolds
Outstanding Senior Male: John Aguinaldo
Outstanding Master Female: Stella Ladao
Outstanding Master Male: Mark Ongyberg

2016

Outstanding Junior Female: Sosara Ma
Outstanding Junior Male: John Aguinaldo
Most Improved Female: Katie McDevitt
Most Improved Male: David Urovish
Outstanding Senior Female: Heather Farmer
Outstanding Senior Male: Dean Otsuka
Outstanding Master Female: Stella Ladao
Outstanding Master Male: Dan Boland