Save The Date The New York State Championships will return!
We hope you'll join us again in Binghamton, NY on the weekend of September 28-29, 2024. Mark your calendars and we'll see you there next year!
Wow! That was an outstanding weekend of weightlifting that just went down in Binghamton, NY. I hope you enjoyed every second of this year’s New York State Championships. Now that the chalk dust has been vacuumed up, the barbells and plates have been put away, and we’ve all had a little bit of time to recover; I wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who made our event a success.
From the meet director, Joe Rodriguez: “ A great deal of work went into putting this event on. A big thank you to everyone who helped from loading equipment for transport, to building platforms, to setting up / breaking down, right to transportation of the equipment back to their destination. We are grateful for all of the clubs who loaned equipment for the event. We are extremely appreciative of all the help in officiating, loading and any other work needed to pull off this huge event. I hope to see you all at upcoming competitions throughout the state and again at next year's championships!”
Athletes & Coaches:
Thank you to all the athletes and coaches who supported the State Championships. It was a lot of fun watching (or being in the middle of!) all the excitement around the speaker’s table as coaches made attempt changes. It was wonderful to see coaches bring so many athletes and work hard guiding them during each session.
Athletes competing this past weekend put on one heck of a show! So many incredible snatches and clean and jerks were performed across both days, setting new personal records, breaking state or state meet records, and earning podium placements. Thank you to all the athletes who gave it their all for three white lights...and sometimes two.
If you want to relive those moments, remember that the livestreams can be viewed anytime by clicking here. Thank you, again, for your support of this event.
Volunteers: The volunteers who worked at the meet can’t be thanked enough. Volunteers are the lifeblood of any competition and the individuals who donated their time and energy last weekend are truly amazing.
Thank you to our Meet Director, Joe Rodriguez. Joe and I started planning this event in October 2022 and had countless planning meetings in the months leading to the meet. Joe was responsible for bringing the equipment for the competition platform along with several warm-up room plate sets and the majority of the barbells. He built the podium by hand and supplied the audio system. We also cannot forget all the wood needed for the warm-up and competition platforms. Over 37 pieces of wood totaling 2,500 pounds (~1,136 kilos because we’re all weightlifters here). If that wasn’t enough, Joe sat in the referee’s chair, spoke on the microphone leading sessions, and coached his own athletes to podium placements. Joe’s contribution was immense and we’re greatly appreciative of his effort.
Thank you to our Competition Secretaries, Dena Smith & Jeff Scott, who worked tirelessly to keep the event running smoothly, calculating scores, and filing paperwork. Thank you to our Technical Officials who worked the weigh-ins, performed speaker duties, and refereed sessions.
Weigh-In Officials: Dena Smith, Elissa Smith, Michelle Woogen, Sayvanna SFabian, Joelle Von Bischoffshausen, Alyssa Garrison, Andi Lange, James McDermott, Dan Boland, Frank Mintz, Jeff Scott, Joe Rodriguez, and Jean Raymond Fakhoury.
Speakers: James McDermott, Jerry Dunne, Chris Smith, and Joe Rodriguez.
Referees: Brett Andrus, Joe Rodriguez, Dan Boland, Frank Mintz, James McDermott, Jean Raymond Fakhoury, Jerry Dunne, Joelle Von Bischoffshausen, Sioban Sedney, Michelle Woogen, Vicki Ferreira, Erica Caso, and Chris Smith.
Loaders, the true heroes of the meet: Lucas Workman, Erica Caso, Kyle Stillwell, Staci Stadler, Sayvanna SFabian, Andi Lange, Jackie Cash, Kim McLain, and Brenna Kenney.
Set-Up & Breakdown:How do the platforms get built? Who made all the gift bags? Who puts the equipment away? A lot of work goes into set up and break down. Thank you so much to the following individuals for helping with both: Joe Rodriguez, James McDermott, Alyssa Garrison, Erica Caso, Lucas Workman, Sam Axten, Sayvanna SFabian, Jerry Dunne, Jeff Scott, Dan Boland, Chris Smith, Dena Smith, Linda Reesman, Thomas Tedesco, Dan Boland, Steven Boerner, Sam Axten, Frank Meier, Traci Meier, Claire Ryan Hagar, Andi Lange, Kim McLain, and Brandi Eustice.
Thank you to our WSO board members who contributed greatly to this event. Jerry Dunne, Alyssa Garrison, Sara Soto, Chris Smith, Frank Mintz, Joe Rodriguez, Erica Caso, Frank Ford, and yours truly. All endured meetings consisting of logistical planning, discussion, and debate along with countless emails across the last year immediately following the 2022 event!
Livestream: Thank you to Michael Rodriguez along with his father Joe who backed him up for a couple of sessions, for running the livestream station. Michael is responsible for all the cool graphics you see displaying replays and sponsor information on the stream. His contribution made it possible for friends and family members to tune into the event all day and we’re grateful to have had him be a part of this event. National Anthem: Thank you to Ariel Ofri-Akman for singing the National Anthem to kick off both days and helping with odds and ends throughout the competition including handing out medals at the award ceremonies. Again, every one of these individuals listed above cannot be thanked enough for their contributions toward making this year’s event truly special. You’ll notice that many of them wore multiple hats performing many duties, some even lifted in the competition. It goes without saying how much love they all have for our sport and we’re so grateful to have them be a part of the New York Weightlifting Community.
- James McDermott
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