The unequipped powerlifting varsity is now over, and Oxford were left beaten but not defeated.
Despite having formed only nine months ago, it was impressive to see the new OUPLC compete so competitively against a such a well established club. Next year, it will be interesting to see the levels Oxford and Cambridge teams can achieve in powerlifting.
Oxford's Luke Pike crowned first place with a monstrous deadlift of 282.5kg, 215kg squat and 145kg bench press, beating Dave Chapman with equally impressive total of 595kg by one Wilks point.
Third place was taken by Ethan Eade, who benched a massive 165kg and closely followed by OUPLC club's president Daniele Selmi with a stunning 250kg deadlift, and a total of 517.5kg, who fell just short of the third place by 3 Wilks. He will be remembered most vividly from his dazzling display of pre-lift psych-up routine.
Cambridge came back with Andrew Lee to take the fifth place. His squat was an formidable 205kg.
Matt Llewlyn-Jones took sixth place, totalling 522.5kg despite having had his finals just the day before. Hopefully Matty will unleash his full fury in the next Varsity match.
Tom James then took seventh place with a solid 210kg pull and Evren Cubkgil came eighth with good sets of 140kg squat, 110kg bench and 170kg deadlift.
For non-scoring athletes, Christ Adler took the top spot by benching an impressive 125kg, and totalling 455kg overall. Alexander Forte followed closely with a 180kg squat and 215kg pull. Dan Adler, who had a hip injury on the day, obtained a delicious 135kg bench press.
The level of performance this year was frankly astounding for both teams. We would like to thank Cambridge for hosting the Varsity this year, especially the Cambridge captain Andrew Lee organising the event. We also like to thank Sam Hazbun our team manager for being the man and legend that you are. It will be hard to beat the level of professionalism in the coming Varsity match in Oxford.
Until then, we will get stronger.
Full Results here.
