26
November
2012
|
14:18 PM
America/Chicago

Powerlifting Team Places Second at World Championship

Courtesy of John Hudson, Club Powerlifting Coach

For the second consecutive year, UHD's club powerlifting team finished second at the WABDL World Championships, finishing with 288 out of a possible 300 points and just 4 points behind the World Champions -Team Hawaii.

UHD's second-place finish is the highest a collegiate team has placed at the WABDL World Championships. UHD lifters battled 24 other very strong teams, including the national teams of Brazil and Finland, all-star teams representing Maine, Colorado, Texas, Nevada, Illinois, Hawaii, Wisconsin, Utah, a large number of teams representing commercial gyms, as well as three other collegiate squads. Approximately 670 lifters participated in this year's meet.

The 21 UHD lifters won a total of 19 individual World Championships, set 27 new Texas State Records, 17 new National Records, 4 new World Records, and and won 2 coveted "Best Lifter" awards.

What made UHD's performance especially impressive is that 17 of the 21 participating lifters are freshmen. Coach Hudson's intensive recruiting efforts brought 19 outstanding student-athletes to UHD this fall, with more than half earning Academic Merit Scholarships. The success of this year's freshman class will certainly be a boost to next year's recruiting.

Coach Hudson was extremely proud of the performance and conduct of our UHD lifters at the event, and he received many positive comments about the team's strength and sportsmanship. "UHD lifters are outstanding ambassadors for the University of Houston-Downtown wherever they compete," he said.

The team will now begin preparations for the national collegiate championships which will take place during the spring semester. The team has won five consecutive WABDL National Collegiate Championships, and will be looking to add a USAPL National Collegiate Championship to the trophy case in 2013.