Power Lifting at the University of Louisiana

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Power Lifting

KILLEEN, Texas — Louisiana student Jennie Hollier established a new record here at last Saturday’s Women’s Powerlifting Nationals.

Hollier, a 22-year-old who is president of UL’s powerlifting team, competed in the 114-pound class in the event.

She set a new Women’s National Junior American mark of 181 pounds in the bench press, while also recording a 300-pound squat and a 300-pound dead lift for a total weight of 781 pounds.

Competitors are judged on total lift in the meet.

Next up for Hollier is the Collegiate Nationals in April in St. Louis, with an eye toward a spot on the U.S. team that will compete at the world championships in Poland later this year.

original link broken

5 second clip of practice session on UL campus

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THE VERMILION

"We were pretty delighted," said power-lifting coach Travis Warner. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette men's power-lifting team was more than delighted to hear their name called as the eighth place finisher.

Out of 46 teams, the Cajuns managed to lift themselves into the Top 10. Louisiana Tech has dominated the national tournament for the past dozen years. Both their men's and women's team have placed first since 1991. However, this year the women from Nicholls State played the role of spoiler, bringing La. Tech dominance to a close.

Although the field was national, the top teams consisted of mostly schools of Texas and Louisiana. Other notable finishers from Louisiana were Louisiana State, finishing third, and UL Monore, who finished 10th. While the Cajuns have no women's team, the lone woman on the team managed to win her weight class. Ashley Sanders' performance was impressive, but it did not go to help the men's overall score.

Leading the way for the men was All-American Scott Miller, who placed second in the 220-pound weight class. "Scott had the winning dead-lift in his hand," said Warner. "He just couldn't lock it out. He must have held it for 20 seconds."

Also placing second was Shea Meloncon in the 123-pound class. "No one had a poor performance," said Warner.

The rest of the story

Grant Alexander
Vermilion Sports Writer

[Turbine]

The Travis Werner Power lifting story

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Originally an email from Jennie Hollier
For those of you who didn't know, I competed at Bench Press Nationals this past weekend on the day of my 24th birthday and I won. So now I'm on the USA Team and I'll be competing at Worlds in December. Last year, Worlds was held in Slevakia and this year it's in the U.S. in Cleveland, Ohio! My two goals in Powerlifting were to go to a World meet and to go to the World Games. Well, I have no chance at going to the World Games anymore, because of my injury (I can't squat and deadlift anymore), but at least I can go to a World meet for the Bench Press. I really just can't wait to wear a USA team uniform and compete against Russia, Germany, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Japan, China, etc.!! Just wanted to let everyone know the good news!

Hope everyone is doing well!

-Jennie Hollier

For more info on RAGIN' CAJUN POWERLIFTING

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Jennie Hollier's collegiate eligibility is up but her work ethic is still going strong. She works out regularly with the current University of Louisiana Power Lifting Team who will be competing at Collegiate Nationals on April 16 & 17 in Baton Rouge.

Jennie Hollier's next meet is expected to be on May 7th at the "Biggest Bench on the River" in New Roads, Louisiana.

Located at the Swamp, it's perhaps the most scenic weightlifting room in America.

[RaisingCajun08]

Looks like Olivier Hall has been renovated. Its a great place to work out. Nothing fancy but everything you need.

[Turbine]

On Sept. 17 at the American Bench Nationals in St. Louis, MO, Jennie Hollier Female Powerlifter of the USAPL (a Drug-Tested federation) broke the American Bench Press by benching 248 lbs. in the 114 lbs. weight class. LINK

Their website just crashed but it should be back up later today.

RaginPagin.com has been tracking Jennie Hollier's weighlifting career since we caught her working out at the Swamp in Jan. 2003 LINK

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USAPL AMERICAN RECORD HOLDER Name: Jennie Hollier Age: 25 Division: Open Height: 5’0 Hometown: Lafayette, Louisiana Weight Class: 114 lbs./ 52 kg. How did you get into weight training? I started lifting weights when I was 8 years old. My family had some equipment in one of the rooms in the house and my older brother and dad would work out. I looked up to my brother and thought whatever he did was the cool thing to do. When no one was around, I would go into that room and do whatever they were doing; I would strain just like they would to get as many reps as possible. I would just play with the basic dumbbells though. I continued to do that by myself and I started to build muscles. My brother would get me to flex for all of his friends in the neighborhood, so of course I continued to workout in order to continue to be cool. Have you participated in any other sports? It wasn't until I was in Seventh Grade at "Cathedral-Carmel Elementary" (Lafayette, LA) that I realized working out and building muscles was a good thing. I wanted to be faster in Track, so I figured out ways to train the muscles that I used in track with the one dumbbell and one curl bar that I had. I ran Track from 5th grade through my Sophomore year of high school. I was on the Competition Cheerleading squad in High School, I took Karate for about 5 months, I was on the Inline Speed Skating team, I took Tumbling for about 4 months, Basketball (I was HORRIBLE), and I played a lot of Volleyball during P.E. (we didn't have a Team though). Do you have a favorite body part to train? I like training my abs and legs. I know that sounds funny, because I compete on the USAPL (USA Powerlifting) Bench Press World Team, so most people would assume that I like training my upper body more. I injured my knee and that's what led me to specialize in the Bench Press. My favorite event in Powerlifting, out of the Squat/Bench Press/Deadlift, was actually the Squat. Who has been a great influence to you? Travis Werner, the coach of the University of Louisiana Powerlifting Team, re-introduced me to the sport when I got into the College level and he basically taught me to be the competitor that I am today. He's dedicated to the sport and very much a perfectionist when it comes to having flawless form, which is important in Powerlifting. He pushed me to make my body lift to it's maximum potential. Travis also taught me about what kind of training I needed to do, nutrition, equipment, and technique. Eventually, I was able to take what I had learned from him and branched off on my own to start training new lifters that would join the team. Soon after that, I continued to learn more based on my own experiences. I basically went from a seed in the ground to a tree with blooms, thanks to him. I'm lucky to have had his guidence when I was starting out. The rest of the story Andre Perkins lasportsdevelopment.com

[JMV JustMyView]

Ms. Hollier is a very rounded women...Good luck in the future...

[Jennie Hollier]

Thank you for your comment. My next meet is on Sept. 2, 2006 in Charlotte, North Carolina (USAPL Bench Press Nationals). We'll see if I can set that record a little higher .

[RaginFan2]

Thank you for your comment. My next meet is on Sept. 2, 2006 in Charlotte, North Carolina (USAPL Bench Press Nationals). We'll see if I can set that record a little higher .

Best of luck to you! I'm sure you will do it!