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I am pleased to announce that Kyle Milnes will direct the inaugural Southeast RAW Showdown in Rochester, MN on April 23, 2016. As soon as the entry form is available, it will be posted here. Please spread the word about this meet since it is only 10 weeks away. Two other meets have also officially been approved and sanctioned. The 8th annual Twin Ports Raw Open is scheduled for June 11 in Duluth and the 2nd annual Noonan Barbell Raw Open occurs on October 22 in Alexandria, MN. Please see the Coming Events section for a list of all USA Powerlifting meets in Minnesota.

This past weekend, 9 lifters from MN traveled to Greenfield, WI (Milwaukee area) to compete in the USA Powerlifting Wisconsin State Open which had over 200 lifters from 7 states (WI, MN, IL, IN, MI, OH, NY) competing on 4 platforms. The lifters from MN were: Scott Sullivan, Nick Gagnon, Eric Lohman, Justin Grensing, David Dellanave, Nick Viegut, Garrison Gless, Kyle Kampschroer, and Harrison Speltz. All competed in the men’s raw open division. Notable performances include Scott Sullivan’s 470 Wilks score which earned him first place (out of 46 lifters) and Nick Gagnon’s 453 Wilks score which was strong enough to earn third place. When the field is 46 lifters deep, gold and bronze medal performances are about as good as it gets. For those unfamiliar with the Wilks score, it is simply a method by which to compare performances of lifters of different bodyweights. For more information about the Wilks score, see the “Formulas and Coefficients” section on the MN USA Powerlifting website. Please see the WI State Open meet results for details of everyone’s performance. Congratulations to all who competed.

On the other end of the state, three MN referees (Angela Simons, Wade Kish, and Joe Warpeha) spent the day in Osceola, WI judging at a WI High School Powerlifting Association (WHSPA) Region 1 meet. This high school meet had over 200 lifters competing on 5 platforms. Anyone who has never been to a WI high school meet before should see one. The performances, sportsmanship, and atmosphere at these high school events are unlike anything else in our sport and it is truly inspiring to watch these boys and girls compete. Imagine a high school gymnasium full to capacity with lifters and spectators from several different high schools in the region (all wearing their school colors) and you can start to get an idea of what a high school powerlifting meet is like in Wisconsin. Equally impressive is the machine-like precision with which these events are run from the setup, to the competition itself, to the breakdown. None of it is possible without an army of dedicated people.

USA Powerlifting of Minnesota is pleased to announce that MN will be hosting its first-ever USA Powerlifting coaching course on April 16. Information can be found on the Coaching Course page.

Information/resources have been added to the Drug Testing section of the USA Powerlifting of Minnesota website. With the drug test failures of a few prominent USA Powerlifting athletes in 2015, this is probably a good time to reiterate three important things: 1) every athlete is responsible for what he or she puts into his or her body, 2) any USA Powerlifting member can be tested anytime and anywhere for any reason, and 3) some nutritional supplements, preworkout products, and prescription and over-the-counter medications contain banned substances. For information on banned substances and drug testing, please visit the Drug Testing section of the USA Powerlifting of Minnesota website.