Three Seaholm students pulled off an impressive weightlifting feat late last month.
Junior Hunter Luikart, sophomore Dan Gibbs, and sophomore Keith McAllister all won State Championship power lifting titles in their respective weight classes.
Gibbs competed in the super heavy weight class (308+ pounds) with a weight of 317.2 pounds. Gibbs squatted 402 pounds, benched 259 pounds, and a dead lifted 501 pounds for a grand total of 1162 pounds. Although it is not confirmed, the records indicate that Gibbs’ dead lift and total are both National Records for his age/weight class.
Gibbs believes that all his hard work and consistent work ethic paid off after hearing his name called as state champion.
“It felt great because at that moment,” said Gibbs. I knew that the hours of blood and sweat in the weight room actually meant something, I’d worked hard and achieved something great.”
Gibbs had squat and dead lift goals throughout the entire year, and he set and was able to achieve in his route to a state title.
“In October, I told myself that I’d squat 400 and dead lift 500,” said Gibbs. “Due to the hard work and dedication, I did just that.”
Gibbs lifted four times per week the entire year, including Saturday, which helped him focus on bringing his squat and dead lift up.
McAllister competed in the teen division weighing in at 148 pounds. McAllister got 352 pounds on his dead lift, 150 pounds for bench, and 270 pounds on squat for a grand total of 772 pounds.
McAllister was shocked when his name was called as State Champion.
“It’s pretty exciting,” said McAllister. “For being a pretty small guy compared to the other lifters I was surprised when my name was called.”
McAllister trained every other day and went on a high protein diet leading up to the powerlifting tournament. McAllister also attributes a lot of his success to Gibbs.
“Dan Gibbs helped coach me the entire time,” said McAllister. “He really pushed me to achieve more than I thought was possible to do by myself.”
McAllister’s specific warm-up routine and focus also helped him out in getting ready for each of his lifts throughout the day.
“Most of the time during my lifts I would zone and wouldn’t hear anyone talking or the extremely loud music playing,” said McAllister.
Luikart weighed in at 260 pounds the morning of the tournament. Luikart’s max bench was 285 pounds, his max squat was 420 pounds, and his max dead lift was 440 pounds for a grand total of 1145 pounds.
Luikart originally thought of this tournament as a learning experience.
“I didn’t want to walk into it with high expectations because it was my first competition,” said Luikart. “I just wanted to get my feet wet and was shocked to hear my name called for gold.”
Luikart believes his gifted frame and hours and hours of training was the key to his success at the power lifting tournament.
“Genetics and hard work led to my State Championship,” said Luikart.
All three of these power lifters trained year round under the program that Darryl McIntyre offered.
“I honestly couldn’t ask for a better trainer,” said Luikart. “He was with me every step of the way.”
“Darryl’s help was crucial to my success,” said Gibbs. “I couldn’t have done it without him.”
McAllister believes MacIntyre was the main reason why he entered the competition in the first place.
“He always made sure that I was trying to make myself better and never give up no matter how hard the situation looked,” said McAllister.
McIntyre preached form throughout all of his training sessions that took place throughout the year. He made sure McAllister, Gibbs, and Luikart didn’t max out each training session because he believes that technique is asking for an injury.
“I preach form, said McIntyre. “I’m a stickler when it comes to form.”
Overall, McIntyre was very pleased on how the results turned out between these three Seaholm lifters. He believes his personal tweaks to their lifts, work ethic, and perseverance were the key to three State Championships.
“I was very impressed to say the least,” said McIntyre.
