By DANIEL SOLTERO, staff reporter

Thomas Kramer’s biceps, triceps, pectorals and just about every muscle north of his ankles were bulging as he picked up the bar. Kramer battled with the 555-pound weight in the dead lift competition, his veins bulged and his faced turned red, but he wasn’t about to back down from the challenge.

With his back against the wall and the crowd cheering him on his last attempt, he lifted the bar and straightened his back, finishing with clean form and a completion at that mark.

Central Washington University Univ. Recreation held its annual Powerlifting Competition on Sunday April 7.

The competition featured two weight lifting events: bench press and dead lift.

Both the men and women competing were also divided up into two weight classes: light and heavy weight.

Days leading up to the event, Josh Edick, a clinical physiology major and Audra Kelly, an exercise science were both looking forward to this event for a new experience.

“This just seemed like something different,” Edick said, “I don’t really compete in power lifting events but I’m eager to see how I’ll perform.”

The competition is measured by the “Wilks Score,” which
 divides the amount lifted by the competitors weight, which determines the competitor’s score.

Spectators did not miss out on this event, as there was a great amount of people watching the lift off.

Audience members witnessed how much fun the sport is and also caught a glimpse of the competitive edge shared by the powerlifters and the fire they brought to the competition.

Fellow CWU students Jake Enger and Thomas Kramer came in as first-time competitors and were anxious to see what they had to show to the judges.

“ I’ve never done anything like this, so I was really nervous having all eyes on me while I lifted,” Enger said. “But I was also excited and pumped to do what I do and go out and compete.”

As for Kramer, he ended up lifting the most on the dead lift event, reaching 555 pounds. With experience in bodybuilding and his drive to being better everyday, Kramer surprised himself and left the crowd applauding his performance.

“ I was expecting people to lift heavier than me on the dead lift and did not expect me being one of the top guys to lift the heaviest on this event,” Kramer said. “It felt pretty good and just motivates me more to keep doing what I do.”

The competition was a success to say the least, 16 competitors came out to show their strength in front of a live audience. Alyson Peterson won 1st place for dead lift with Audra Kelly and Laura Adams as runner-ups. She also won 1st place for bench press in the lightweight division and Dana Tucker won 1st in the heavyweight division.

Jason Sivich came out 1st for dead lift in the lightweight division and Daniel Herrera came out to be 1st in the heavyweight division. Aaron Harrison won 1st place for bench press.

A lot of the competitors took this event as a first step forward to getting a better idea of where they are and where they want to be. CWU’s next powerlifting event will be in the fall on Sept. 7, 2013 and will be expected to draw a lot more attention and new blood to the competition.