2003 NATIONAL BENCH PRESS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Newark, NJ                                           August 2003

BENCH:    314.5lbs.   

MEET DESCRIPTION:

This years National Bench Press Championships had a rocky start. In the middle of July a little over a month from the competition Jen suffered a terrible injury. While wakeboarding she landed a huge jump over the wake and destroyed her knee. If you remember correctly two years ago she broke her ankle doing the same thing. I guess if you play hard you risk the big injuries. A MRI showed that she had ACL, MCL, and medial and lateral meniscus tears. A trip to the Orthopedist, the next day, and the worst fear was realized. Jen would need a total knee reconstruction with a cadaver ligament. The problem now became that Nationals was only a month away. She couldn’t bend her knee more than 20 degrees, making it difficult to put her foot on the floor and leg drive impossible. The risk of drug testing at Nationals made pain medicine, other than Motrin, and surgery out of the question. The decision was made to do the knee surgery the day after Nationals to get her ready for Worlds. In addition, aggressive physical therapy was needed to get her range of motion back to at least 90 degrees. One other problem is that she couldn’t even stand without a knee brace. 

One good thing about lack of leg training is that you lose some weight. Jen made the 132lb weight class easily, weighing only 130 pounds at weigh-in. The problem is when you are not able to train your legs heavy you also lose upper body strength. With only one month of missed leg training we hoped that her base strength could still carry her. The physical therapy got her range of motion to greater then 90 degrees. She still had no leg drive and could not stand or walk without the ACL knee brace. This became a problem because the knee brace was not legal to lift in, so the decision was made to try to use a knee wrap. The good thing was that because of Jen’s pain tolerance she did not take any pain medication, just a lot of ice treatments. 

After weigh-ins, Jen was in a weight class alone. Her two main rivals over the past 5 years were not in the 132lb class. Bettina Altizer, who had won the Bench Nationals in 1999 and 2000, was concentrating on the upcoming Masters Powerlifting Worlds where she holds all the current records. She was there to referee and support the USAPL but not to lift. Jill Darling, Bench Nationals runner-up the last three years as well as the bronze medalist in the 2001 Bench Worlds, dropped to the 123lb weight class. She looked great at the 123’s and easily won the National Title with well over double bodyweight benches and a shot at the world record. Jen then decided to compete against the record books instead. 

Warm-ups went well and the knee wrap seemed to be enough to get her to the platform and back. This was as exciting a Bench Nationals as we have been to, with 5 women taking attempts of over 300lbs. and the Discovery Channel covering the meet as well. They took some interest in Jen during warm-ups and it continued as she started to assault the record books. Her first attempt at 275lbs. was very light but a good warm-up to get used to the knee wrap and lack of leg drive. After hobbling up to the bench, it was easy after that and 275 flew up. 

Jen said she felt great and the knee was a non-issue. She decided to go right after the World Record on her second attempt. She called for 303lbs., which was a full 5 pounds over the record. That meant the first 300 plus bench attempt at the Nationals was to be taken buy a 130lb female, and the crowd responded. As Jen approached the bench, she seemed workmen like. It was somewhat astonishing how easy a new World Record can look, but this looked like nothing more than a warm-up weight. When she came off the platform she immediately said, “315, let’s put some weight on the record.” 315 it was, well 314.5 when you convert from kilos. This was to be the biggest female bench outside of the super-heavywieght class in USA Powerlifting history.  

With 315lbs. on the bar the announcer had the crowd going crazy. You could now see that Jen was getting excited too. She was pacing as best she could, talking it up with some of the other women and getting some psych from World Champ Ralph Young who was helping us out. Up to the platform, knee wrap in place, down onto the bench, a big yell to get fired up, a perfect hand-off from Eric Curry and it was on. It looked easy on the way down, and then after a great pause and explosion 315lbs. went straight back to the top. She jumped up and was obviously excited about the lift. The first person to congratulate her was Bettina Altizer and then a run and jump into my arms. I don’t think she was feeling the injured knee at all. Jen decided to take a forth attempt at 2.5 times bodyweight at 325lbs. but after having to follow herself it was just too much.  

After having broken the World Record twice and winning best female lifter, Jen was able to enjoy some time with friends and family. The more we go to competitions the more friends we end up with. You barely have enough time to see them all. We would like to thank them all for their friendship and continued support. As always a special thanks goes to Jen's sponsors, Inzer and Sportpharma/Promax, who's continued support helps make it all possible. 

One last thing from Jen, she told Hung Pham (114lb. men’s champ) and Peter Wong (123lb. men’s champ) at last years World’s that she was coming after them. She got Hung 314 to 308 and says, she’s coming after you next Peter, who did 330.

Special Thanks to Richard Weed and Carol Latta Chromosome Donors

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