March 13 1999 saw a group of men and women descend upon the quiet and unsespecting town of Moose Jaw Sask. These lifters came with determined purpose and a great attitude.

Although some of our top lifters where not able to attend this years championships there was still some great lifting and some good battles for national chamionship and especially for best lifter awards.

In the women's division we saw some great lifting-

Lindsey Schultz set a teen world record in the squat with a good lift of 147.5 at 90kg.

Diane Richard pushed some good weight in the 55 kg class with a nice 100 kg deadlift (check out the image Diane Richard)

Patsy Wollner took the best lifter ward in the womens division and set a great nr deadlift at 166.

In the mens there were some new faces and some great prospects for the future of drug free lifting here in Canada.

Dan Dobyns a guest lifter put on a fine show with some great lifts, set 2 Junior North American Records and ended with a big total of 655 at 82.5. I hear he has been training in Sask. recently.

Andrew Young, Brett Montague and Tyler Siwak all posted national records with some good lifitng and 4th attemps.

Joel Thiessen did not have one of his best days but won the junior 125kg with a 285 deadlift and fine 702.5 total.

Brad Giffen also shows a great future and lifted quite conservitively in the junior 145's. He has a lot in reserve and will be a force in the future.

Robert O'Smith in the Master 55-59 145 class did his usual fine lifting and pushed some great weight although did not break his own world records. He always seems to liven up the meet with his quick wit and friendly personality.

Master lifter Brian Montague pulled a fine 275 in the 100kg calss and finished with a good total of 660.

Master John Braun set a national record squat of 260 and againg demonstrated that he is one of the finest lifters and gentlemen in the sport. He won the Master best lifter award. Great job John!

Wayne Cormier had to overcome some adversity early in the squats but finished with a great total of 692.5@100. He was also crowned best lifter. Dean Patrow (Myself) and Dan Saberlack locked horns in the SHW division and had a great battle that came down to the final deadlifts. We choose to lift with only knee wraps and belts and I found that a rewarding experience even though it did cost me my chance to break Paul Wrenns Squat record. Dan is going to be a great lifter here in Canada and his bench is already at 227.5 and he alomst completed 235. His squat and deadlift have been progressing very well and added 40 kg to his total sense the Sask, Championshps in January. I suspect that next year there will be a new national champion in this division. Keep going Dan!!

The meet was run very well and all the helpers and spoters did an excellent job. There was a fine Awards Banquet afterward which was a great idea as we had time to compare notes with each other and ejoy a great meal together. I was amazed at how quickley the baffett was devoured! We do need to take these opportunites to build relatioships and communicate as to our future. It will keep our sport and organization strong.

Thanks to Mark Freedman for scanning the images for me. Thanks to the meet promoters and all who helped and hope to have an even bigger and better meet next year as we all promote our sport in the coming millenium.

I could not see all the lifting with the warmups and competing as well so to those lifts I missed commenting on I am sorry, if any of you have comments on the meet please email me and I will include your thoughts.
Dean Patrow