Gold medal lifts for siblings

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS: The contestants at the North Island Bench Press Championships in Kaikohe on Saturday. DEBBIE BEADLE

Two siblings from Kaitaia were among the standout performers at the the North Island Bench Press Championships in Kaikohe last Saturday.

Tony Urlich won gold in the men's equipped 93kg class with a lift of 125kg, while sister Jeanette won gold in women's equipped 72kg class with a personal best lift of 47.5kg. The pair, who train out of the gym in a garage at the back of Tony's house in Lake Ohia, were part of a trio representing Kaitaia at the event, the other being Mark Osborne.

The event took place at The Mill Gym and attracted competitors from the Waikato and Auckland as well as a relatively strong Northland contingent, and saw six New Zealand and four Northland records broken. The top placegetters were as follows.

WOMEN. Raw/unequipped, 57kg class: Amanda Parish ( guest lifter Auckland) benching 50kg, 1; 63kg class: Marie Price (Kerikeri) 50kg, 1; 72kg: Delwyn Evans (Waikato) 67.5kg 1, Janne Barrett (Whangarei) 51kg (NZ master 60+ record), 2; 84kg+ class: Katrina Barrett ( Whangarei) 85kg. 1, Lorraine Wilson (Kaikohe) 55kg (Northland master 50+ record) 2.

Equipped, 52kg class: Trish Muldrock (Kaikohe) 71kg (NZ and Northland equipped master 60+ records), 1; 57kg class: Margaret Lindsay (Whangarei) 62.5kg (PB, e.g. personal best) 1; 72kg class: Jeanette Urlich (Kaitaia) 47.5kg (PB).

MEN. Raw unequipped, 74kg class: Kavwa Sichone ( Waikato) 140kg, 1, Brian Froggatt ( Dargaville) 136kg ( NZ and

Saturday. Northland master 50+ record), 2; 83kg class: Hugh McKechnie (Kerikeri) 95kg, 1; 105kg class: John Dellow (Ruakaka) 125kg (NZ and Northland master 70+ records), 1; 120kg class: Hosea Taani (Auckland) 207.5kg (NZ open record) 1, Paul Gattsche (Auckland) 207.5kg (NZ master 40+ record) 2; 120+ kg class: Jason Cunningham- Gerbich ( Auckland) 220kg, 1, Joseph Whittaker ( Whangarei) 212.5kg, 2, Mark Osborne (Kaitaia) 185kg, 3.

Equipped, 93kg class: Tony Urlich (Kaitaia) 125kg, 1; 105kg class: Josh Edmonds (Kaikohe) 132.5kg, 1.

As well, best lifter awards were presented in the following categories. Junior, men: J Edmonds 70.04 points; Master, women: T Muldrock 81.79 points, 1, D Evans 66.31, 2, M Lindsay 64.59, 3, men: Paul Gattsche 119.29, 1, J Cunningham-Gerbich 118.4, 2, M Osborne 102.50, 3. Open, women: K Barrett 68.92, 1, A Parish 58.51, 2, men: H Taani 122.63, 1, J Whittaker 120.30, 2, Kavwa Sichone 107.05, 3.

All Northlanders who competed at the Northland and North Island bench- press champs qualified for the 2015 New Zealand Bench Press Championships in Dunedin on September 26.

In other news, several of the above lifters also took part in the 2015 New Zealand Equipped Powerlifting Championships hosted by the Powerhouse Gym in Wellington from August 8-9. Results were as follows.

WOMEN. 52kg class master 3: T Muldrock 1st place, including squat 97.5kg, benchpress 70.5kg ( NZ and Northland master record) and deadlift 130.5kg (NZ master record) for a total of 291kg, and named best lifter in the master 3 Class; 57kg class master 2: M Lindsay 1st, squat 85kg ( Northland master record), bench press 62.5kg and deadlift 100kg for a 247.5kg total. MEN. 105kg class sub junior: J Edmonds (Kaikohe) 1st, squat 155kg, benchpress 135kg (Northland sub-junior record) and deadlift 220kg ( Northland sub junior record) for a 510kg total (thus a Northland sub junior record) and earning Edmonds the title of best lifter in the sub junior class.