SAN ANGELO, Texas — Angelo State University announced six of its Ram Powerlifting Club members finished in the top five in their respective contests, including two gold medalists, at the U.S.A. Powerlifting Collegiate Cup competition earlier this month in San Antonio.
ASU powerlifters were among 290 students who competed at the Collegiate Cup, representing universities in Texas and several other states.
Gabriel Aguirre of Del Rio won the gold medal in the 275-pound weight class of the men's collegiate equipped contest, and Natalie Walker of Greenville won the gold medal in the 114-pound weight class of the women's collegiate raw contest to bring home titles.
Other top ASU finishers, by category and weight class, were:
- Kat Suebsene of San Marcos: third place, women's collegiate raw, 198 pounds
- Emily Ramos of Poteet: fourth place, women's collegiate raw, 165 pounds
- Kailee Timmons of Childress: fourth place, women's collegiate raw, 123 pounds
- Kylie Bliton of Killeen: fifth place, women's collegiate raw, 181 pounds
Walker, Ramos, Timmons and Bliton also scored high enough to qualify for the 2023 U.S.A. Powerlifting Collegiate National Meet in April 2023 in Arlington.
Equipped contests allow competitors to wear special clothing, including bench shirts, squat suits and knee wraps, to allow them to lift heavier weights. Raw contests are conducted without any special clothing. Lifters complete three attempts each at squat, bench press and deadlift.
The qualifying total is the sum of the highest weight lifted in each of the three disciplines.
Johnson Awoyele of Katy, Jeremiah Fultz of Cedar Hill, Natali Garza of Crane, Daniel Medina of Ballinger, Kira Palmer of San Augustine and Vince Reodica of San Angelo also competed for ASU.
Fultz, Garza and Medina also scored high enough to qualify for the collegiate national meet.
"I am very proud of all of the members of Ram Powerlifting," Dr. Adam Parker, professor of kinesiology and club faculty sponsor, said. "They had a great fall season and are sending seven members to compete at nationals. They are excellent representatives of Angelo State, and we are looking forward to an outstanding spring season and hopefully bringing home more national titles."
ASU club sports teams are registered student organizations directed and funded by the Office of Student Life and overseen by the Club Sports Council.
