It matter little in the end, however, as Moon went on to win his second National Championship and set another world record within a period of 12 days, this time at the American Powerlifting Committee (APC) National Powerlifting Championships at the Holiday Inn Express in Athens.
Lifting in the master's men's 45-49 (year-old) 125 kilogram/275.58 pounds equipped class, Moon successfully pressed a new world and personal record of 345 kg / 760.59 pounds. In a meet on June 9, in Peoria, Ill., Moon had locked out 343 kg / 756.18 pounds. He tried 365 kg / 804.68 pounds. on a fourth lift and moved it a little before failing to lock it out.
"Praise God!" said a relieved and somewhat surprised Moon as he got up from the bench after his third lift.
"To tell you the truth, I would have been happy getting my opener (a little over 672 pounds.)," Moon said later.
When asked how he was able to do it given the circumstances Moon said with a laugh, "I don't know. That's crazy."
He said he was just going to open up light to "just get on the board" as he was one of the designated starters for the IronDawgs benchpress team; but was encouraged to go for a personal record after the opener went so smoothly.
Moon was just one of a number of IronDawgs to set world marks Friday, as five of the six designated starters also established new records.
Brenau University strength and conditioning coach Gary Hatfield won two first place medals as he lifted both in the Raw and Equipped divisions in the MM 55-59 year old 100 kg / 220.46 pounds. class. He ended with a raw lift of 185.5 kg / 408.95 pounds. and an equipped lift of 235 kg / 518.08 pounds. He tried to raise that, but missed his third attempt.
"It's OK (the two titles)," said Hatfield, who was relegated to bench-only status from fullpower competition after suffering a quadriceps injury in training. "One more lift and I'd of felt a lot better."
Also joining the world record parade was Mt. Airy's Joey Murphy who pressed 305 kg /672.4 pounds. in taking the master's men's 40-44 year old 125 k Equipped class; as well as both of the IronDawgs' women starters, Ariel Bulmash of the Marietta Area and Dana Tripp of Lawrenceville. Bulmash did 97.5 kg/ 214.95pounds. in winning the 16-17 year old women's 56 kg / 123.46 pound class. Tripp actually broke the record twice before ending up with a 44 kg/97pounds. benchpress in wining the master's women's 40-44 year old 52 kg /115.74 pounds, raw division. The other IronDawgs' starter, Tripp's husband Russ, also won a title with his push of 145 kg / 319.67 pounds in taking the championship of the MM 45-49 75 kg / 165.35 pounds, raw class. Moon got the master's men's best lifter award, while Bulmash got the Women's best lifter plaque. For the 'Dawgs, it was their fourth straight Bench-Only APC National team championship.
"This was impressive," said Team Captain, R. Garry Glenn of Oakwood, the dean of the IronDawg lifters at the age of 59. "When five of your six starters set world records and you also get two Best Lifter Awards, that's strong, I don't care where you're lifting."
Glenn picked up his ninth national title, lifting in the MM 55-59 90 kg / 198.41 pounds, equipped class after weighing in at 88.8 kg / 195.77 pounds. He easily pressed 165 kg 363.76 pounds. on his opener before only getting one white light out of three on his next attempt 177.5 kg / 391.32 pounds. He tried it again and fell just short.
"I thought I had that second lift, but was told I had dipped (had the bar come down) after I started and raised my butt off the bench. I reviewed the tape and didn't see that; but hey, it's a judgment call," Glenn said. "I had one go my way at the GPA World's in Argentina. There is no instant replay in powerlifting. After the meet, I had one of the side judges come up to me and apologize. He said he'd made a mistake, that I had only moved a little and hadn't come off the bench and the lift should have been judged good; so that makes me feel a bit better. I won; the team won; so it's all good in the end; and what can you say about T Moon? The man is a machine. If he starts saying 'I'll be back,' we'll know what's going on."
Moon noted that lifting as a team gives the members a chance to train together to overcome weaknesses.
"It gives us good camaraderie," he said.
Hatfield added that training together pushed people to new heights.
I know that I've trained a lot in the past by myself and I've made more progress in the last few years with this team than I did in the previous 10 or 15."
Both Moon and Glenn are Jefferson High alumni; while Hatfield is out of North Hall.
Also winning for the IronDawgs in benchpress-only were Trey Hague of Augusta, who took the Men's 90 kg raw open with a lift of 167.5 kg / 369.27 pounds; Winterville's Andy Williamson who took the 110 kg / 242.51 pounds MM 45-49 raw championship at 145 kg, and Gainesville's George Bradley at 97.5 kg in the MM 55-59 67.5 kg / 148.81 pounds equipped class.
IronDawg James Houston of Jefferson mixed it up, by entering the bench-only Raw Open class at 100 kg and the push/pull (benchpress/deadlift) class at 90 kg. He won two titles with a bench of 150 kg / 330.69 pounds and a deadlift of 227.5 kg / 501.55 for a total of 377.5 kg / 832.24 pounds. Uwe Thormann of Palm Harbor, Fla., also did both meets and took the titles in the MM 110 kg 55-59 raw classes with his benchpress of 130 kg / 286.6 pounds and his deadlift of 220 kg / 485.01 pounds for a total of 350 kg / 771.61 pounds.
APC chief L.B. Baker and his wife Svetlana of Bogart lifted unattached; and wound up winning three championships each as they entered bench-only, deadlift-only and push/pull. L.B took titles in the Raw MM 75-79 year-old 90 kg weight class with his bench of 100 kg / 220.46 pounds; his deadlift of 160 kg / 352.74 pounds and total of 260 kg / 573.2 pounds. Svetlana Baker won the MW 55-59 52 kg raw weight class with a benchpress of 52.5 kg / 115.74 pounds; a deadlift of 115 kg / 235.53 pounds and a total of 167.5 kg / 369.27 pounds.
The meet continues with Fullpower classes on Saturday and Sunday, starting at 10 a.m. each day. Saturday will feature all women, teens, and sub-masters (35-39 year old) classes; while Sunday will feature Open and Master's Men's divisions.
IronDawg Tim "T" Moon prepares for a lift in a competition.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2013/6/262804