Topic: News & Video: Maegan Snodgrass Sets the Bar High

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Maegan Snodgrass Sets the Bar High
By Frances Johnson

Maegan Snodgrass, 17, is a gymnast and weight lifter. She is ranked eighth in the U.S. for female weight lifters. Snodgrass recently took part in the Junior Pan American Championships in Cali, Colombia. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune )  
 
Moving heavy furniture is never a problem at the Snodgrass house in South Jordan, thanks to 17-year-old Maegan.

Maegan, a Bingham High School junior, is ranked eighth among American female weight lifters. After winning the Junior National Championships in Orlando, Fla., earlier this month, she was set for the Junior Pan American Championships in Cali, Colombia, which started Tuesday.

"She's always been strong," said Maegan's dad, Cory Snodgrass. "Especially her upper body."

Maegan also competes as a Level 10 gymnast with Olympus Gymnastics, located at 9683 S. 500 West in Sandy. Her gymnastics coach is the one who first turned her on to weight lifting.

Maegan is best known for a move called the "snatch," in which the weights are brought from the ground directly over the lifter's head in one clean motion. Maegan's best in the event is 76 kilos, or 168 pounds, only 3 pounds off the Schoolage American Record. In the second maneuver, known as the "clean and jerk," the bar is lifted first to the chest and then jerked up above the lifter's head. Maegan's best in that is 86 kilos, or 190 pounds.

Though she is struggling with an injured wrist and a stress fracture in her right leg, both gymnastics injuries, she hopes to break both those records at the Junior Pan American competition.

"I want to go and do my best," Maegan said. "It would be nice to make some new personal records while I'm there, but since I've been hurt it's hard to know. But I don't see the point of going and not doing your best."

According to her father, that is Maegan's philosophy about life. Besides sports competitions, Maegan is also an excellent student, he said, carrying a 3.8 grade-point average. Her strong work ethic helps her succeed at everything she tries.

"Her dedication level, it's all hers," Cory Snodgrass said. "No one is pushing her. She wants to be here, and she enjoys what she's doing."

Maegan trains with her strength coach, Kim Goss, three times a week for about an hour, in addition to her gymnastics training five days a week. Goss said he keeps the workouts "hard, heavy and fast." On a recent evening at the gym, Maegan worked more on form than weight. But the weight is getting easier and easier to handle.

"I'm getting stronger," she said to Goss after a successful clean and jerk. "That's not that heavy anymore."

And though knee, elbow and back injuries are common, Maegan has never sustained an injury in weight lifting. She said gymnastics helps her lifting, and vice versa. Perfecting the timing between her squats and lifts has also helped keep Maegan injury-free. And mental strength is paramount.

"Everything I do I just have to tell myself, 'OK, you can do this. It's not that heavy,' " Maegan said.

In competition, each lifter gets three attempts at each lift, adding weight each time. In the Junior Nationals, Maegan made all of her six attempts. Adrenaline also keeps her from getting tired in competition, she said.

One common misconception about weight lifting is that it depends solely on upper body strength, so girls who lift become more masculine. In reality, lifting depends more on back and leg strength, Maegan said. She easily shrugs off the misconception that weight lifting is a masculine thing to do.

"As long as I have fun doing it, I don't care what other people say," she said.

Outside of the gym, Maegan has a pretty strong girly side, giddily showing off her new hair highlights.

"I went and bought my first skirt a couple weeks ago," she said. "I go shopping with my friends. I do the girly stuff."

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

Here is a video of Maegan from the 2006 National Junior Championships. The first clip is Maegan's clean and jerk of 86kgs in the 63kg class. The clip that follows right after it is a side by side comparison of the same lift at quarter speed from normal and a mirror/reverse angle.

Contact WeightliftingExchange@gmail.com to purchase competition videos and technique analysis services partially demonstrated in this small, compressed sample.

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