Topic: News: Fishing Lures Erin Okonek-Karshner to Ilwaco

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Fishing Lures World Class Weightlifter Erin Okonek-Karshner to Ilwaco

CHINOOK - A neck injury forced Erin (Okonek) Karshner to give up her career as a world-class weight lifter. Erin, who graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles in 2000, finished fifth in the Pan American Games in 2004 in her specialties, the clean and jerk and the snatch lifts. Her greatest accomplishment was finishing 10th at the World Championships in November 2005.

It was there in Doha, Qatar that Erin realized she had a serious neck injury, however. "They almost made me quit competing I was in so much pain," Erin explains. "I knew something was wrong with my neck, but I was competing with the best in the world so I figured I'd go for it."

Upon returning she was diagnosed with a severe herniated disk in her neck and surgery was performed immediately. The doctors told her that continuing to lift heavy weights was too dangerous because of the compressed disk, so after five years of competitive weight lifting she was forced to retire. At one time Erin's ratio of weight lifted (260 pounds) to body weight (152 pounds) was No. 1 among all female lifters in the U.S.

Erin and her dad often had fished for salmon at Buoy 10 and in the Pacific over the years and when she and husband Jeff Karshner married on July 29 of this year they decided to make their home in Chinook in a house that Jeff is renovating. Jeff does drywall and is seeking his contractor's license and Erin would ultimately like to teach grade school in the area.

Erin didn't pick up a weight until 1996, her senior year in high school in Huntington Beach, Calif. She grew up in Bellingham and snow-skiing was her early passion as Erin won several slalom events on Mount Baker as a 12-year-old. Her father was then transferred to southern California and Erin's parents divorced about the same time.

While competing as a hurdler in high school she decided to do some weight training between seasons to improve her times. "Stephanie Ciarelli taught me the lifts and I competed in some amateur events, but lifting was a hobby," Erin said. "My senior year at UCLA I met Mike Burgner and the next thing I knew I was hooked. Lifting just clicked for me and right away it dictated 100 percent of my life."

"I lifted only the bar (weighing 45 pounds) for a month before adding any weight to make sure I was using the proper techniques. I loved the discipline of the sport and I'm a very competitive person."

Erin would travel once a week to San Diego where Burgner lived and he would evaluate her progress and give her the next week's training regiment. "I lifted twice a day, six days a week and I was lucky because the Olympic track and field team and the UCLA football team also worked out in the same facility," Erin said. "At first I was intimidated, but the Olympic Trials were coming up and I wanted to compete in Sydney (Australia)."

Unfortunately the gold and bronze winners in Erin's lifts were women from the U.S. so she did not make the Olympic team. However, after she earned a degree in economics and computer science from UCLA she was invited to Colorado Springs to train with the squad. Her mom lived with her and Erin says both parents have been great support for her, traveling as far away as Wales, Qatar and Louisiana to root for their daughter.

Another of Erin's loves is horses and to augment her income she worked at a dude ranch, was a substitute teacher and worked at Starbucks. "The Olympic Committee gave me a scholarship to get my elementary education teaching certificate in Colorado," she said.

Following Erin's fifth place finish in the Pan Am Games she was "locked in" for the World Games the following year. "I was so focused that it was almost scary. Despite the excruciating pain in my neck I was able to do my best lifts ever," she explains. "I had matured with the mental part of being an athlete and my performances went through the roof after I'd reached a four-year plateau."

Now the newlywed Erin enjoys riding ATVs, has a horse that "wastes an incredible amount of hay," helps Jeff complete work on their house in Chinook, and will snowboard in the winter. Erin enjoys her dog and bunny and family is very important to her as both of her parents have returned to live in Washington, as well. She still works out three times a week at Anybody's Fitness Center in Ilwaco, but doesn't lift nearly as much weight as before her life-changing injury.

After surgery Dec. 15 she was finishing her student teaching and says, "My whole life I had been living for myself as an athlete. People were constantly doing things to support me and my success. Suddenly my lifting career was taken away, but I realized now I was living for these kids in my class and for their success." Erin adds, "It was a gift from God."

Now she is ready for the next chapter in her life, and the upcoming Buoy 10 salmon fishing season with her dad, of course.