Topic: News: Cory Callahan and Chris Smith Do well at '08 USA National Jrs

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Cory Callahan and Chris Smith Do well at '08 USA National Jr Champs
Callahan takes 6th, Smith 9th
By Jeff Wald

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Northfield Raider Olympic-style weightlifters Cory Callahan and Chris Smith placed sixth and ninth, respectively in the National Junior Weightlifting Championships (age 20 and under).

The two competed as part of Team Minnesota, which placed sixth out of eight teams at the event in Chattanooga, Tenn., last weekend. Smith finished in ninth place individually out of 11 lifters in his class, while Callahan placed sixth overall in a class of seven lifters.

"They competed against a field where a number of the lifters qualified for the World Team for Team USA and some qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials," said Raiders head coach Scott Sahli. "There were some real superstars at the meet. Some of the top lifters were doing over 400 pounds on the clean-and-jerk event. Chris and Cory both broke personal records and lifted the best of their respective careers, but didn't really walk away feeling satisfied."

"I felt like I did pretty good," Smith said. "The competition was really amazing. They were all just studs basically. I barely missed qualifying last year, so to go this year was a dream come true."

Smith did a clean-and-jerk of 133 kilos (about 293 pounds) and did a snatch of 103 kilos (about 227 pounds).

All lifters did a total of six lifts at the Junior National Championships. There were three clean-and-jerk attempts and three snatch attempts.

Callahan missed one lift, which Sahli said probably cost him a place individually. He tied another lifter for the amount of weight lifted, but lost to him because the other lifter had a lighter body weight. Smith missed one of the snatch lifts and one of the clean-and-jerks, meaning he finished one kilo behind the eighth-place finisher.

"I enjoyed it just like I did last year," Callahan said. "It's one of the greatest things to go to a national meet in your favorite sports."

He had personal records in both the clean-and-jerk and the snatch. He finished with a snatch lift of 115 kilos (about 253 pounds) and a clean-and-jerk of 143 kilos (about 315 pounds).

"I took seventh last year and got sixth this year, so that was good," Callahan said. "I know I could've done better, but I hurt my back after the first clean-and-jerk, and that took me out of fifth place. That was disappointing, but I'm pretty proud of how I did."

"I am very proud of both of them, as they did the best they have ever done," Sahli said. "But, I don't think they feel they did as well as they could have. They are both very driven and goal-oriented. I really liked that they handled the stress so well. That is a big part of what we try to do with our team's preparation."

Northfield had three of the six participants for Team Minnesota. There were four men - Callahan and Smith from Northfield, Charles Litecky from Lakeville South and David Motoyoshi from Lakeville North. Two women qualified - Alicia Emery from Cannon Falls and Northfield graduate Megan Dale. Dale finished in fourth place and attends Augsburg College.

Next on the agenda for the Raiders is the Last Chance Meet in Lakeville today. It is the last time Minnesota high school athletes can qualify for the State High School Championships.

Northfield is the three-time defending state team champions. Callahan's goal going in is to break the state record in the clean-and-jerk record of 155 kilos (about 341 pounds).

"This is a very big meet for us, as we need several more of our lifters to qualify for the state meet," Sahli said. "We are pretty young, but our kids have really been improving."

The Minnesota State High School Championships will be held on March 8 at Farmington High School.