Sports

Kenai girl muscles her way into U.S. powerlifting record book

Seventeen-year-old Kelsey Booth of Kenai is 5-foot-2, 112 pounds and, as of Saturday afternoon, the strongest girl in America.

Booth muscled her way into the U.S. powerlifting record book with an effort at the Alaska state championships that was the perfect combination of brute and cute.

Booth's record-setting lift began with a ponytail flip as she ducked her head under the weight bar to position herself under nearly 194 pounds. It continued with a scream as she powered from the squat position back to a standing position, and it ended with a beaming smile.

"That is what I'm known for -- my ponytail and scream," Booth said. "I scream when I have to push really, really hard. I have to get it out or I don't lift it."

Booth squatted 88 kilograms to beat the previous U.S. record in the 16-17 age group for 114-pound girls. She broke the record by half a kilogram, or 1.1 pounds.

Booth's lift came during a day-long competition at South High, where several dozen weightlifters from across Alaska vied for state titles and a variety of records.

Jejomar Broines, an 18-year-old from Anchorage, grunted and grimaced his way to a state record for his age and weight group in the deadlift;

ADVERTISEMENT

Mark Eppihimer, a 34-year-old from Anchorage, set a personal best with the day's biggest lift in the squat, putting 661 pounds on his back to improve his previous best by 33 pounds.

And although Jim Eidenmiller of Fairbanks didn't establish any records or PRs, he impressed all the same – at age 56, he squatted 529 pounds.

But the biggest moment belonged to one of the smallest lifters.

Booth's previous best in the squat, set last month in Kenai, was a state-record 85 kilograms -- one kilogram off the U.S. record set in January 2013.

She trained for Saturday's meet with that record in mind, but her goal got tougher one week before the meet when a girl in Arizona broke the national mark with a lift of 87.5 kilograms.

"When I found out the record was broken, I started crying," she said.

Not to worry. Booth was up for the tougher challenge, although first she had to beat a bad case of the nerves.

"I was literally shaking. I felt sick this morning," she said. "I wanted it so badly."

A junior in high school, Booth said she trains four days a week, sometimes for as long as four hours at a time.

She got her start in powerlifting a year ago, encouraged by how she was faring in a crossfit class.

"I realized I could lift a lot for a small girl," she said. "I said, 'OK, I'll give it a try.' And now look at me -- I have an American record!"

Rob Schmidt of Anchorage, the chairman of USA Powerlifting's Alaska division, helped coached Booth in recent weeks via phone calls and texts. He said they opted for a conservative approach Saturday in Booth's quest for the U.S. record.

"Really she could lift 90 (kilograms), but we said, 'Let's get the record,' " Schmidt said "…She has no idea how strong she is."

Neither, it seems, do some of Booth's classmates.

"Some of the guys hear what I squat," Booth said, "and they say, 'Oh, that's not a lot, I can bench that or clean that.' But I'm a 112-pound girl.''

Booth is one of a handful of girls on the Kenai Peninsula who are gaining notice in the world of powerlifting.

Two of them -- Robin Johnson and Cipriana Castellano -- have previously set U.S. age-group records. Another is 18-year-old Alyssa Herr, who was among the first to congratulate Booth on her record Saturday.

"It made me very, very excited for her," Herr said. "I train with her, and she's always there pushing me and telling me I can do it."

ADVERTISEMENT