Team Omnia Secures Medals, Titles at 2024 USA Weightlifting National Championship
Team Omnia took Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by storm this past week at the USA Weightlifting National Championships. This was the most anticipated weightlifting event of the year, all of our athletes competing amongst the best in the country. In the end, Team Omnia took home national titles, personal records, and a lot of medals.
Event Highlights for Team Omnia Participants
Cassandra Martinez
Cassandra Martinez, shown in the video above, hit some big platform personal records, ending with a Snatch of 59 kg and a Clean and Jerk of 70kg with a total of 129kg to secure 4th place in her U25 division of the 55kg weight class.
Cass had an intense 8 week training cycle followed by a week of the flu, but was thankfully able to recover enough to crush 4/6 of her attempts.
Ava Luis
Ava Luis, our reigning U13 49kg National Champion, took home another 3 gold medals in all three categories of Snatch, Clean and Jerk, and Total.
She hit a 49 kg Snatch, a bodyweight lift which is very rare for a female youth lifter to be able to hit. Her 55kg clean and jerk was just a bit below her personal best but was still more than enough to secure her top podium spot.
Cora Dunham
Cora Dunham won silvers across the board in all three categories, securing her spot as second in the nation.
This was her first ever national appearance after almost exclusively doing high school weightlifting meets through FHSAA. She snatched a very snappy 36kg followed by a crisp 45kg Clean and Jerk in the Under 13 45kg division.
Shayla Strickland
Shayla Strickland, who is also a FHSAA lifter, hit a 45kg Snatch and 52kg Clean and Jerk on the day as a 55kg youth lifter.
Not only was this also her first national meet, these were her heaviest openers to date and her resilience and determination really shined through all her attempts.
Matias Navarrete
Matias Navarrete was the only Team Omnia lifter to go 6 for 6 and make all of his attempts, earning him a technical medal.
His 61kg Snatch and 73kg Clean and Jerk are new numbers he had never hit before, even in training. He finished with a 134kg total as a 67kg youth lifter and placed top 10 in the country.
Christopher McDonald
Christopher McDonald had undergone extensive training after Florida State Championships to improve technical errors on his lifts. The 73kg youth lifter’s determination and grit earned him personal bests of 76kg in Snatch and a whopping 100kg Clean and Jerk for a total of 176kg on the day.
His clean and jerk was one that sent the crowd wild, as the team knew how hard he has worked for it. Chris placed top 10 in the nation.
Preparation Has Begun for the North American Open Finals
Team Omnia is now undergoing offseason training which includes more strength work and conditioning to allow them to be able to grow their capacity to lift heavier.
The entire team, closer than ever with the experience of cheering for each other on the big stage and wearing awesome matching Omnia outfits, is fired up to continue training and growing in the sport of Olympic Weightlifting.
Team Omnia’s next big meet will be 2024 North American Open Finals in Tucson, Arizona this December and Coach Paul can’t wait to add more heavy hitters to the roster and improve the rankings of his already stacked team.