On June 23, 2017, a Fannin County weightlifting club traveled to Gainsville, Georgia for the 15th annual American Powerlifting Committee (APC) National Powerlifting Championships. The Banks Barbell powerlifting team, comprised of a few local student-athletes and adults, spent nearly four months preparing for the competition, with hopes of bringing trophies and national titles back to Blue Ridge. The team not only represented Fannin County with good sportsmanship and a competitive attitude; but they also succeeded in winning 1st-place in Full Powerlifting competition as well as Push-Pull competition.

Fannin County High School senior Bradley Flowers benches while coach Jason Banks looks on at the 2017 APC National Powerlifting Championships

The full powerlifting competition consists of three compound lifts: squat, bench and deadlift. Fannin County Rebel football players Bradley Flowers (Sr) and Keenan Putnam (Sr) chose to compete in the full meet and gave credit to their training in the recently updated FCHS weight room. “The school replaced all of the old gym equipment with some real nice Dynabody racks, bars and chains,” Flowers told TeamFYNSports. “It’s nice – like real nice – probably one of the nicest gyms I’ve ever seen.” On top of their training at the high school, Flowers and Putnam joined Banks Barbell Club in Blue Ridge to supplement their athletic training. “Basically we just wanted to get stronger,” Flowers said. “My older brothers started training there and both of them got a lot stronger real fast. They took me to a deadlift and squat workout and I was hooked.”  The athletes asked Fannin County head football coach Jim Pavao if he would allow them to put in some extra training outside of the regular football scheduled workouts, and he encouraged it.  “Coach [Pavao] said he’s all for it,” Flowers told FYN.  “He told us anything we can do to get better in our spare time is fine as long as it’s positive and it doesn’t affect our training at the high school.”

The hard work put in both at the fieldhouse and their new gym paid off.  Both Putnam and Flowers won their classes, earning national champion honors, and they managed to break some national and world records in the process.

Putnam finished the day with a 192.5kg (423.5-lbs) squat, 115kg (253-lb) bench and a 170kg (374-lb) deadlift for a 445kg (979-lb) total (his squat was a 4th attempt for record-breaking purposes only) and four Global Powerlifting Alliance (GPA) World Records. The performance also set the APC national records for the 110kg (220-lb) teen (16-17) class.

Fannin County sophomore Kayleigh Russell sets up for a sumo deadlift attempt at the 2017 APC National Powerlifting Championships.

Flowers finished the day with a 205kg (451-lb) squat, 147.5kg (324.5) bench and a 235kg (517-lb) deadlift for a 587.5kg (1,292.5-lb) total. He also now holds the GPA World Powerlifting records for squat, bench, deadlift and total in the teen (16-17) class, but in the 125kg (275-lb) weight division. In a nutshell, these kids are strong.

Fannin sophomore Kayleigh Russell, one of two females on the team, also had a huge day at the competition. Russell won the 75kg (165-lb) weight class in the open (all age groups) AND teen (15-16) division. She set new GPA world records with her 65kg (143-lb) squat, 35kg (77-lb) bench and 82.5kg (181.5-lb) deadlift for a 182.5kg (401.5-lb) total. She also competed on the Push-Pull team and her bench and squat were good enough to set new GPA world records in Push-Pull teen competition for bench, deadlift and total. Basically, Russell came home with top honors in four different classes and seven world records.

“I started powerlifting because I wanted to get stronger for softball,” Russell told FYN. Russell plays softball year-round, whether it be travel ball or with the Rebels varsity team at FCHS.  She and her father, Justin Russell of Epworth, joined the club and began training together early in the year.  Like Putnam and Flowers, Russell scheduled her supplemental training around the existing workouts she received on the softball field and in the high school weight-training class.  “She wants to play college ball,” her father explained.  “She’s willing to do what it takes to do that and we support her one hundred percent.”

Fannin senior Keenan Putnam pulls a successful deadlift at the 2017 APC National Powerlifting Championships.

Other lifters for the Banks Barbell team include Paige Collins-Rideout of Epworth, who won the women’s 45-49 age group in the 67.5kg (148.5-lb) weight class with an 80kg (176-lb) squat, 50kg (110-lb) bench and 100kg (220-lb) deadlift for a 230kg (506-lb) total. Rideout also won “Best Female Lifter” in the push-pull competition.

Matthew Rideout of Epworth won the men’s open 90kg (198-lb) weight class with a 152.5kg (335.5-lb) squat, 102.5kg (226-lb) bench and 192.5kg (423-lb) deadlift for a 447.5kg (984.5-lb) total.

Terry Brandon Flowers of Morganton narrowly took second place in his class (110kg/242-lb open) with a 212.5kg (467.5-lb) squat, 145kg (319-lb) bench and 227.5kg (500.5-lb) deadlift for a 585kg (1,287.5-lb) total. Flowers’ wife was 9-months pregnant at the time of the meet and he was uncertain if was going to compete. “Holli was about to have our baby at any day so I really didn’t plan to go,” Flowers told FYN. “I even lifted heavy all week before the meet. But the day of weigh-ins she told me we should go, so I went out and gave the best I could. I really just wanted to compete for my team.”

Jeremy Flowers of Morganton finished with a strong 2nd-place showing in the 110kg (242-lb) open class for push-pull. Flowers benched 160kg (352-lbs) and then barely failed on a third attempt of 180kg (396-lbs). All push-pull lifters later learned that the bar had been mis-loaded for their flight and they were actually lifting (or attempting) 5kg/11-lbs MORE than for what they received credit. Of those lifters was Jason Banks of Morganton.

Banks won “Best Overall Male” in push-pull competition and won the 125kg (275-lb) sub-master (35-39) class with a 215kg (474-lb) bench and a 290kg (640-lb) deadlift for a 505kg (1,114-lb) push-pull total. He broke the APC national records for bench, deadlift and total and he missed the GPA world record for raw bench press by 5kg (11lbs).

The team plans to compete later this year at the APC Salute the Troops meet November 4 in Commerce, Georgia; and several of the lifters will compete at the Body By George Monster Mania Push-Pull on December 2 in Loganville, Georgia.