State Masters & Oly in the Outback Wrap-up

What an absolutely fabulous competition State Masters & Oly in the Outback proved to be. 84 athletes across the inter-generational event made it onto the platform.

After postponement following cyclone Alfred, the weather gods saw fit to bless us with beautiful weather for our sojourn to the countryside 3-4 May.

Huge shout out to Sonia Stenhouse the driving force behind the event and her amazing band of Saints helpers and family members. Your hard work was really appreciated, and a fun time was had by all.

Sonia has set the bar high for QWA Clubs hosting State events going forward organising the following, and not to forget the vitally important organising of set-up and breakdown of event:

• Miles State High School – venue, furniture & AV equipment
• Grants from Southern Downs Regional Council and Arrow Energy, and financial sponsorship from John Bell Carpentry that covered the cost of medals, trophies and live streaming and photos of the event by Brent Vaughan http://www.brentthingsandstuff.com.au/
• Free sponsored accommodation at Starline Motor Inn and Western Downs Motor Inn for 3 QWA staff across the duration of the event.
• First Aid cover provided by Josh Stenhouse
• Catering for officials provided by Foodworks Miles
• Donation of Catering items by IGA Miles
• Use of weightlifting platforms and equipment provided by Stenhouse Fitness
• Raffle prize donations by Murilla Hardware, Creek Café, Stenhouse Fitness
• Sonia’s regular information posts kept everyone up-to-date on the preparations for the event, keeping interest high and importantly providing local knowledge

Lifters and volunteers were each gifted with their very own Oly in the Outback cowboy hat, and all got together on the Saturday night for a smokehouse meal at Hotel Australia, and completing the festivities with the cutting of the Oly in the Outback cake by our youngest competitor Harlowe Dyke (Bribie Island) and our oldest Ludek Prokes (Dungeon Barbell – Cairns).

Big thank you to all the competition volunteers. QWA royalty Lesley Moyle was once again able to join us – taking on the role of officiating mentor for our new and up-and-coming Technical Officials. A huge shout out to Moni Kami for manning the microphone all weekend!

We also saw a number of our Youth lifters put up their hand to volunteer – reporting back that they thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to be so closely involved with the running of the event, and most importantly made new friends and had FUN!

Visiting dignitaries: Cr Kaye Maguire, Cr Kylie Bourne, Cr Peter Saxelby – Western Downs Regional Council, Nic Pitura – Arrow Energy, John Bell – John Bell Cabinetry

Best Lifter Awards

Masters age-group winners

Find all the results here: Australian Weightlifting Federation > Competition > STATISTICS > COMPETITIONS > RESULTS

We saw numerous new personal bests set through-out the event, and a special congratulations to all of our record breakers (you will find these at the bottom of the results page on the AWF website – too many to list individually)😊. Our National record breakers were: Bronwyn Hitchener, Dash Newington, Diana Loy, Fraser Harrison, Gerard Nelson, Greg Hobl, Jan Greyling, Justin Connor, Levi Davidson, Maree Davidson, Meg Emerton and Mervyn Tottman.

We wish all competitors the very best with their upcoming training as they prepare for National and International events.

A final note of sincere thanks to all those who were able to travel out and support the event. It was a blast!!