Rankings – December 2021 Update

By Mikal Thrones

Total Fortification 2021 is in the books and we have a new update to the MPA Top-50 Rankings.

The Women:

• Melissa Suchoplas has come from Alberta to take over. She dominated the meet from start to finish in the brand new 69kg weight class, jumping firmly into 2nd place on the all-time list. Melissa opened on squats with a 47.5kg bump to the provincial record, and finished with a 175kg squat, narrowly missing her 3rd attempt of 180.5kg on depth despite leaving a lot in the tank. Bench was just as strong for Melissa as she finished by pressing 26kg over the previous provincial record with a 91kg bench press. She closed out the day by pulling 190.5kg, 30.5kg over the provincial record. This all added up to a 456.5kg total, which I believe gives her second place all-time among Manitoban females, regardless of weight class. Oh, also all of these lifts broke the equipped records as well.
• Janelle Jolicoeur Also participated in her first MPA meet. She hops into the top half of the board at number 23 as a junior. Janelle had a rough start to the day, getting her opener of 125kg on squat, but getting called for depth on her second and third attempts, with the third being especially close. On bench she missed her opener, but came back strong to re-take and hit 82.5kg and then finish with 87.5kg. She wrapped up the day with a 147.5kg deadlift and a 360kg. As our first junior to compete in the new 69kg weight class, she has set the standard for the class.
• Our last female addition to the list is not new to the Top-50. Alexi Runke competed in her second MPA meet and has made some major improvements in a very short time, moving from 47th up to 29th. Alexi completed her set of provincial records by adding the squat, deadlift, and total to her existing bench press record. She went 3-for-3 on squats, finishing with 121kg and chipping the previous record of 120kg. Bench didn’t go as smoothly as squats, missing her opener due to downward movement, but she came back to hit 60kg, just 0.5kg under her existing provincial record. Alexi broke the provincial record total with her opening deadlift of 135kg, but wasn’t done there as she also broke the deadlift record on her third attempt with 145kg. Before this meet the 63kg juniors had 4 different athletes with 1 record apiece, but now they all belong to Alexi.

The Men:

• Our only addition to the men’s Top-50 is Jastin Manalo. Also new to the MPA, Jastin gets on the board for the first time at 18th. A strong performance from start to finish seen Jastin go 3-for-3 on squats, finishing with a comfortable 205kg. He managed a successful 130kg for his second attempt bench and narrowly missed a 135kg attempt on his third. Jastin’s strongest lift of the day was his deadlift, in which he opened with a new junior provincial record of 260kg before setting a senior provincial record of 270kg on his second. Jastin narrowly missed out on a big 277.5kg deadlift on his third, but managed a 605kg total. The records Jastin broke were none other than Ben Langley’s deadlift records. With Ben still holding the #1 spot here in Manitoba, it would seem the future is very bright for Jastin.