Coach Monica's Kilo Classic II Meet Recap

This past weekend team OPS hit the platform in Bellingham at the Kilo Classic. Before I get into the events of the day, I want to share what impacted me the most this weekend as a leader of this amazing crew of people.

It's a feeling I can only describe as overwhelming. An abundance of love.

My voice was absolutely destroyed by Sunday. I talked and cheered so much throughout the weekend that by the end of it I had nothing left. And I would do it all again without thinking twice.

I looked around that room and our people were everywhere. On the platform as athletes. Behind it as refs, spotters, and loaders. And in the stands, teammates who drove all the way to Bellingham because they didn't want to watch the live stream. They wanted to be there. For someone like me, who started this whole thing just wanting to lift weights with friends, what it has become is something I still can't fully wrap my head around.

Ten years ago, give or take, this team didn't exist the way it does now. It started as the Golden Girls of OPS. Allison, Emily, Dave, and me. A combination of sub-masters and masters lifters who thought we were old in powerlifting. We laugh about that now. Back then it was just us, figuring it out, showing up together, thinking we were ancient at ages that now feel like the beginning.

What it has grown into is a full fledged posse. And the size of it is something, but honestly it's the spirit of these individuals that gets me. The amount of effort, volunteering, and support these folks give me, their teammates, and now the broader community is something I could have never manufactured on my own. I had ideas. These people help me bring them to life. They believe in this team as much as I do.

A huge part of that is Emily, better known as Sgt. Short Stack. I gave her that name because she is bossy, she is short, she is independent, and she is strong. She is top tier. She makes no excuses, she tries no matter what. She has helped me organize more team events than I can count. Dinner reservations for fifteen people, an annual BBQ at her house, coordinating rides, housing, logistics that would make your head spin. She is an incredible lifter in her own right, and she has now stepped into the role of PLU referee, giving back to the sport that gave so much to her. I would not have been able to do this without her.

Watching these athletes grow and extend that same heart out into the community, volunteering, showing up for each other, giving back, it feels a lot like watching your kids go off into the real world. We set a cultural standard in the gym. And now they are carrying it with them everywhere they go.

We don't just compete together. We break bread together. We share stories and experiences and a whole lot of remember when. Dave was on the floor coaching his athletes alongside mine, seven total across two sessions, the Kilo Classic running beautifully under the best meet director in Washington. That's what the day looked like from the outside.

Here's what it looked like from where I was standing.

Bob. 60-64 Masters. First meet.

Bob came to OPS this past fall and made an immediate impression, and not because of his numbers. It was because of his choices. Every accessory, every carry, he gravitated toward the hardest variation on the menu. Not to show off. Just because that was his instinct. He was also one of the most coachable athletes I've worked with. He trusted the process and met technical standard on all three lifts within the first month. Depth on squat. Motionless on bench. Clean pull off the floor. The foundation was there.

When one of my other athletes signed up for a meet, I encouraged Bob to join. He asked what numbers he needed to hit before he should consider competing. I told him that wasn't the right question. Competing is its own skill. Following commands, lifting to standard, performing in a room that isn't your gym. Strength level is beside the point. As long as you can squat to depth, hold a press, and pull the bar, you're ready. Let's rip the bandaid off and get some real numbers to work from.

He had some nerves the week before. His deadlift was the thing living in the back of his mind. Before we ever stepped into the warm-up room, we talked about it. I told him I had full faith in him, and that if we got to deadlift and it was warming up slower than we wanted, I would lower his opener. That conversation seemed to lift something off him. He could let go of the worry and just focus on squat. And he did.

He approached the bar with composure and excitement. Smiley and stoic at the same time. Whatever was happening inside, it didn't show up as anything but readiness.

Squat. Clean. Bench. Clean. Then deadlift warm-ups. Four warm up pulls in, we locked eyes. It wasn't moving badly, just slower than he can. We both knew it. I asked if he was comfortable lowering the opener. He thought it was a good idea too. Six minutes on the clock. I sprinted to the score table and got the change in with a minute to spare.

He went 9 for 9. Three state records. Only one red light all day. You can't ask for a better first meet.

Squat: 292. Bench: 253. Deadlift: 369.

Bob will no doubt continue to impress me. He's an impressive human. Welcome to the team Bob!

Lilli.

Lilli is my first athlete I ever coached. I have had the privilege of knowing her and coaching her through some of the busiest seasons of her life. When we started she was in high school. Now she is a full time chiropractic student in Portland. That is a lot of life lived, and she has shown up through all of it.

It is really easy to want to take a break when you have a full plate. Not Lilli. And I couldn't be more proud of her for that. What she may not realize is that this is part of long term athletic development. This is staying in the game. This is someone who tries trying.

Everyone brings something to the platform. Prep is life, and life doesn't pause because you have a meet coming up. For Lilli, chiropractic school doesn't stop, and during prep her cat Stevie used up what felt like two of his nine lives. Emergency vet, surgery, the whole thing. You carry what you carry and you show up anyway.

And she did. With great energy and a positive attitude, exactly the Lilli everyone loves.

Squat. She hit her first and second attempts clean, 226 on her second for a state record. The third didn't go. And here is where I want to pause, because what she said right after made me so proud. She looked at me and said "that's ok, now we can bench." That is exactly the attitude you need to have after a miss. That is meet day resilience in real time. So that's what we did.

Bench is where the day got harder. Her opener surprised both of us. I've watched her move that weight as a warm-up more times than I can count. It got grindy right off the chest in a way I hadn't seen from her before. My best read is that the missed third squat taxed her back more than either of us expected, and it showed up there. She was upset. I would have been upset too. But once again I watched her cheerlead herself back into the competition. She repeated the opener, slow and steady, and she got it. We took a small jump and she got it about halfway off the chest before it started to fail. It didn't die in the water. But she walked away from bench pretty upset, and she had every right to be.

It can be really hard to mentally get behind yourself when you feel like your body is failing you. She approached the deadlift platform with poise. Refocused and ready.

She ripped her first attempt off the floor with ease. Good. We were still in the game. On her second, her hips shot up and the bar cracked the floor briefly before coming back down. She came off that platform a hot fiery valkyrie. We stopped, talked it through, I told her what I saw and what she needed to do differently on the platform to secure the last one. As we stood at the curtain waiting for her turn, I told her to do it for Stevie. She gave me a little chuckle under her breath and walked out to pull her last lift of the day.

As a mom and as a coach, I have watched people talk themselves out of what is good for them. I have heard people speak negatively about themselves in moments of defeat. Being resilient, finding strength when you feel lost, scraping yourself up off the floor to finish strong and finish complete. This is powerlifting. She may not have had the day either of us wanted. But watching her continue to fight, to come back again and again, to refuse to quit on herself, that is a lesson only something like this can teach. I taught her that she is strong. The platform reminded her. She can do hard things, even when they aren't the hard things she chose.

Hanna.

I love Hanna. Hanna is going to make it to the platform no matter what, and she will be well dressed doing it. We joke a lot about how she will do whatever you ask of her, but she will likely complain about it too. That is our dynamic, and I wouldn't trade it.

Hanna and I have been working together for a couple of years. I know her well. And this prep still made attempt selection hard.

Pneumonia. Then a cold. Then a tweaked back four weeks out. The last three weeks of prep were about getting her back functional, not about peaking. When you lose that window and the peaking singles and the data they produce, you're making decisions with an incomplete picture. Hanna essentially peaked on the platform. The best move in that situation is simple: protect the total, go 9 for 9, and walk away with something real to build from.

Squat went smooth. She looked great and I felt great about where we were heading into bench.

On her first bench attempt the bar rocketed off her chest. After those smooth squat attempts I whole heartedly believed the second attempt would move just as well. It did not, lol. It had some hope as it died halfway up. We both looked at each other and went, well darn, let's try it again. That's all we could do anyway, and the acceptance was there for both of us. She didn't get mad. We both just knew what was next. Do it again. It didn't go either, and I'll be honest, she talked me into that bigger jump. She was very convincing. We called it ambitious, laughed about it, and moved on to deadlift.

One of the things I appreciate most about Hanna is her ability to just let things roll off of her. I wish I had more of that. She has an unbelievable attitude on meet day, and it showed up exactly when it needed to. She went 3 for 3 on deadlift pulling sumo, with 281 as her top. She also hit a 10 pound squat PR.

One of the things we have intentionally worked on is training both sumo and conventional deadlift at roughly the same strength. It has come in handy more times than I can count, and this weekend was no exception.

Hanna will be back on the platform this summer. I would normally encourage more time between meets, but I don't think this one gave her the chance to build or express her true strength. We have unfinished business, and I can't wait to see what she does when everything is working in her favor.

What I love about competing as a team is this: you get to witness a range of performances in a single day. Dream debuts alongside hard-fought grinds. State records alongside missed openers. And if you've been training alongside these people, if you've been in the room with them through the prep, you don't just share in the performance. You share in everything it cost to get there.

It can be an uncomfortable place, watching your teammates parallel to your own result. Prep doesn't happen in a vacuum, and not every peak lands the way you planned. Some preps are about peaking. Some are about surviving life and making it to the platform. The new guy going 9 for 9 isn't a commentary on the athlete who had to fight for every lift. Numbers are just numbers until we assign value to them. Some days we won't be our strongest. The idea is to keep showing up anyway.

That's what this weekend was. Seven athletes. A room full of people who drove hours just to be in it together. Teammates on the platform, behind it, and in the stands.

Thank you to the Kilo Classic and the best meet director in Washington for putting on the kind of meet that reminds you why this sport is worth it.