Record not enough to grab gold

TOOWOOMBA’S Jake Ratcliffe set an Australian record but it wasn’t enough for him to clinch gold at the National Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships in Ipswich.

Competing in the under-17 boys 69kg division, Ratcliffe produced a 78kg lift in the snatch to break the Australian record.

He could not follow that up in the clean and jerk however as a lift of 105kg from West Australian Matthew Munns was enough to claim the gold by 6kg as Ratcliffe produced a 96kg clean and jerk lift to pick up silver.

Toowoomba lifters performed well at the nationals. David Hockins won the under-20 men’s 56kg division after producing lifts of 67kg in the snatch and 91kg in clean and jerk.

Kara Stuart also did well competing up a weight division in the under-17 girls 53kg category, winning a silver medal.

Shane Wagner had a busy program at nationals, competing in the under-15 and under-17 boys 62kg division, but he was certainly rewarded.

Wagner won the under-15 division and finished second in under-17s as his clean and jerk was 4kg lighter than the 69kg personal best he set in the under-15s.

Jesse Csallo also finished sixth in the under-15 boys 62kg division while Francesca Veenstra was eighth in the under-15 girls 69kg category. “From our point of view for the club, they got some excellent results and hopefully we can go on from here,” Toowoomba and Queensland coach Greg Hobl said.