I first began powerlifting when I was 21 years old. I met my boyfriend Tod Becraft, who had 14 years of competitive powerlifting experience at the time, and he began to train me. I entered my first meet in March of 1996, and set 8 new state records in the squat, benchpress, deadlift and total for both the Jr and open divisions. I did a 355 squat, 215 benchpress, 350 deadlift with an 865 total, all without any tight lifting gear (only a belt and light kneewraps). I trained the rest of the year and competed the following spring at a bench meet in February and a three lift meet in March. I did a 225 benchpress at the bench meet, now beginning to use bench shirts. At the meet in March I got my first 400 lb squat with a new state record of 402, and a 236 benchpress. I did some more competing in the fall with a 260 lb benchpress at the Oregon Outlaw meet. I finished off the year in competing with a 430 deadlift at the Oregon Outlaw Deadlift Invitational in November. My first meet in 1998 was the APF 'Rumble in the Pit' where I did a 420 squat, 260 bench, and 400 deadlift for a 1060 total. This was a qualifier meet for the APF Sr's, where I did a 435 squat, 259 bench, and 413 deadlift for an 1102 total. It was awesome breaking 1100!
My first meet of 1999 was the APF Oregon Record Breakers on May 8th, held in Oregon City, OR at Nelson's Nautilus. I got new pr's in all of my lifts: 450 squat, 300 benchpress, 425 deadlift and an 1140 total. Two months after that I competed in the APF Sr. Nationals in Daytona Beach, FL on July 10th. I was shooting for a 1200 total, which is what I got by careful planning of my attempts. My lifts were: 474 squat, 292 benchpress, 435 deadlift, and a 1201 total. Tod and I were very pleased with those numbers. To finish off my year in lifting, Tod and I flew to Idaho Falls, ID where I competed in the APF Snake River Power and Bench. I did a personal best benchpress of 308.5 lbs.
I did not compete in powerlifting in 2000 but instead began competing in strongwoman. My first strongwoman contest was the Northwest Strongwoman in Salem, OR, where I won each of the six events, to win the contest, against 6 other ladies. The previous year's winner, Julie Archer, was a fierce competitor. In 2001 I competed in the 165 lb class for the first time and posted a 413 lb deadlift weighing only 161 lbs. I was very pleased with that lift, because pound for pound I think that's a better lift than my 435 lb deadlift at 178 lbs bodyweight. I also competed in the first ever Beauty and the Beast Strongwoman contest, taking first place. Winning this contest meant a lot for me because it was the biggest strongwoman contest in the nation for 2001. A month later I competed in the Northwest Strongwoman contest and took first place for the second year in a row. I finished off the year of competing with the Northwest Rolling Thunder Championships. It's a local grip contest Tod and I had fun putting on.
2002 started off with my competing in the McTarnahan's Keg Toss. This was a lot of fun. My first strongwoman contest of the year was The Strongest Man and Woman in the West, in Boise, ID. I won each of the four events to win the contest. One week later we flew out to Council Bluffs, IA, where I competed in the Heartland Strength Challenge. I took 2nd place - 1st place went to Becca Swanson, the strongest female powerlifter in the world. She did great in her strongwoman debut and is a great motivator. My final strongwoman contest of the year was the NASS Women's Nationals in St. Louis, MO. This was a very tough contest, but I came out with the placing I was after - 2nd place to Becca, in a tough field of 9 heavyweight women. Three weeks later we hosted the NW Grip Challenge Workout, which was a lot of fun.
2003 was a monumental year for me in training. It is pretty much impossible to train outdoors in the wintertime in Oregon. So in November of 2002 Tod and I began renting some training space at the gym we train at, and created a unique strongman training facility. This allowed us to train all through the winter months, and I entered the 2003 NE X-Treme Strongman/Strongwoman Showdown in Boston, MA. I knew the competition would be fierce there, but I pulled off a win on the final event to win the contest. In June I competed in the Hell on the Hill contest, which Tod and I hosted. I won against a very strong local lady from WA state. I finished off the year with the Behemoths and Boats contest in Kennewick, WA, beating a very strong champion powerlifter, and a few other ladies. In September of 2003 I reached a long-awaited goal of closing the Captains of Crush © No. 2 gripper - the second woman in the world to achieve this feat of strength.
The first contest I did in 2004 was the Irongladiators power meet in Spokane, WA. I did a personal best deadlift of 475 lbs in the 181 lb open weight class. 2004 also brought on the toughest lineup of women I've ever faced in a contest. All the strongwomen greats showed up to the Strongest Woman Alive contest (aka CA Pro/AM) on May 15th, 2004. This was the heaviest, toughest contest I've ever competed in. It was run quickly with little rest time between events. I was very pleased with my overall performance. I had a great time on this trip, and was able to spend time with my good friend Becca Swanson. She is the real class act of women's strength sports.
November of 2004 is when my book, Personal Best: How to Train for the Sport of Strongman, became available for sale. I've gotten a great response from people so far, as there are a lot of people interested in functional strength training. Feedback from people who have purchased the book has also been just great.
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Contest History
1996 Oregon State Powerlifting Championships
355 squat 215 benchpress 350 deadlift 865 total
1997 USPF Benchpress Nationals
225 benchpress
1997 Oregon State and Regional Powerlifting Championships
402 squat 236 benchpress
1997 Oregon Outlaw Benchpress Championships
260 benchpress
1997 Oregon Outlaw Deadlift Meet
430 deadlift
1998 APF Rumble in the Pit Powerlifting Championships
420 squat 260 benchpress 405 deadlift 1040 total
1998 APF Senior National Powerlifting Championships
435 squat 259 benchpress 413 deadlift 1102 total
1999 APF Oregon Record Breakers Powerlifting Championships
450 squat 300 benchpress 425 deadlift 1140 total
1999 APF Senior National Powerlifting Championships
474 squat 292 benchpress 435 deadlift 1201 total
1999 APF Snake River Power and Benchpress Meet
308.5 benchpress
2000 Gold's Gym Northwest Strongman/Strongwoman Contest
Women's Open 1st place
2001 APF Rage for Records Benchpress and Deadlift Championships
Women's Open 1st place
2001 Beauty and the Beast World Strongman/Strongwoman Challenge
Women's Open 1st place
2001 Gold's Gym Northwest Strongman/Strongwoman Contest
Women's Open 1st place
2001 Northwest Rolling Thunder Championships
Women's Open 1st place
7th Annual McTarnahan's Keg Toss
Women's Open 1st place
2002 Strongest Man and Woman in the West
Women's Open 1st place
2002 Heartland Strength Challenge
Women's Open 2nd place
2002 North American Strongman Society Women's Nationals
Women's Open 2nd place
2002 Northwest Grip Challenge Workout
Open tied for 8th place - competing against the men! :)
2003 Northeast X-Treme Showdown
Pro Women 1st place
2003 Monster Muscle Northwest Rolling Thunder
Open 7th place - competing against the men again :)
2003 Hell on the Hill Strongman/woman Challenge
Open 1st place
2003 Behemoths and Boats Strongman/woman Challenge
Open 1st place
2004 APF Iron Gladiator Powerlifting
Deadlift only 475 lbs at 181 lb bdwt
2004 Strongest Woman Alive
Open 4th place