Mister impressed with athletes of 1st powerlifting tilt

Gold’s Gym Saipan general manager Tyce Mister, second from right, poses with participants of the Inaugural SBD Powerlifting Meet held last Sunday. (JONATHAN IBAJAN )

No less than Gold’s Gym Saipan general manager Tyce Mister was impressed with how participants of the Inaugural SBD Powerlifting Meet last Sunday performed considering it’s the very first of its kind on the island. 

“Gold’s Gym Saipan is very excited, honored, and proud to hold this inaugural powerlifting meet. Huge shout out to our event director, Jamila Alegre. Super impressive athletes. Several personal records were achieved. Safe and friendly competition,” he said.

The former Marianas High School teacher and head coach of the CNMI beach volleyball national team in the recent Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games 2022 also thanked everyone who made the competition a success. 

“I’m grateful for the volunteer judges and spotters. And special thank you to our sponsors sweetening the win: Hyatt Regency Saipan, Michelob Ultra, Qure Water, PHI Pharmacy, Megabyte, 670 Rocksteady, and TBar,” said Mister.

Alegre, who aside from organizing the event topped the women’s division, said the Inaugural SBD Powerlifting Meet turned out better than expected.

“You can tell the competitors’ love for the sport as they cheered each other on. Although they competed against each other it felt like they supported each other more. They all volunteered to get the event ready and I’m super grateful for that. The event concluded with spectators amazed with our strength as well as accomplished competitors hitting personal records,” she said.

Eric Mafnas, who won the men’s category, said he’s pumped that the Inaugural SBD Powerlifting Meet met all expectations. The SBD in the competition’s name stands for squat, bench press, and deadlift.

“I’m excited that the powerlifting community is making its way here. I have nothing but love for the sport and I’m eager for more and more people to get involved with it,” he said.

Mafnas, a 23-year-old student at Northern Marianas College, topped the men’s division with a total of 385.06 points.

Alegre, National Academy Sports Medicine-certified personal trainer who works at Gold’s Gym Saipan, topped the women’s division after garnering 300.3 points.

The Inaugural SBD Powerlifting Meet was performed with a Rogue Standard Bar and Hampton Olympic Rubber Coated Plates. Under the rules, each lifter was granted three attempts in a standard round-robin flight arrangement.