Just some random afterthoughs of the meet..... This was the loudest crowd I've ever seen at the meet. At times we had to almost resort to hand signals... One thing is for sure, the HS competition has gotten a lot tougher and bigger since we held this back in 1992... I know the Neenah Coach, 6'5" Joe Lewis, had to have gotten bigger from when I seen him at the Nationals 2 years ago. I could hardly look around him to see the overhead. Did anyone see a very large coach coaching the Baton Rouge lifters? In case you've been on Mars, it was Gary Frank, the strongest powerlifter on the planet. Looking for a new hobby? Here's an idea for those who are looking for a new way to experience fun and relaxation, in a very easy and stress free way...? Try running a gigantic National meet, then let me know how it was... I noticed some kids wearing Hooters T-shirts. Looks like someone took advantage of the free shuttle and Metrolink rail system to go to downtown St. Louis... I have someone's cd's that were left at the meet. If they are yours, e-mail me with a pretty good description of what was in the case and I'll gladly mail them to you....Email me, Rick, here Also found at the meet: 39 old looking towels, 26 near empty powder containers two or three t-shirts, a dirty sock and quite a bit of unfinished Gatorade. These however, I will not be mailing back to anyone. Did anyone see Johnny Graham clear out the warmup area on Saturday? Holy cow, no wonder he was a drill sargeant. On saturday the lifters needed some space and the back room was loaded with people who weren't exactly giving them their space. Johnny Graham was a riot to watch in action. Also a pleasure to see work was Pat Rankin, Jim Davis and their crew who covered the platforms on Sunday. They are the Athletes Against Steroids and Have Bible, Will Travel group. Big mean looking Christian bikers that are the nicest guys you'd ever want to know...Nice guys to have around. Pat and Jim raise quite a bit of money throughout the year for seriously ill children and gave us a brief speech on what they are about. Having known Pat for years, I like those guys more everytime I see them...They get an A++ in my book. Someone told me after the meet that President Bush was in town over the weekend. There were over a thousand people at the Airport Rennaisance that I'm sure were not aware of it. Next year's HS Nationals will be in Nebraska and will be held by James Hart. I first met James back in 1986 at the Ozark meet here in Missouri and have even lifted against him once. He is 100% old school powerlifting and has seen quite a bit in his years of the sport. He is also the Teenage & Jr. Chairman and will give his all in an effort to promote a great meet. We've already begun to collect items to pass along that might be helpful for him next year. Contact him about next year's meet here.! A big thank you to the families of the staff that either put time in on this in helping with the meet, or those that helped with kid duty while several of us spent hours on end planning & working this thing. They all know who they are and mean a lot to us. The St. Louis-Chicago connection continued when Dennis Brady of Chicago returned the favor of being Chief referee. Dr. Mike went to Chicago in Feb and did the same for the Womens Nationals. Between the two of them, together they have nearly 50 National meets to their credit and are still standing after all these years. I had many comments via e-mail about the refereeing. Here's what you can do to change this: Get invloved, attend National meetings and vote. You can also get a state referee's card, ref for two years, then pass the National referees test.....all for free. If you want things to change or want them your way, the contribute, plain and simple. Make things the way "you would want them". It was nice to talk to Paul Fletcher again. Having met him atthe 99 Mens Nationals, he's a super guy that places the kids high on his list of priorities. No matter if a kid will finish first or 21st, if they want to lift and have done their part to get there, he brings them. The same caould be said for Coach Randy Biggiam of Colfax, IL who has a high set of standards. He had a situation with a couple kids, stood his ground and the kids went home a bit early. Like I said, great coahcing isn't just helping the kids to get stronger. Both these guys fall into that category. Thank you again, one more time to all the refs, coaches, lifters and staff members that made this meet possible!    Back to HS Nationals Homepage