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	The 2003 State Meet...wow!   The 2003 Missouri State meet is over and all I can say is wow. For several reasons. The competition was ran separately this year from the Ozark Meet in order to target lifters in just the Missouri area and overall I'm pleased with the meet attendance. In the past few years the Mo State/Ozark has been around 50-70 lifters and in just the Missouri State meet over the weekend, we had 49 lifters. Not bad for starters.   I am also shocked that we as a group (officials, lifters and spectators) were able to pull the meet off in such a small facility. I'm sure most knew the story, but for those who didn't, here it is again. We initially planned to have the meet at St. John the Baptist HS, the site for the meet since 1999. When the deadline arrived, Darrell Branson had just 15 entries in his hand and was looking at taking a huge loss on the meet. Being a working guy just like Darrell, I could not see mandating that he lose money on the meet and keep it at St. Johns. So reluctantly, I agreed that it was a good idea to move the meet with so few lifters. Little did I know that the meet would grow from 15 to 49 lifters after extending the deadline. When I found out the meet had grown I knew we had a problem, but there was no way to change the venue again and cause even more confusion. So we moved forward and did the best with what we had to work with. [Missouri State Full Story>>] Darrell Branson: Veteran lifter steps up Last fall when it was announced we were looking for a meet director to run the Missouri State meet, we had a very well known lifter to the area step up and take the challenge of running our annual event. We would like to introduce Darrell Branson as our newest meet director. Darrell, who is one strong dude, is no stranger to the lifting world and has been at it for 20 years if not longer. Along with powerlifting, he has had some experience in the sport of Strongman and is a link back to powerlifting the way it was done before the days of ridiculous gear and 50 divisions/federations. He has the energy and drive needed to infuse new ideas into our competitions and we are excited to have him aboard! Ozark Meet: July 26th That's right lifting fans, for the first time in a few decades the Ozark will be ran seperately from the Missouri State meet. We've thought long and hard about this and came to the conclusion that for us to run a better meet, it's just not possible with so many divisions. So we've split the two meets. Will it work? We'll just have to see. One thing is for sure, we're geared toward supplying great competitions and the Mo. State/Ozark togethor was just too much on the people running it. Look for more on the Ozark very soon.	Artwork for the 2003 Missouri State Championships Collegiate Nationals: Big Thanks! Thanks to the following people for making the Collegiate Nationals a big success: Spotters and Loaders were Darrell Branson, Kurt Miller, Rick Nigh, George Heleine, Peyton Stone, Brad Manion, Wild Bill, and Jay from Wally World, Shane Recer, JuRin Newsome, and Josh Anderson. Referees for the event were Ruth Welding, Sue Hallen, Judy Gedney, Jack Marcus, Sam Greco, Wally Strosnider, Curt St. Romain, Bruce Levine, Dandy Don McElravy, Jim Hart, 1999 Open 242 lb. Champion Kevin Stewart, and Johnny Graham, who served as the Chief Referee. Staff who actually ran the paperwork for the event were: Karma Lamping, Maureen Post, Jennifer and Jessica Ray, Kurt Richardson, Kevin and Denise Clemens, Benny and Carol Turner, Dana Rosenzweig, Dawn Cissell, Harold and Dawn Gaines and the army of help they supplied; Terry Stanley and Mike Garcia, two Steelers who both helped with building the platform; Jim Bell, Marlene Silverberg and Denise and George Huber who worked the table and announced all weekend long. Thanks to everyone for making the meet a success! Thanks, Rick
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