(LEBANON, Ill., Feb. 19)—The McKendree University women's powerlifting team returned to action Feb. 14-15 at the Rocky Mountain Raw Collegiate Invitational, which was staged in Aurora, Colo.
 
A total of five women represented the Bearcats at the two-day meet. Combining the men's and women's programs, McKendree had 11 lifters competing at the event. Of the 11 competitors, six earned first-place distinction, while the Bearcats each had a second- and third-place finisher for the weekend.
 
On the women's side, all five lifters turned in their best performances of the season in terms of weights achieved. Head coach Andrew Rauen was pleased with the progress shown by his squad since the beginning of its inaugural season back in November.
 
"We have made great progress from our first meet to this competition," said Rauen. "In a three-month period, we saw an average of a 17.5 kilo increase (combining both men's and women's programs) per lifter. I'm looking forward to what we can do when we head to nationals in April."
 
For the second straight meet, freshman Lindsey Raker (Greenwood, IN) posted the highest combined lifting total for the McKendree women's squad. In her three lifts (dead lift, squat and bench press), Raker combined for a total of 372.5 kilograms. She notched season-best efforts in both the dead lift (170 kg) and the squat (130 kg) while matching her top weight in the bench press at 72.5 kg.
 
Fellow freshman Ann Gailius turned in season-high lifts in all three events, as well as in her total lifting number of 360 kg. Gailius lifted 15.2 kg in the dead lift, 115 kg in the squat and a program-best 92.5 kg in the bench press. Freshman Collette Grandison (Auburn Hills, MI/Our Lady of the Lakes) closed the meet with a combined total of 352.5 kg for her three lifts. Grandison had a season-high in the dead lift at 150 kg. She also matched her season-best in the squad at 13 kg and hit 72.5 kg in the bench.
 
After missing the Kansas State Open back in December due to illness, freshman Teagan Schwab (Neenah, WI/Neenah) bounced back to turn in a total of 325 kg for her three lifts in Colorado. Schwab registered a new season-high in both the squad at 117.5 kg and the bench press at 65 kg. She rounded out her performance by lifting 142.5 kg in the dead lift.
 
Rounding out the list of performers for the McKendree women's powerlifting team in Colorado was freshman Caresse Hollendoner (Mascoutah, IL/Sedro-Woolley). She also had a season-high for her three total lifts at 262.5 kg. That included season-best performances for Hollendoner in the dead lift (120 kg) and the bench (55 kg).
 
Up next for McKendree is the USA Powerlifting Collegiate Nationals, which will take place April 10-12 in Atlanta, Ga.