Madison Yonash, a junior at Florida Polytechnic University and captain of the women’s powerlifting team, competed at the 2023 USA Powerlifting Collegiate Nationals in Arlington, Texas, on April 14. She placed 20th in her 60-kilo weight class.
“It was insane,” said Yonash, who is majoring in business analytics. “My weight class had over 70 lifters in it competing at nationals. I competed with the top lifters in the nation, which was super cool.”
After three rounds in each of three categories, she completed the event with results of a 286-pound squat, 154-pound bench press, and 325-pound deadlift.
This is Yonash’s second year competing at the national event representing Florida Poly’s women’s powerlifting team.
“It was pretty great to be in that environment,” she said. “The one thing about powerlifting is everyone is super supportive of each other. Even though you are competing against these girls, everyone is hyping you up.”
The University’s women’s powerlifting team was established in 2021-2022 academic year after Yonash’s persistent push to start it. The team now has about three dozen members of all skill levels and hosts practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“It’s been really great to see the community thrive,” she said. “You’ll see some girls who started last semester talking to girls this semester and giving them the pointers I gave them when they first started.”
Yonash is excited to continue advancing the sport at Florida Poly this fall, and is hopeful she and her teammates will again compete for the University at the national championship event in 2024.
“I’m really happy I got to represent Florida Poly,” she said. “It was kind of cool being one of the only ones from Florida at this meet. It makes me so happy I have such a supportive community backing me up.”
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