MADISON, Wis.- Student-athletes from men's hockey, and men's and women's rowing stepped into a whole new weight room on Thursday, July 22nd at the Adaptive Sports USA Junior Nationals Competition.
The Badgers spent their Thursday evening helping spot athletes competing in the powerlifting event.
Adaptive athletes could have qualified in one to seven events on the Middleton High School campus between July 16th and 23rd. Junior Nationals is the oldest continuously held competitive sports event for junior athletes (ages 7 to 22) with physical disabilities in North America and this is the first year it was held in Wisconsin.
After getting to know some of the competitors by helping them in warm ups, the Badgers took on their role as official spotters for the competition. They were blown away by how determined and capable the athletes were.
"It was really inspirational to see all the kids compete so hard for something they wanted, despite major setbacks," incoming freshman Max Zimmer of men's hockey said.
Each adaptive athlete in the powerlifting competition got three chances to bench press as much weight as they could. These athletes shattered expectations, broke their own personal records and in the case of Abby Gase, broke national records.
"It was amazing to be a part of the support the athletes had around them, especially when Abby broke the record for her classification," freshman men's hockey goalie Jack Berry said. "She had the whole room cheering for her and I think I wanted her to succeed just as bad as she wanted to herself."Â
Abby also got first place in her classification of the archery portion of the competition. Besides powerlifting and archery, Adaptive Sports USA also hosted swimming, air guns, table tennis, track and field events throughout the week.
"There were kids benching up to 305 pounds! It was incredible to see teens excel in something most people find unfathomable and it inspired me to step up my game," junior rower Lily Hansen noted. "It was an inspirational evening and one to never forget."
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