On Saturday, May 17, 2025, the UCLA Olympic Weightlifting team, Bruin Barbell, competed at the Muscle MAYhem meet at Barbarian Barbell in Van Nuys, California. Bruin Barbell sent 16 Bruins to Van Nuys to compete, with 13 athletes eager to compete in their first meet.
As the athletes warmed up their lifts backstage, coaches Elle Hatamiya, Haley Trinh, and Osiriz Durana carefully selected opening lifts to make sure that everyone could make most of their six lifting attempts–three in the snatch, and three in the clean and jerk.
Among the first to compete were the Session 1 women: Malia Krassin, Amanda Tran, Anagha Gore, and Alexandra Perlman. Attempting their lifts nearly back-to-back, they all earned totals for their first meet, with Amanda Tran earning bronze medals in both the women's 55kg category and junior women's overall.
The Session 2 men competed shortly after, all of whom earned totals for their first meet. Gabriel Melendez-Corres and Jacob Karolus took home bronze medals in their respective weight classes, while Ethan Quan took home the gold in his weight class. Bill Situ won the overall silver medal among the junior men. Ryan Xu achieved a total of 143kg between the snatch and clean and jerk.
The Session 3 women, including Sophia Manfre, Isabella Shead, and Sarah Grady all earned standing ovations from the club and a worthwhile first meet experience. Additionally, former Youth Nationals athlete Siena Bertacco successfully completed all of her lift attempts with a total of 86kg. Sophia Manfre won the gold medal in the women's 55kg weight class with a total of 82kg. Sarah Grady finished off the session with an impressive 120kg total and took home bronze in the women's 71kg weight class.
Both of the Session 4 men crushed their competition as they succeeded in all of their lift attempts. University Nationals athlete Brandon Beane dominated the men's 81kg weight class with a staggering total of 198kg, bringing home a gold medal in his weight class. First-time competitor Joseph Castillo power cleaned and power snatched all of his lifts due to the adrenaline, achieved a total of 166kg, and brought home the silver in the men's 81kg weight class and gold in the junior men's overall.
In the final women's session of the day, University Nationals athlete Amelia Patrick achieved a remarkable 161kg total after succeeding in all of her lift attempts, with a snatch of 70kg and a clean and jerk of 91kg. She brought home three medals for Bruin Barbell: gold in the women's 76kg weight category, gold in junior women's overall, and silver in women's overall.
It was a long day for the Bruin Barbell team as the meet extended from 9am to 9pm. They celebrated a successful meet over a team pho dinner, with 10 athletes bringing home an impressive total of 16 medals and nine athletes succeeding in all of their lift attempts.
We would like to take the opportunity to extend a huge thank you to our amazing donors, who played a huge role in making our first year as a club sport possible! This summer, our athletes will continue training in hopes of qualifying for the USA Weightlifting University Nationals in the fall. We invite the UCLA community to continue cheering us on, and we are beyond excited for the future that lies ahead!
