Eastland Powerlifting Siblings Rack Up State, National, and World Records

By Chris Dertz

Eastland High School senior Cadin Colehour and his sister Natalie, a freshman, overcame gym closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic to turn in impressive performances at a couple recent powerlifting meets. Training out of their basement in Lanark, the two teens are proud holders of newly-set state, national, and world records in the sport of powerlifting.

Powerlifting is a strength sport based on the squat, the bench press, and the dead lift. The heaviest successful attempt for each event is then added together, resulting in a lifter’s “total”. Cadin and Natalie recently competed at the APF (American Powerlifting Federation) Summer Bash “17” meet held in Lombard, Illinois. Competing in the Raw Teen 16-17 100kg Division, Cadin turned in an impressive performance with a 202.5kg squat (446lbs), a 152.5kg bench press (336lbs), and a 232.5kg dead lift (512lbs), for a 587.5kg total (1295lbs). Little sister Natalie, competing in the Teen 13-15 67.5kg Division for her first-ever powerlifting meet, squatted 62.5kg (137lbs), bench pressed 40kg (88lbs), and dead lifted 87.5kg (192lbs) for a 190kg total (418lbs).  Natalie’s bench press and dead lift resulted in an AAPF (Amateur American Powerlifting Federation) Illinois record. 

A few weeks earlier, Cadin traveled to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to compete in the AWPC (Amateur World Powerlifting Congress) Worlds powerlifting meet. This meet features both national and international competitors. In this meet, Cadin competed in the Teen 16-17 90kg Division. He turned in a 202.5kg squat (446lbs), a 152.5kg bench press (336lbs), and a 230kg dead lift (506lbs) for a 585kg total (1,287lbs). His performance in the squat, bench and his total broke AAPF (Amateur American Powerlifting Federation) American records and his bench press broke the AWPC World record.

Earlier this summer, Cadin also participated in the Online Powerlifting Nationals meet, hosted by the Good Athlete Project. This was a unique event in which competitors filmed their squat, bench press, and dead lift attempts and then submitted the film to a panel of judges for evaluation. In this competition, featuring high school lifters from all over the country, Cadin won the 220lbs high school division with a 1,250lbs total, earning the title of National Champion.

Cadin and Natalie are planning on continuing their training and will next be in action at the APF Illinois State Meet in November.