Alison Streacker Making Mark With Passion for Powerlifting

Streacker attempts to bench-press 265 pounds at the Ohio State Fair earlier this year. Streacker ended up with a 215-lb bench that day and was best female lifter.

Since 2005, Streacker has entered about 20 powerlifting competitions. She competes in the 13-15 age group, 165-pound weight class, where she has bench pressed as much as 245 pounds and deadlifted as much as 340 pounds.

January 2, 2009

Alison Streacker's passion for sports and activity extended to her Christmas list.  The St. Joseph Central Catholic sophomore asked for a treadmill for Christmas.

Streacker enjoys playing volleyball, Streacker has a passion for another more unusual sport -- powerlifting.

"It all began originally for volleyball training," Streacker said. "I needed to use weights to gain strength for volleyball. I found out that I was stronger than I thought."

About 2 1/2 years later, Streacker is hooked on powerlifting. So much that she asked Santa Claus for a treadmill, which she would use for cardiovascular workouts.

"In the winter, it gets really cold and I need to get to the gym," Streacker said. "Sometimes, the weather does not cooperate. Having a treadmill at home would give me more motivation."

Streacker spends four days, 8-10 hours a week doing three main exercises -- bench presses, deadlifts and squats -- at Ironman II. Her trainer is Scott Vickery.

"She's relentless," Vickery said of Streacker's work ethic. "She is the hardest working lifter I have at the gym because she's never satisfied with her effort. In her mind, nothing is ever good enough."

Since 2005, Streacker has entered about 20 powerlifting competitions. She competes in the 13-15 age group, 165-pound weight class, where she has bench pressed as much as 245 pounds and deadlifted as much as 340 pounds. Streacker has yet to record a squat during a powerlifting event.

"You have three attempts to qualify a squat, but I haven't been able to get one," said Streacker, who has successfully squatted 505 pounds in practice.

Streacker has competed in powerlifting events at the state fair in Columbus, Hamilton (in the Cincinnati metro area) and Louisville, Ky. Vickery said Streacker's next competition will be at the International Powerlifters Association Pro-Am on Jan. 17-18 in Columbus.

"One thing I have yet to understand about her is that she's not afraid of the weight," Vickery said. "For someone who is relatively new to powerlifting, she will get under the weight without any fear."

Vickery said some powerlifters will attempt any amount of weight, but fear later they have taken on too much. But Streacker isn't one of those powerlifters.

"If you take on too much, you could hurt yourself," Vickery said. "Just looking at it, some times you can see there's a lot of weight on the bar."

Streacker is also keeping busy by practicing with her Black Swamp Volleyball Club 16-and-under team and by sticking to her workout regiment. The club volleyball season begins in February.

"I have to force myself to take time off from working out," Streacker said. "Even though I'm very active with volleyball and powerlifting, I have to have time for myself too. Working out can be addictive."

But when Streacker is honing her skills in the gym, she expects top results.

"I'm a perfectionist," Streacker said. "I've thought about playing volleyball in college, but lifting is something I can do for the rest of my life."

She is also a perfectionist in the classroom, where her GPA tops the 4.0 mark.

Streacker even has her eye on breaking a powerlifting world record.

"The top girl who has the bench press record is in the next highest weight class," Streacker said. "The record is 280 pounds."

That leaves Streacker 35-40 pounds short of the mark. But as her star rises in the world of powerlifting, Streacker has a lot of time on her side.

"When people at competitions have seen Alison compete, they assume she is 18 or 19 years old," Vickery said. "They can't believe she's only 15."

In Spring 2009, when Powerlifting USA releases its annual rankings, Vickery thinks Streacker has a shot to be rated No. 1 in the world in her age class.

"She's already among the top 20 women powerlifters in the world," Vickery said. "When the teen rankings come out, she should be right up there."

Source:  Fremont (OH) News-Messenger