A brief personal history? please do not type in all caps!
I was born in Joliet, Illinois in 1972. When I was seven years old, my family moved to Arizona, which is where I grew up. I lived in Washington state for 12 years when I was in the prime years of my Olympic weightlifting career. After the Olympic Trials in 2004, I moved back to Arizona to be closer to family and start living a more normal life. I have bachelors and masters degrees in education, and I’ve been a high school English teacher since 1997. I also coached high school football and track and field for 20 seasons, in addition to all the different parts of my weightlifting life. 

What led you to your sport?
I was a football player in high school, so we were required to lift weights. I quickly fell in love with lifting because I was good at it, and I started reading magazines like Powerlifting USA and Ironman. I found an ad for my first powerlifting meet in 1988, and that’s where my career as a competitive lifter started. I had no coaching, no training partners, no guidance, and no help. I was completely self-taught. I competed in powerlifting all through high school, but then I converted over to Olympic lifting full-time the summer after I graduated. As with powerlifting, I was self taught and learned on my own. But when I went to my first Olympic lifting meet in 1990, I was spotted by a coach who was with the national junior program. He got me a special invitation to a national camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, which is where I met John Thrush, my future coach. John recruited me to move to Washington to train for him, and the rest is history!

Tell us about your achievements in your sport (using bullet form).
Powerlifting - 1989 High School National Powerlifting Champion - Two-time Arizona State Powerlifting Champion - 2001 World Cup Deadlift Champion - Multiple National Masters Powerlifting Championships 2017-2022 - 2018 IPF Masters World Championship Team Olympic Weightlifting - Two-time National University Champion - Multiple state and regional championships in Arizona, Washington, and Oregon - Two-time Vancouver Sea Festival Champion - Five-time American Open medalist - Four-time Senior National medalist - 2004 Olympic Trials competitor - 2000 World University Championship competitor - Two-time American Masters Champion 

Tell us about your state, national and world records. ( using bullet form)
- Multiple state records in powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting in Arizona and Washington - High School National record holder in powerlifting (520 lb deadlift, 198 lb class, 14-16 age group) - Masters National record holder in powerlifting (622 lb squat, 275 lb class, 45-49 age group) Best official lifts: - Snatch- 155 kg - Clean and Jerk- 185 kg - Squat- 714 lbs - Bench Press- 391 lbs - Deadlift- 672 lbs **All lifts done 100% drug free

Tells us about any other accomplishments.
I’ve been a coach for almost as long as I’ve been a competitive lifter. I’ve coached multiple programs at the high school, collegiate, and private sector levels. I’ve had multiple athletes who competed at the national and international level in Olympic lifting, and I am a member of the USAW Coaching Committee.