My Powerlifting USA subscription goes back to 1994, so I dug up an old issue to see the results of the 1994 State Meet. It was the USPF back then, but it was still drug-tested and hosted by Paul Fletcher in Baton Rouge.
At that meet, 3 divisions were offered:
Open
Masters
Teen
The attendance was HUGE and the classes were deep and competitive. I would have loved to have competed in a state meet like that!
Unfortunately, by the late 90's, a zillion different divisions had been created and the classes were shallow. No real competition existed and most went home as an uncontested state champion. I don't think this helped matters. In fact, I think it killed the state meet. Attendance at the state meet today is a fraction of what it was 12 years ago.
Hopefully, we can make the state meet what it used to be..
|