Katherine Redcher-Bowling is not only a kindergarten teacher during the day and a Sacramento State student at night, but also a US National Weightlifting Championship medallist.

Bowling and five other members of the Sac State Olympic Weightlifting Club competed at the competition in New York, taking home three silvers and a bronze. The six members consisted of four men and two women who competed against their own weight class.

Bowling took the three silver medals.

At the championship there were over 130 competitors from other schools and clubs. Each weight group had between six to thirteen people competing.

Sac State?s hours of training in the gym during their free-time paid off for the competitors.

“We were pretty happy with our performance,” Bowling said. “We had no bomb outs.”

The team spent hours in the gym training, an average of at least nine hours a week throughout the year.

In Olympic style weightlifting each competitor gets three snatches and three clean-and-jerks.

Bowling snatched 170.5-pounds, clean-and-jerked 214.5 pounds and lifted a total of 847 pounds. Erin Doyle, the other medallist, snatched 192.5 pounds to take the bronze in his weight class.

The bright spot for the team came at the hands of Paul Bowling, who set a personal best on one of his lifts.

Each member had to have a qualifying total in past competitions to advance to the championships.

The club does not consist of just the six members that qualified. It has a total of 30 members. The experience of the team ranges from beginner to advanced members who have been lifting for as long as nine years.

“We have people who just want to do it with no background,” Bowling said. “You have to dedicate yourself. It is a competitive sports club.”

The club has several competitions that they compete in throughout the year. This year alone there were four events held here at Sac State.

Victor Hall finished 9th place with a total of 544.5 pounds. Jason Stowers finished sixth in his weight class totaling 671 pounds, and Greg Johnson finished fifth place totaling 665.5 pounds.