U.S. Team Announced for 2009 World Championships

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) - USA Weightlifting is pleased to announce that 15 athletes will compete at the 2009 World Championships in Goyang, Republic of Korea from Nov. 17-29.  

The team will be led by Men's Head Coach Gayle Hatch (Baton Rouge, La.) and Women's Head Coach Bob Morris (Colorado Springs, Colo.)  Hatch and Morris will be assisted by Giuseppe Micela (Mesa, Ariz.)  Henry Myers (Savannah, Ga.) will be the Team Leader.  

"It's a great honor to be named the men's coach because in the off-Olympic years the highest position you can attain is World Team Coach," said Hatch who was the Head Men's Coach of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team.  "I'm also pleased with the World Team staff that was named and am very happy to be working with all of them." 

Team USA includes seven athletes who have competed on previous World Championship Teams.  Among this group of veterans are Olympian Kendrick Farris (Shreveport, La.) who competed on the 2006 and 2007 World Teams before placing eighth in Beijing in the 85kg division and five-time World Team member Jacquelynn Berube (Colorado Springs, Colo.) who placed in the top seven in the 58kg division in 2001 and 2005.  Berube will compete on the world stage for the first time this year as a 63kg lifter. 

The team also includes eight first-time Senior World Team members on the 15-person squad. 

"We're building a new crop of athletes and this is a young team who will get a chance to learn what the World level is all about," Hatch said.  "A lot of these guys are young and inexperienced internationally and I want to help them compete on a world class level and learn not to be intimidated so we can build on this year and the next and the next until we get to the Olympics in 2012."

Among the newcomers is Sarah Robles (Colorado Springs, Colo.) who won a silver medal at the 2008 Junior Worlds in the +75kg division and will be looking to make an impression on the senior stage.  

The roster of athletes competing at the World Championships is as follows:

Women's 48kg
Stacy Suyama (Torrance, Calif.), 2007 World Team member
Kelly Rexroad (Atlanta, Ga.)

Women's 53kg
Sarah Davis (Rincon, Ga.)

Women's 58kg
Hilary Katzenmeier (Shreveport, La.)

Women's 63kg
Jacquelynn Berube (Colorado Springs, Colo.), five-time World Team member

Women's 69kg
Sarah Bertram (Eugene, Ore.)

Women's +75kg
Sarah Robles (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

Men's 62kg
Aaron Adams (Shreveport, La.)

Men's 69kg
Henry Brower (Bloomingdale, Ga.), 2007 World Team member
Caleb Williams (Duluth, Ga.)

Men's 77kg
Lance Frye (Moorestown, N.J.), three-time World Team member

Men's 85kg
Kendrick Farris (Shreveport, La.), 2008 Olympian and three-time World Team member
Matthew Bruce (Baton Rouge, La.), three-time World Team member

Men's 105kg
Cody Gibbs (Shreveport, La.), 2007 World Team member

Men's +105kg
Patrick Judge (Colorado Springs, Colo.)