BRAINERD — Ninety-eight lifters will participate in the 33rd annual Sertoma Sunrise Warrior Liftathon fundraiser on March 7, 8 and 9 at 3:30 each day in the Brainerd High School strength room.
Participants include 66 boys and 32 girls from the Brainerd school district in grades 8-12. There are nine fundraising teams with 10-12 lifters per team. The teams are captained by Sertoma Sunrise Club members, who will seek pledges from the community on behalf of their team.
The Liftathon raises funds for charitable organizations and those in need in the Brainerd area, and also raises funds for improvements in the school district weight rooms.
Participants may also compete for T-shirts based upon MPPO guidelines. MPPO is a measure of a lifter's overall strength in relation to body size. The lifter's one-repetition maximum effort in each lift is added together, and then divided by the person's body weight to determine MPPO. The lifts are the bench press, power clean and parallel squat.
T-shirts are awarded for MPPO performance level. The boys' standard is 4.00 or greater for lifters with a body weight under 250 pounds, and 3.50 or greater for lifters with a body weight of 250 pounds or more.
ADVERTISEMENT
The girls' standard is 2.75 or greater for lifters with a body weight under 180 pounds, and 2.50 or greater for lifters with a body weight of 180 pounds or more. T-shirts are also awarded to lifters who have participated in the Liftathon a minimum of three years.
Stephen G. Nunnink MPPO scholarships are awarded to the top male and female lifter based upon MPPO performance. Jacob Holm and Brenna Deason were the top male and female lifters in the 2022 Liftathon. Nunnink initiated the MPPO concept when he founded the Brainerd strength program in 1975.
The Warrior Wall is a display area next to the high school weight room that recognizes the top 10 all-time MPPO in each grade for boys and girls, and the overall top 10 bench press, power clean and parallel squat performances for the boys and girls since the Liftathon began in 1991. Several top 10 performances are anticipated in this year's event.
The three day event will be judged by Brainerd coaching and teaching staff, area law enforcement officers, community members and former Liftathon participants.
The event is free and open to the public.
The Trust Project
