Saint Louis University’s powerlifting club competed at the Beast of the Metro East meet hosted by McKendree University in Lebanon, IL on Feb. 7. The meet saw multiple members of the team set personal records , with senior Adam Bauer placing 3rd overall in the raw men’s category.
Equipment checks began promptly at 7:30 a.m. with weigh-ins shortly after at 8 a.m. After weigh-ins, lifters began their final preparations before beginning competition at 10 a.m.
“I know I had a bottle of orange juice, [and] I think a couple other people had bottles of orange juice,” said junior sports business major Jackson Luster. “This probably looks like one of the most unhealthy things. They’re coming with Celsiuses and Rice Krispies and candy and everything else. It’s purely just to get that burst of energy.”
The first lifts of the day were squats, in which junior physical therapy student Christian Nowoj set a PR of 215 kilograms (474 pounds).
Following squats, the lifters began preparations for the bench press.
“You don’t drink a ton of caffeine between your squat and bench attempt,” Luster said, explaining his decision to forgo pre-workout prior to his bench attempts. “You don’t want to be buzzing on a ton of caffeine; you have to be somewhat controlled.”
Luster’s decision to limit his caffeine intake paid off. Fueled instead by “five or six Liquid I.V.s,” Luster set a new PR of 110 kilograms (243 pounds) on his second of three attempts. Nowoj also set a bench PR with 147.5 kilograms (325 pounds).
The last scheduled activity for the competition was deadlifts.
“It’s been a long day at this point. You’ve had, essentially, six max-effort lifts at this point … you [normally] have two, maybe three, in a day,” Luster said. “You just need to keep going. Eat more rice krispies.”
Luster went 3-3 on his deadlift attempts, setting a PR of 235 kilograms (518 pounds). Senior Jude Erasmus also set a PR of 280 kilograms (617 pounds) on his second attempt.
Club president and senior economics and international business student Katrina Churchill said that powerlifting was unique in how much effort and dedication the competitors had to contribute to prepare for this meet.
“I can’t think of many other sports where you only compete twice a year,” Churchill said. “You have to put on literal pounds of muscle in between meets. You can’t just do that overnight.”
Churchill did not participate in the Beast of the Metro East, having already qualified for nationals at the club’s only previous meet in November, 2025 at William Jewell College. Teammate Ethan Tran also qualified for nationals at this meet.
“Prep for a meet starts around two months out, but beforehand you would have a phase of building muscle … it’s all high intensity,” Churchill said. “It’s not just the muscles that have to be prepared. There’s a lot of mental load that, like, ‘I literally have 400 pounds on my back,’ you have to ramp up to that.”
Three of SLU’s lifters have qualified for collegiate nationals, to be held in New Orleans this April: Churchill, Tran, and sophomore John Clayton. Senior Patryk Barnas will make his attempt to qualify on Feb. 21 at the USA Powerlifting Missouri State Championship at William Jewell College.
