Scott Jennings and Sami Depass were the most formidable competitors in the respective men’s and women’s sections at the 2021 National Powerlifting Association of Jamaica (NPAJ) championship on Saturday.

The 26-year-old Jennings, who competed in the 83kg category, was the best men’s lifter overall, scoring 102.08 points to walk away from the University of Technology auditorium with the title. He had a best of 555lb in the squat; 375lb in the bench press; and 685lb in the deadlift.

Jevon DaCosta (95.168 points) and Jonhoi Vaughn (89.582) were second and third, respectively.

Depass, 23, was arguably even more impressive in the 76kg women’s competition, notching 96.62 points for overall first place. She lifted a best of 400lb in the squat; 200lb in the bench; and 470lb in the deadlift.

Simona Mahfouz was the second-best women’s lifter with 81.104 points, while Fiona Binns (58.106) was third.

In powerlifting, which is an individual sport, the goal is to lift the greatest weight possible in squat, bench press, and deadlift. Athletes have three attempts to reach their maximum capacity. The heaviest lifts are combined to give a final points total.

Jennings, who failed at his first two attempts to deadlift 685lb, was satisfied with the day’s effort.

“The squats went well — I squatted everything I expected to squat. The bench was a little iffy — there were some technical problems that were a little beyond my control, but that’s fine. The deadlift is my pet lift, but things never went so well, I don’t know why,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

“I should be able to do better than that, but that’s fine. Competition is different from training — there are a lot of factors involved. But adversity is important for building character, adversity is important for building champions,” Jennings explained.

Depass, whose only blip came in the attempt to bench lift 225lb, was excited to compete against her peers.

“Deadlift is my bread and butter — I love deadlifting, I’m great at deadlifting. I would say that I struggle the most with bench because it comes right after squats and you use your back a lot in a squat, and my back typically cramps up as I reach my bench,” she told the Observer.

“I’m really pleased with my performance today. The camaraderie you have with your competitors is a huge part of making it fun and exciting even though you’re trying to do your best against them,” she said, while indicating the event ran “well” given the association is only 11 months old.

The NPAJ was incorporated in December 2020, and became a member of the International Powerlifting Federation in February this year.

— Sanjay Myers