Youth Weightlifting: Ashley Vogen Set to Compete at the 2015 USA Weightlifting National Youth Championships

Napa, CA (June 19th, 2015) – Ashley Vogen, a senior at Vintage High School, has qualified and will compete at the 2015 USA Weightlifting National Youth Championships in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Vogen, a three sport athlete in volleyball, basketball, and track and field, also competes in Olympic weightlifting throughout the year to help with her strength, speed, and jumping ability for sports.

“I’m so excited to the competing at youth nationals, especially since it is my last competition as a youth (17 and under) lifter. My coaches have pushed me to get to where I am now and I can’t thank them enough for that. Weightlifting means so much to me, I love everything about it and what it does for me in my other sports” said Vogen.

Olympic weightlifting tests two competition lifts: the snatch and the clean & jerk. Each lifter gets three attempts at each lift, and the highest of each of the three attempts creates an overall score, or a total. That total places the lifter within their respective weight class and age group overall. Vogen competes in the 16-17 year old age group in the 58kg (127.6 lbs) weight class. To date, Vogen has bests of 54kg (119 lbs) snatch and 69kg (152 lbs) clean & jerk.

“The thing I like most about weightlifting is you get what you put in.” said Vogen. “You can’t rely on anyone else and your success comes down to how hard you have worked as an individual... I am lifting weights now that I never thought I could and I’m having so much fun while doing it.”

From the USA Weightlifting website: “The Bloomington CVB, part of the Minneapolis-St Paul Metropolitan Area, in cooperation the Minnesota High School Weightlifting Organization, will host the 2015 USA Weightlifting National Youth Championships June 24-28. The meet will bring together 400 youth athletes, all of them age 17 and younger, from across the U.S. to compete in weightlifting.

Bloomington is home to the Mall of America and the Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport, and shuttles will operate to and from both of these key locations and the competition site.

The highest level of competition in the United States for athletes 17 years of age and under, the competition will take place at the DoubleTree by Hilton, whilst the Mall Of America will host an exhibition of weightlifting.”

John Cortese, Owner of CTS Strength & Conditioning, said he is very impressed with the work ethic and commitment that Vogen has displayed throughout the year. “Ashley is always extremely positive when she comes into the gym. She has taken to weightlifting and has progressed very quickly to the point now where she has a top 10 ranking nationally with other girls in her age group and weight class. I am very proud of how far she’s come in just over a year of training and even more excited for what the future holds for her in the sport of weightlifting.”

Also qualifying for Team CTS Strength & Conditioning but not competing at the 2015 Youth National Championships were Rachel Terrill (Senior, Vintage High School), Grace Guzman (8th grade, St. Apollinaris Catholic School), Haley Corrigan (8th grade, Silverado Middle School), and Lindsey Corrigan (6th grade, River School).

Cortese and CTS lead strength coach, Jeff Hermann, will travel to Minnesota with Vogen and her family, along with fellow CTS weightlifter and athlete Rachel Terrill.

Vogen is scheduled to compete on Saturday, June 27th at 7:30pm Central Time. The competition will be streamed live at www.teamusa.org/USA-weightlifting/LIVE

“We are very proud of Ashley and can’t wait to see how she fares against the nation’s best weightlifting athletes. It will be a great experience that she’ll remember forever.”

For more information on CTS Strength & Conditioning and their sports performance training programs for athletes, visit www.ctsgym.com