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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, April 20, 2001

Small College Notebook
BYUH freshman tops state power lifting records in first competition

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

After holding her own in her first season with the Brigham Young-Hawai'i volleyball team, freshman Diana West decided she was ready for a weightier challenge.

Was she ever.

In her very first weightlifting competition, the 5-foot-6 West set four national AAU records at the AAU Hawai'i State Power Lifting Championships held April 7.

West competed in the women's teenage and women's open divisions at 148 pounds.

In the squat competition, West lifted 286.5, 325 and 363.75 pounds on successive squats, destroying the existing women's teenage record by nearly 80 pounds. Her final lift also broke the existing women's open record of 350 pounds.

West's previous high in training was 335 pounds.

"My legs felt really strong," she said. "I didn't really feel like I had done all I could."

West lifted 319.5 pounds on her first attempt at the dead lift, breaking the existing women's teenage record of 315. She then extended the record with dead lifts of 336 and 347 pounds. Her total for the three lifts also set a new record.

"I felt I could do well, but I did a little better than I expected," West said.

West's record-setting performances are even more impressive considering the Palmer, Alaska, native didn't start power lifting until just three months ago.

"Our trainer (Evan Nakachi) saw that I was kind of strong, so he asked me if I'd be interested in power lifting," West said. "Before I got (to BYUH), I'd never trained seriously."

West was recruited as an outside hitter, but spent much of her freshman season honing her defense as a back row specialist. She began her power lifting training after the volleyball season, focusing particularly on the fundamentals of form.

"I had to completely re-learn how to squat," she said. "I wasn't very good at the dead lift either, but my body just sort of adapted to it."

West, a devoted lover of the outdoors, has had a lot to adapt to since arriving in Hawai'i.

"I'm not much of a water person," she said. "In Alaska, it's all snow."

Still, West said she's enjoyed her few forays into surfing and spearfishing.

The spring semester over, West is heading back home to Alaska, where she hopes to get a summer job working on the pipeline.

"I'll find some way to work out while I'm there," she said. "I have to stay strong."

SOFTBALL

Playoff hunt: With the race for the PacWest Pacific Division championship already decided in Hawai'i Pacific's favor, Hawai'i Hilo is turning its efforts toward securing an at-large berth in the Pacific West Conference playoffs.

HPU and the Western Division champion will receive automatic berths to the tournament. UH-Hilo, Western Washington, Western New Mexico and Western Oregon are the leading contenders for the two remaining berths, which are determined by the conference's power ratings.

Western Washington and Western New Mexico have higher ratings heading into the final weekend of the regular season, but Western New Mexico has only played three NCAA Division II Western Region teams.

UH-Hilo head coach Callen Perreira said the school will ask the conference for a clarification on how the power rankings are determined.

Whatever happens, UH-Hilo will be well-stocked for next season's campaign. The Vulcans recently signed a pair of 2000 all-Americans in Wendy Layton and Kelly Moore.

Layton, a transfer from Shasta Community College (Calif.) batted .360 with four homers and 39 RBI last year.

Moore, a transfer from San Joaquin Delta College (Calif.), last year hit .423 with 35 RBI.

They join Tara Martinez, a right-handed pitcher from Rancho Cucamonga High School in California. Martinez has a 3-0 record with an 0.00 ERA and one no-hitter so far this season.