The liftoff of Concordia Lifting Sports occurred in 2022-23 as Head Coach Freddie Myles led the program into its inaugural season of competition. The first official athletic event arrived on Sept. 10, 2022, less than a year after the athletic department announced the launch of lifting sports in November 2021. Roughly a month later, Myles emerged as the program’s first head coach. The native Californian quickly fortified the initial roster with a combined 19 men’s and women’s athletes.
Formerly the operator of his own gym, Myles Ahead Fitness, Inc., Myles relished the chance to build something from scratch and mold the program to fit his vision. As Myles said prior to the 2022-23 season, “It’s a unique opportunity to be able to start something completely from scratch. I can put my own stamp on this thing and have things how I want to do it and create a program that I think is best. I’m quite honored for the university to have that trust in me to create a new program here at Concordia. I hope it will be very successful and lead to many kids setting personal records, winning national championships and maybe making it on international teams.”
The 2022-23 season served as a foundation for a program that aspires to succeed both regionally and nationally. For those unfamiliar, lifting sports at Concordia is broken down into two disciplines: powerlifting and weightlifting. Powerlifting tests athletes’ strength in squat, bench press and deadlift while weightlifting is made up of snatch and clean and jerk. The schedule for the Bulldogs this past year featured a total of eight events, including national championship appearances in both powerlifting and weightlifting.
A total of eight athletes represented Concordia between the 2023 National University Weightlifting Championships held in Columbus, Ohio, March 2-3 and the 2023 USA Powerlifting Collegiate National Championships held in Arlington, Texas, April 13-14. The qualifiers in weightlifting included Marry Berris, Evan Fukuhara, Rylee Kara and Kayleigh Maloney while the qualifiers in powerlifting included Dax Davis, Kenzie Houser, Rylee Ladd and Emma Singer. Among the highlights, Maloney came away with a first-place medal in snatch. Every single one of those athletes were freshmen.
In other words, Myles has reason for optimism moving forward. As Myles explained, “I was very happy with the improvement the athletes made over the course of the first year. We had five athletes qualify for the weightlifting national championships and five qualify for the powerlifting national championships (eight total traveled for competition). I hope to double those numbers next year.”
Just like any other student-athletes, members of the lifting sports program have a lot on their plates. A native of Sacramento, Calif., Fukuhara was a late addition to the roster during the 2022-23 academic year. He made an immediate impact while qualifying for the national championships in powerlifting.
Said Fukuhara, “Being a member of the team has been a great experience for me. It does take a fair amount of commitment to hone in on my craft. We have to be cautious with what we eat, get enough sleep and be able to balance our academics as well. It’s a balancing act for sure, but all worth it in order to be the best student-athletes we can be.”
Fukuhara said he was drawn to Concordia, at least in part, by Myles’ expertise as a coach. Since 2005, Myles has worked with 21 national champions in weightlifting and powerlifting, three American record holders, seven international competitors, one Pan American champion, four world champions and four national championship teams. Those credentials gave the Bulldog program credibility from the jump.
“The thing that excited me the most about partaking in this program was the idea to be part of a new developing team and getting coached by Freddie,” Fukuhara added. “I had heard lots of great things about his coaching and was not disappointed. He is a great coach.”
In her first go-round at powerlifting nationals, the Chetek, Wis., native Ladd placed in the top 20 of the 56 kg weight class. Ladd arrived at Concordia via Cameron High School eager to help Myles get the program off the ground. Said Ladd, “For me, I was excited to be part of Coach Myles' team as one of the program's first-year athletes because it gave me the chance to help build and shape the team into something supportive, positive and strong. We are creating something completely new, not only just at Concordia, but as one of the first colleges to have a powerlifting team like this. I feel so grateful to have the opportunity to help put together a team that can help each other grow and improve.”
Myles has added former Bulldog football student-athlete Chevy Stout to his staff as an assistant and is in the process of expanding the roster heading into 2023-24. Expectations will also expand as the freshmen will turn to sophomores this coming fall. As second-year collegiate athletes, they will take on leadership roles while the roster remains a youthful one.
As Ladd stated, “Nationals brought new experiences and memories with my teammates and coach, and competing against and with athletes at a national level made me all the more excited to see what I could bring next year. I look forward to all the progress I will make, records I will break and medals I will win in the coming season. I'm excited to welcome all our new athletes into the powerlifting program and begin practices and activities to bring our lifters closer together as teammates and as students. I am confident Coach Myles and our team will lead the program to great things.”