The 2015 Le Championnats Louisiane came down to the wire in every category and showcased some unbelievable heart, effort and focus in all the strongmen and strongwomen. Held in the bright sunshine at First Baptist Church of Shreveport, the championships had 27 athletes and an awesome display of camaraderie and support for each other among the athletes.
In the LW women, Alison Peck came over from east Texas and won the class over Alex LaMarca. In the HW women, Chele Reynolds from Texas tried take the HW women’s crown from Leigh West of Baton Rouge and it looked like she might after a super fast 12.55 second farmers walk. But she ultimately came up short by 3 reps in the Axle DL and 2 reps in the stone shoulder. So the Leigh West aura of invincibility continues until next year.
In the master’s men, Jeff Doise and Thomas Mahaffey fought toe to toe the whole day. Finally Jeff won 1st place as Thomas came up short by only one rep in the stone shoulder. Lane Moseley finished 3rd with the biggest fan support group of the whole contest.
In LW men, Robert McClenny and Rajib Bhattacharjee were neck and neck all day. In the last two events McClenny pulled away and took first. Bhattacharjee was 2nd and Cadet Bryant took 3rd with both having an awesome log press.
The MW men was the Garrett Chandler show, plain and simple. Chandler took first in three of the five events and second in the other two events. His firsts included a 9.15 second farmers that was more like a sprint than a walk. Damikal Crow finished 2nd with an impressive 1 minute flat medley. Michael Roy finished 3rd with a great log press.
The HW men was a battle between Mo Hickingbottom of north Louisiana and Anthony LaMarca of south Louisiana. LaMarca led by one point after three events featuring an awesome axle dl but Big Mo came roaring back to win the last two events. Hickingbottom was 1st, LaMarca was 2nd and Keri Williams was 3rd largely because of a monster fast 12.63 second farmers.
The SHW men was Russell vs Gautney all day long. Cody Russell, the HW winner of the 2011 La Highlander and an experienced strongman took on Joey Gautney, former ULM football player and novice strongman. This was the closest of close as Cody won farmers by 00.21 seconds, the stone shoulder by one rep and the medley by 2 seconds. Gautney won the Axle dl by 3 reps. You will not have to look for these two in the future. They will be easy to find. Randall Reid finished 3rd.