sports
Freedom Of The
(Bench) Press
STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
S
The care of your varicose veins and other vascular
conditions should not be left to chance.
Trust the only Board Certified Vascular Surgeon in the Birmingham/Bloomfield
area to guide you through all your options.
We offer the most advanced treatment in our expansive, state-of-the-art office.
Come see the difference that 18 years of experience makes and the
personalized attention that we can deliver.
Diego A. Hernandez, MD, FACS
Natalie Marcus, NP
43700 Woodward Avenue – Suite 208
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302
248-481-2100
SPRING
OPEN STUDIO
FRI., MAY 4TH, 4-8 PM
Portion of the proceeds
SAT., MAY 5TH, 12-6 PM
donated to the Michigan
SUN., MAY 6TH, 12-6 PM
Humane Society
Free, public event with live
epiphanyglass.com
glassblowing demonstrations
Call 248.745.3786 for Info
One-of-a-Kind
770 Orchard Lake Rd
Sculptures + Gifts
Pontiac, MI 48341
000000
46
April 26 • 2018
jn
omething was missing in Jeff
Ellis’ storied weightlifting career.
It isn’t missing any longer.
The 58-year-old West Bloomfield
resident competed in a national meet
for the first time and, to top it off, he
won a gold medal.
His 275-pound bench press gave
him first place in the age 55-59
198-pound division in the Amateur
American Powerlifting Federation
national meet April 20 at the DeVos
Place Convention Center in down-
town Grand Rapids.
Ellis lifted 264 pounds on his first
try, but he was disqualified at 275
pounds on his second lift.
“I racked the bar too early,” he said.
“I wasn’t happy. It’s like losing your
concentration and getting picked off
first base.”
Ellis went back to work and lifted
275 pounds on his third and final lift.
“Redemption,” Ellis said when asked
to describe his last lift.
“But I was a little disappointed,” he
said. “That 264-pound lift would have
been good for first place, but I wanted
to try 286 or 290. There was no guar-
antee I could do that, so I stayed at
275.
“It was a respectable lift. When peo-
ple look at AAPF championship lifts
down the road, I want them to think I
had a decent lift. The last two champi-
onship lifts (in the division) were 286
and 259 pounds.”
Competing in the AAPF national
meet was a feat in itself for Ellis, who
will turn 59 on May 1.
He qualified for the 2016 and 2017
national meets but couldn’t compete
because of injuries. A bad shoulder
sidelined him in 2016 and a torn tri-
ceps tendon knocked him out in 2017.
Ellis earned a spot in the 2018
national meet in December when
he won his division in the AAPF
Michigan Holiday Push-Pull Meet
in Royal Oak. His winning lift of 290
pounds tied his AAPF state record.
Ellis won another Michigan Senior
Olympics gold medal in February
when he took first place in his division
in the Winter Games in Rochester
with a bench press of 281 pounds.
It was his 14th gold medal to go
along with one silver and one bronze
from the 16 Michigan Senior Olympics
games in which he’s competed.
Ellis plans to compete in the
Michigan Senior Olympics Summer
Games and the AAPF meet in Royal
Oak later this year.
Weightlifter Jeff Ellis
THREE-PIN WIN
Detroit bowlers won two major
championships in the International
B’nai B’rith Bowling Association’s 77th
annual national tournament held last
month in Denver, Colo.
Waxer’s Roses won the team title
with a score (with handicap) of 5,455,
beating runner-up Fake News from
Tinley Park, Ill., by only three pins and
third-place Fricken Ten Pins from
Kansas City, Mo., by 15 pins in the
20-team competition.
Howard Waxer, Mitch Lefton, Jerry
Rose and Howie Gerenraich from the
Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson League
were on the Waxer’s Roses team.
Gerenraich also won the Class A
(168 average and above) singles title
with a score (with handicap) of 1,478.
Runner-up Scott Hecht from Kansas
City, Mo., had 1,432.
Each bowler rolled three games
each day of the tournament.
“I had 688 (without handicap) the
first day and 712 the second day, but I
thought I bowled better the first day,”
said Gerenraich, who underwent knee
replacement surgery last May.
The surgery was on his left knee ...
the sliding knee for a right-handed
bowler like Gerenraich.
Gerenraich said the knee had been
giving him problems for about 15
years “but it really went south last
year. It was inevitable that I had to
have the surgery.”
Even though his knee is still
numb, Gerenraich bowled 256-267-
279—802 on March 5 as a sub in the
Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson League.
Gerenraich has run the pro shop at
Airway Lanes in Waterford since 1993.
Scott Mattler from the Brother-
hood-Eddie Jacobson League was
fourth in Class B singles with a score
(with handicap) of 1,400 in the IBBA
national tournament. •
Send news to stevestein502004@yahoo.com.