A Big New Addition to a Championship Weight Room
The powerlifting program at Abington Heights High School (Clarks Summit, PA) is one of the best in the nation. It’s so good that longtime coach Claude Welcome has a hard time remembering exactly how many team state titles the Comets have won during his four decades of coaching. Recently, they’ve won the last three boys and girls state titles and claimed a girls world champion in 2023. Abington Heights also has a pair of team national titles and six individual national champions.
“If you don’t have the horses you can’t pull the wagon,” said Welcome. “A lot of the kids, even though they weren’t powerlifters, we had to develop their technique but they had natural abilities. We have the right equipment now. It makes a big difference.”
For more than 40 years, Welcome has been overseeing the Comets weight room. His job was made more difficult by the fact that three of the combo racks and many of the bars and plates he relies on aren’t owned by the high school. The equipment is on loan, and two or three times a year it’s removed by the owner for other use.
The steady success of the powerlifting program, despite this significant setback, made the high school the ideal candidate for the second annual Life Fitness/Hammer Strength Equipment Grant through the NSCA Foundation. The grant provided strength training equipment valued at $10,000. Abington Heights claimed the grant and received an equipment package that included three Hammer Strength HD Athletic NX Racks, which were installed in the fall of 2023.
“It gives us more space and more equipment to squat with and more opportunity to do more reps,” explained Abington Heights junior Domenic Peters. “The main reason our school has had success in powerlifting is probably because of the coach. He’s a big powerlifter himself and he’s basically taught us everything he knows.”
Added sophomore Ava Lawless: “He’s been coaching the powerlifting team for about 40 years now. He’s brought a lot of lifters to nationals and even worlds. I think it’s just his attitude and positive encouragement that helps a lot of people continue to come back and compete in the sport.”
Led by the powerlifting and football teams, the weight room sees between 250 and 300 users each week. The new racks allow for more traffic, and they include bar catches, which Welcome credits as an added safety feature.
“The reaction when the students saw these new racks was the same reaction I had, ‘wow!’,” added Welcome. “They were ready to go and use them.”
“If you don’t have the horses you can’t pull the wagon,” said Welcome. “A lot of the kids, even though they weren’t powerlifters, we had to develop their technique but they had natural abilities. We have the right equipment now. It makes a big difference.”
For more than 40 years, Welcome has been overseeing the Comets weight room. His job was made more difficult by the fact that three of the combo racks and many of the bars and plates he relies on aren’t owned by the high school. The equipment is on loan, and two or three times a year it’s removed by the owner for other use.
The steady success of the powerlifting program, despite this significant setback, made the high school the ideal candidate for the second annual Life Fitness/Hammer Strength Equipment Grant through the NSCA Foundation. The grant provided strength training equipment valued at $10,000. Abington Heights claimed the grant and received an equipment package that included three Hammer Strength HD Athletic NX Racks, which were installed in the fall of 2023.
“It gives us more space and more equipment to squat with and more opportunity to do more reps,” explained Abington Heights junior Domenic Peters. “The main reason our school has had success in powerlifting is probably because of the coach. He’s a big powerlifter himself and he’s basically taught us everything he knows.”
Added sophomore Ava Lawless: “He’s been coaching the powerlifting team for about 40 years now. He’s brought a lot of lifters to nationals and even worlds. I think it’s just his attitude and positive encouragement that helps a lot of people continue to come back and compete in the sport.”
Led by the powerlifting and football teams, the weight room sees between 250 and 300 users each week. The new racks allow for more traffic, and they include bar catches, which Welcome credits as an added safety feature.
“The reaction when the students saw these new racks was the same reaction I had, ‘wow!’,” added Welcome. “They were ready to go and use them.”