"This is the first time we’ve brought the state meet to a full convention center like this," said Chloe Darnell, director and co-owner of Powerbelly Barbell. "Because this is a qualifying meet for nationals, I wanted it to feel like a national-level event. National meets are held in conference centers, banquet halls and similar venues. Lansing is centrally located, so lifters from all corners of Michigan could make it without a long drive. I wanted it to be accessible for families and friends too, and there are hotels right here, so everyone can be close to the action."

Planning a meet of this scale required months of coordination. Darnell and Dane Roach, the state chair and co-director, began conversations in April, secured the Lansing Center in late May, and opened registration on June 1, which filled in just three days.

From there it was a whirlwind of logistics: ordering shirts and medals, arranging sponsorships, coordinating with the Lansing Sports Commission for athlete badges, signage and elevator stickers and organizing equipment for the warm-up areas.

"We had to borrow equipment from multiple gyms for the warm-up area—racks, thousands of pounds of weights, barbells," Roach said. "We also brought in referees from out of state, like Mississippi and Alabama, to make sure everyone saw the national standard. This is how lifters get that real national-meet feel."

The championship also featured a primetime session for Michigan’s top 12 men and women, as ranked by performance dots — a metric that balances body weight against lifted weight. 

"Top was $2,500, second was $1,000, third was $500," Darnell said. "We wanted to give these athletes a platform where they could shine, experience the energy of a national-level competition, and go home feeling like they’d truly competed at the highest level. We use ComboRacks for all three lifts, and TSS power bars to make sure the lifters have the best possible environment to perform."

When the meet began, the Lansing Center came alive. Keegan Parker, a 100 kg lifter, described the backstage focus as one to rival, where everyone cheers each other and the place is void of bad blood. 

"Game day is about locking in, kind of being in my own world," Parker said. "Headphones go right back on when I step off the platform. Go-to songs are ‘Trophies’ by Drake, ‘Dreams & Nightmares’ by Meek Mill."

The competition itself was intense. One lifter posted a 744-pound squat, a 446-pound bench and a 727-pound deadlift all in one night, yet still came in third — a testament to the scoring system that factors in body weight and lifted weight. 

For the organizers, the meet reflected the explosive growth of Michigan powerlifting. 

"My first meet was in 2015 in a CrossFit gym—no music, no awards, bare bones," Roach said. "Now, in just a decade, we’ve gone from that to a full-scale event in a convention center with livestreaming and thousands of pounds of equipment."

Throughout the two days, the Lansing Center was filled with cheering crowds and chalk-filled platforms from a job well done, proving that powerlifting in Michigan is growing at a pace we couldn’t even imagine. 

As Parker says, "[Powerlifting] is about stepping on the platform and giving everything you have."