Titans' Track & Field Coach Wins USA Weightlifting Event
UW-Oshkosh assistant track & field coach Mary Theisen-Lappen won her bodyweight category with an impressive performance at the USA Weightlifting American Open Finals held Dec. 5-8 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Competing in the women’s +87 kilogram (191 pounds & over) division, Theisen-Lappen accumulated 443.9 points during her six lifts to easily defeat 15 other contestants.
Theisen-Lappen, who recorded the third-highest +87 score in U.S. history, established personal bests with her lifts of 106 kilograms (233 pounds) in the snatch and 154 kilograms (339) in the clean & jerk. Her overall lift figure of 260 kilograms (573 pounds) also set a personal best.
Ashamarie Benitez finished second to Theisen-Lappen with 349.8 points (242 kilograms), Tiffany Vu third with 282.8 (227), Katlin Kallmeyer fourth with 218.4 (210) and Mackenzie Miller fifth with 211.5 (208).
Theisen-Lappen is her fourth season as the full-time throws coach for the UW-Oshkosh men's and women's track & field programs. She was UW-Oshkosh’s interim head men’s and women’s track & field coach during the 2016-17 season.
Theisen-Lappen, an Eau Claire Regis High School graduate, began her collegiate career at NCAA Division II Winona State University (Minn.). She totaled five All-America awards for the Warriors, including one with her first-place effort in the discus at the 2011 national outdoor championship. In 2011, Theisen-Lappen was named the Central Region Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Following three seasons at Winona State University, Theisen-Lappen transferred to NCAA Division I Indiana State University. She earned three All-America citations for the Sycamores during the 2014 season and was named the Most Outstanding Field Athlete at the Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championship. Theisen-Lappen concluded her collegiate career by placing ninth in the shot put at the USA Outdoor Championship.
Theisen-Lappen will lift again at the American Open Series 1 at The Arnold on March 5-8 in Columbus, Ohio.