Aubry Jones is anxious to know how she will perform on the big stage.
She will find out this week when the Vancouver woman competes at the USA Weightlifting National Championships.
To be competing with the best lifters in the country less than six months after her first competition speaks to the potential that coach Arron Steiner saw when he first met Jones about 18 months ago.
“It’s truly an accomplishment to be going to a national event like this,” Steiner said, noting that most lifters train for three of more years before getting to national qualification levels.
On Feb. 1, Jones competed in her first meet. Her second competition was Oregon’s state championships on June 7, where she placed second in her weight class and fourth among all women.
“I found out that I could perform well under pressure,” she said.
Jones, 28, will compete in the division for women who weigh less than 58 kilograms (about 128 pounds). She will lift on Friday afternoon at Grand America Resort in Salt Lake City.
“My goal is to make all my lifts,” she said. “I would love to hit a PR, but I am really nervous.”
Her personal records were accomplished at the Oregon state meet. In the snatch lift Jones’ PR is 68 kilograms, which is just under 150 pounds. In the clean and jerk lift, her best is 77 kilograms, just under 170 pounds. Jones’ qualifying total of 145 kilos for the two combined lifts ranks as 26th best month those registered to compete in her weight class.
Jones and her husband Jack Etherington own CrossFit Epiphany workout facility on 18th Street near Fort Vancouver High School. They opened the business four years ago after moving to Vancouver from Utah. It was during a weightlifting clinic at their gym that Steiner recognized Jones’ potential.
“I told her give me one year and I’ll get you to nationals,” Steiner said.
It took some convincing before Jones committed to focusing on Olympic weightlifting and began training regularly under Steiner at Vulkan Weightlifting in Portland.
Jones grew up in Logan, Utah, and graduated from Utah State before relocating to Vancouver.
That these nationals are in her native state is a bonus because she will have time to visit family and friends after the competition. But having family and friends in the audience when she lifts might make her a bit more nervous.
Steiner said nationals will be much different than the two low-key meets Jones has under her belt.
“My job is to settle her down” and make sure her mind is right, Steiner said.
As a quick study with the strength and coordination needed to move weight effectively, Steiner said Jones has the potential to challenge state records, and maybe more, for her division.
“She’d have a ways to go and it would be tough but the potential is there,” Steiner said. “Where she takes it from here is up to her.”
Local coach at nationals — Bridget Raach, who coaches at CrossFit Fort Vancouver, will accompany Marah Baker of Gresham, Ore., to the national meet. Baker, 23, will compete with women in the 75 kilogram (about 165 pounds) division.
