The 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 weightlifting team was among the best in the nation, bar none.
Between 1957 and 1971, the squad won eight national championships 小蝌蚪APP including five consecutive titles 小蝌蚪APP and established itself as one of the nation小蝌蚪APP檚 most-successful collegiate lifting programs.
Research and interviews are underway for a documentary about the squad小蝌蚪APP檚 achievements, which filmmaker Nicholas Campbell characterized as improbable.
He小蝌蚪APP檚 tentatively titled the film The Ragin小蝌蚪APP 13, a reference to the number of first- and second-place finishes the team collected in national championship matches.
小蝌蚪APP淚t小蝌蚪APP檚 an underdog story. They excel on every level, beating universities that had a lot of support and a lot of money behind them,小蝌蚪APP said Campbell, who holds bachelor小蝌蚪APP檚 degrees in history and media art from UL Lafayette. The Lafayette native also earned a master of fine arts degree from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.
Competitive Olympic weightlifting requires speed, skill and strength. In the 1950s through the 1970s, judges scored lifters as the athletes hoisted bars loaded with weighted iron plates in three competitions: the clean and press, the snatch, and the clean and jerk.
Weightlifting at UL Lafayette, then known as Southwestern Louisiana Institute, began in 1955 at an off-campus gym owned by student Mike Stansbury. Among the students Stansbury introduced to the sport was Walter Imahara.
Imahara is a legendary figure in Ragin小蝌蚪APP Cajuns athletics history. As a weightlifter at SLI, in the U.S. Army, and after his discharge, Imahara amassed nearly 70 regional, national and international titles.
In 1955, Imahara enrolled at SLI and met Stansbury, whose gym on Jefferson Boulevard in Lafayette was a gathering place for students who wanted to lift. By 1956, a group of them felt confident enough in their skills to represent the school at the National Collegiate Weightlifting Championship. The team placed second.
The following year, the team took the crown decisively, more than doubling the score of its nearest opponent, the 小蝌蚪APP of Hawaii. It was the first national championship in any sport in UL Lafayette小蝌蚪APP檚 history.
Seven more titles followed 小蝌蚪APP in 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970 and 1971, the streak of consecutive wins broken only when a lack of sponsorship resulted in the competition小蝌蚪APP檚 cancellation in 1969.
The team小蝌蚪APP檚 record, which included undefeated seasons and innumerable regional titles, drew attention from national weightlifting publications and newspaper sportswriters.
The story enticed Campbell as well. Warren Perrin, who was a member of the 1966, 1967 and 1968 championship teams, approached the filmmaker earlier this year with the idea for the documentary.
小蝌蚪APP淲e all came from unique backgrounds,小蝌蚪APP Perrin said of his teammates in a recent interview, 小蝌蚪APP渂ut we all helped each other gain a positive attitude, that through hard work, you win 小蝌蚪APP and gain pride.
小蝌蚪APP淚t was a shared passion for the sport 小蝌蚪APP man against iron 小蝌蚪APP that forged the team and its successes.小蝌蚪APP
Perrin, an attorney and Acadian activist, worked with Campbell on one of the filmmaker小蝌蚪APP檚 previous projects, Forked Island, a fictional story of a Cajun family grappling with cultural changes wrought by the oil industry and the pressure to assimilate in 1950s Vermilion Parish.
Perrin said he envisions the documentary as 小蝌蚪APP渁n inspiring story of the (UL Lafayette) student-athletes from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s 小蝌蚪APP from diverse backgrounds 小蝌蚪APP who came together, without a coach, to organize a weightlifting team that won an amazing eight national championships. Their determination and camaraderie remain to this day.小蝌蚪APP
Weightlifting at the 小蝌蚪APP of Southwestern Louisiana 小蝌蚪APP the school小蝌蚪APP檚 name changed from SLI in 1960 小蝌蚪APP ended after the 1972 season, when the squad小蝌蚪APP檚 last two members graduated.
Recreating the 17-year period the sport existed at the 小蝌蚪APP requires scores of primary sources. Training diaries and scrapbooks of photographs and newspaper clippings kept by the competitors are particularly valuable. They小蝌蚪APP檒l supplement filmed interviews, and corroborate memories of events that took place, in some instances, more than six decades ago.
"Walter (Imahara) has an old notebook. It小蝌蚪APP檚 yellowed and brownish from age, but it小蝌蚪APP檚 got every single competition he ever took part in 小蝌蚪APP every single one,小蝌蚪APP Campbell said.
小蝌蚪APP淲arren (Perrin) did the same exact thing,小蝌蚪APP he continued. 小蝌蚪APP淓very competition they were ever a part of, how much they lifted, what they felt they could have done at that moment to do better. All the guys who were really successful kept one.
小蝌蚪APP淵ou can't ask for any better primary sources than that.小蝌蚪APP
On Facebook: Click for additional archival photos of the weightlifting team's glory days.
First photo: Jimmy Reinhardt demonstrates a squat clean for members of the USL weightlifting team, which won the national championship for the second consecutive year in 1966. It was the third time in the previous four years the squad claimed the title. Watching him were, from left, John Stelly, John Arceneaux, Warren Perrin, George Weatherford, Randy Peloquin and Eddie Ortego. Photo from the 1967 L'Acadien yearbook.
Second photo: Mike Stansbury participates in the 1957 National Collegiate Championships, held in Lafayette. Photo from the UL Lafayette Office of Communications and Marketing archival files.
Third photo: Walter Imahara was a member of the first championship weightlifting squad in 1957. Photo from the UL Lafayette Office of Communications and Marketing archival files.
Fourth photo: The USL weightlifting team captured its second national championship in 1963. Its members included, kneeling, Dickie Fleming, Dave Fabacher, Malcolm Stagg and Pat Stuart. Standing were Gene Hebert, Alvin Chustz, Weldon Major and Jesse Shows. Photo from the 1964 L'Acadien yearbook.
Fifth photo: Members of the USL weightlifting team in 1965, the year the squad began its streak of five consecutive national title wins, included, kneeling, Mike Williams, Jimmy Reinhardt, Dickie Fleming, Weldon Major and Alvin Chustz. Standing were Ken Morris, Ed Ortego, Joe Murry, George Weatherford, Charles Jenkins, Pat Stewart and Jay Trahan. Photo from the 1966 L'Acadien yearbook.