By Mark Vincent A. Durano

Far Eastern University (FEU) student and powerlifter Leonard Mervin Arguelles accumulated 400 kg in three lifts, securing the bronze in the U53 (Under 53 kg) junior weight class and a silver under its novice category in the 2024 Luzon Equipped Powerlifting Championship of the Powerlifting Association of the Philippines (PAP) last November 8, at Robinsons Metro East in Marikina City.

The green-and-gold athlete ranked third out of four competitors within the 18-to-24-years-old or junior bracket, three of which are first-timers under novice.

In a post-tourney interview with FEU Advocate, the Morayta-based powerlifter reflected on his initial goal to snatch the gold.

“As a novice, I think this is very big for me, since nakakuha ako ng podium for novice and junior classes, but at the same time, I think of this achievement as something I need to look back on to get better. My mind is at the gold medal, but I had both bronze and silver,” Arguelles said.

In an attempt to break the national record of 160 kg for deadlifting within the U53 novice, he was unable to break ground with his 200 kg-lift. However, his opponent Emory Blake Navalta from the University of the Philippines bagged the record with 195 kg.

“I think I wasn't able to snatch that national record because I was too greedy trying to lift 200 kg for my last attempt sa deadlift,” he shared.

Moreover, Arguelles secured 185 kg for his second attempt in deadlifting, 10 kg higher than his first successful trial.

The Morayta-based athlete was also able to lift 132.5 kg for backsquats after both failed and successful attempts with the 125 kg weights.

For bench press, the self-trained powerlifter settled for an 82.5 kg-attempt after a successful 75 kg-lift and before an unlifted 90 kg.

Arguelles also shared how he managed to qualify for the U53 weight class, cutting down 2.5 kg of his weight from 55 kg in only four days.

“The day before and the [day of the] competition itself for me is ‘yung day na pinakatakot ako because I tried to cut my weight para makahabol ‘to sa weight class ko for only four days… I was afraid na my strength might’ve gone down. It did but only a little bit,” he stated.

The Tamaraw powerlifter was inched out by junior silver medalist Vincent Harold Lacson from De La Salle University - Dasmariñas with 402.5 kg total in the three lifts and Navalta with 435 kg, the gold medalist for novice and junior overall.

Meanwhile, the podium finisher still eyes to bag a gold in the 2025 National Raw Powerlifting Championship this upcoming February.

The second-year Psychology student had also competed for a previous federation, Philippine Powerlifting League, as his first-ever stint where he was bested by his lone competitor.

(Photo courtesy of Leonard Mervin Arguelles)