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<p><strong>By Mike McCombs</strong><br><strong>Photo by Bob Sofaly</strong></p>
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<p>As far as national championships go, it was about as ho hum as it gets for Beaufort’s C.J. Cummings on Friday afternoon.</p>
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<p>Cummings went 6-for-6 in his lifts and wasn’t challenged, winning gold medals in the Snatch, Clean &amp; Jerk and Overall in the 73-kilogram weight class at the USA Weightlifting National Championships in Detroit.</p>
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<p>It is the first senior National Championship for the 21-year-old Cummings.</p>
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<p>“I didn’t really think about that (being the first senior championship),” Cummings said. “But I guess it is. Yeah, it felt pretty good.”</p>
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<p>Team Beaufort Coach Ray Jones said the goal was really for Cummings to have a great “workout.”</p>
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<p>“It was a good thing for him to make body weight,” Jones said. “Plus, (USA Weightlifting) wanted him to be there anyway. They wanted to have a good send-off for the Olympians.”</p>
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<p>Cummings competed lifts of 130, 135 and 140 kg in the Snatch and 165, 170 and 175 kg in the Clean &amp; Jerk for an overall total of 315. His total was good enough to win by 31 kg over second-place Omar Mohamed.</p>
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<p>For comparison’s sake, when he won gold at the Pan Am Games in April in the Dominican Republic, Cummings didn’t even attempt a lift as light as Friday’s top Snatch or Clean &amp; Jerk. At that meet, Cummings set an American record in the Snatch with a lift of 155kg – only good enough for silver – and his overall total was 343 kg.</p>
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<p>“It keeps me on track,” Cummings said of the conservative approach. “Every week I have to hit a certain percentage (of my lifts). It’s just good training to be sure I keep hitting my marks.”</p>
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<p>Next up for Cummings are the Summer Olympic Games held July 23 through Aug. 8 in Tokyo. Cummings, set to lift on July 28, said the keys between now and then are to “stay consistent and be sure to get rest for my body to recover.”</p>
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<p>He did admit, he’s starting to feel at least a little anxious.</p>
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<p>“In the past, it’s been more like there’s excitement and I’m savoring the moment,” he said. “Now, as it gets close, I’m like, ‘Oh boy, this is it.’”</p>
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<p><em>Mike McCombs is the editor of The Island News and can be reached at <a href="mailto:TheIslandNews@gmail.com">TheIslandNews@gmail.com</a>.</em></p>
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