Franklin senior excels in major competition

Competing against the best powerlifters of all weights and ages in a pro invitational for the first time, Kloie Doublin left little doubt that she belonged on the big stage.

Doublin posted a career-best total of 1,096 pounds across the squat, bench and deadlift, winning her weight class Saturday in the open division and finishing near the top of the entire field in the SBD Pro American Invitational at the Arnold USA Powerlifting Championships at the Columbus (Ohio) Convention Center.

“It was a really awesome day,” she said of her experience.

The Franklin Community High School senior unofficially tied the world record for her weight class (72 kilograms/158 pounds) by squatting 396 pounds, and she added a 248-pound bench press and a 452-pound deadlift to secure victory. Her bench, deadlift and total weight all established new American junior records.

Doublin completed her final deadlift with ease, leading to speculation that she could have done more — but she said that “we just wanted to walk it in” and lock up the win in her division.

Her performance left her ranked No. 1 worldwide in her weight class among junior girls (23 and under) heading into this year’s International Powerlifting Federation World Championships, which will take place in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in June. While training for that event, she’ll also be competing in track for the Grizzly Cubs.

Also competing at the Arnold was Franklin grad Shelby Miles, who was making her pro debut at the SSP Nutrition Raw Bench Championships. Miles put up 226 and 237 pounds on her first two lifts, then came up just short in her attempt to lift 254 pounds on her last round.