5 World Records, 30 Medals Highlight USA Weightlifting’s Pan American Championships
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by Preston Fekkes, USAW Communications
CALI, Colombia – Team USA showed up big at the 2025 Senior Pan American Championships in Cali, Colombia last week. With a team of 15 athletes, the United States crowned six champions, collected 30 medals, and set six Pan American records and five world records.
On a 6-for-6 day, Olivia Reeves left the platform with 119/149/268 carved into the record books. Reeves blew through all three world standards in the 69 kg category, showcasing four world record lifts and setting a new world record in the total with all three clean & jerks. It was the first time an American has set a world record in the total since Karyn Marshall in 1989.
Hampton Morris set the second world record of his career, again coming in the clean & jerk. He one-kilo’d the world standard with a 181 kg lift on his second attempt, and then cleaned 186 kg before being unable to complete the jerk for his only miss of the session.
Reeves and Morris swept gold in their categories, along with Kolbi Ferguson (110 kg). The trio was joined as Pan American champions by Miranda Ulrey (58 kg), Mattie Rogers (77 kg), and Aaron Williams (+110 kg). Williams posted the highest American total (411 kg) at a Senior Pan American Championships since at least 2008.
The United States extended its streak of 20+ medals to eight Senior Pan American Championships, earning 30 with 16 gold, 10 silver, and four bronze medals. It’s the first time since at least 2008 that the team has earned more gold medals than silver and bronze combined.
Two-time Olympian Wes Kitts had his snatch American record of 177 kg loaded onto the bar when he came onto the platform and unlaced his shoes. He left them on the platform and waved to the crowd, signifying the end to an incredible career. Kitts won three Pan American Championships and the 2019 Pan American Games. He retires with five American records to his name: at 102 kg: 177kg snatch, 388 kg total…at 109kg: 177 kg snatch, 223 kg clean & jerk, 399 kg total. Notably, his 177 kg snatch as a 109 kg lifter came at the Tokyo Olympics. Kitts wore the Team USA Tokyo Olympic kit the day he retired in Cali.
Senior Pan American Championships titles (since 2008):
- Sarah Robles - 5
- Hampton Morris - 4
3. Meredith Alwine - 3
3. Jourdan Delacruz - 3
3. Wes Kitts - 3
3. Mattie Rogers - 3
3. Caine Wilkes - 3
Bold = Won in 2025
Senior Pan American Championships medal count (since 2008):
- Mattie Rogers - 23 (8 gold, 13 silver, 2 bronze)
- Caine Wilkes - 22 (7 gold, 11 silver, 4 bronze)
- Sarah Robles - 20 (15 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze)
- Jourdan Delacruz - 12 (9 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)
4. Wes Kitts - 12 (6 gold, 5 silver, 1 bronze)
4. Kate Vibert - 12 (5 gold, 7 silver)
4. Hayley Reichardt - 12 (4 gold, 6 silver, 2 bronze)
8. Hampton Morris - 11 (10 gold, 1 bronze)
9. Meredith Alwine - 10 (6 gold, 4 bronze)
10. Mary Theisen-Lappen - 9 (5 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)
10. Jenny Arthur - 9 (6 silver, 3 bronze)
Bold = On 2025 Senior Pan American Championships team
MEN’S
60 kg
Securing Team USA’s first gold medal of the competition and his first senior international medals, Gabe Chhum lifted 123/152/275 and paired his snatch gold with C&J and total silvers. He came within three kilos of his international PR set at the 2024 Junior World Championships.
65 kg
Hampton Morris swept gold in his second consecutive Senior Pan American Championships appearance, becoming the first American to do so since Sarah Robles in 2019-20. He went 5-for-6 and lifted 137/181/318. His snatch matched his competition PR set just a few weeks ago as a 71 kg at the USAW National Championships. Along with his world record clean & jerk, his snatch and total were international PRs.
79 kg
Caden Cahoy (79 kg) hit a 352 kg total to best his previous competition record by 20 kilograms. At the 2023 Senior Pan Ams, Cahoy only hit two lifts but took home a bronze medal in the clean & jerk. This year, he went 5-for-6 and lifted 154/198/352 to earn bronze in the snatch and silver medals for his C&J and total.
Eddie Ginnan lifted 146/180/326 to finish fifth, beating his 79 kg total from the National Championships in June by one kilo.
110 kg
Kolbi Ferguson swept gold in his first Senior Pan American Championships and only his second international competition. He added seven kilos to his 2024 IWF World Championships total, lifting 173/215/388 on a 3-for-6 day. He also cleaned 222 and 224 kg, but came short of the jerk. Ferguson is the first American to sweep gold in the heavyweight category since at least 2008.
+110 kg
Aaron Williams was perfect in his Senior Pan American Championships debut, going 5-for-5 and lifting 187/224/411. After going 3-for-3 in the snatch for a bronze medal, he trailed by four kilos. He made up for it in the clean & jerk, hitting an opener of 215 kg before jumping nine kilos to 224 kg for his second attempt. Williams made it look easy, and put the two Colombians that were ahead of him on their heels. The gold medalist from 2024, Rafael Cerro, was now trailing by one kilogram and dropped his second attempt of 127 kg. Williams jumped to 132 kg and forced Castillo to follow himself at 130 kg, but he couldn’t complete the jerk after a successful clean. Williams chose to forgo his last attempt to finish with gold in the clean & jerk and total, and silver in the snatch.
WOMEN’S
53 kg
In her first international competition since the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Jourdan Delacruz went 5-for-6 and lifted 88/108/196 to earn a silver medal in the snatch finish fourth in the clean & jerk and total. Delacruz has medaled in all five of her Senior Pan American Championships appearances, and this silver was her 12th medal.
58 kg
Miranda Ulrey made a splash in her first Senior Pan Ams, lifting 97/120/217 to win her category by one kilogram and earn gold in the clean & jerk and silver in the snatch. Her two lifts each matched the Pan American standard, but her total set the Pan American record by one kilogram. She set an international PR of seven kilos, and came as close as possible to her competition PRs of 98/121/219 that she set as a 59 kg at the VIRUS Series 1 in February.
63 kg
In what was an incredible battle in the W 63 kg category, Katie Estep missed her first two snatches at 96 kg before hitting 97 kg. She then went 3-for-3 in the clean & jerk to draw close to Yenny Sinisterra. Ultimately, Sinisterra’s perfect day was too much to overcome. Estep hit 97/131/228 and earned silver medals for her clean & jerk and total. She added six kilos to her international PR, and set a new competition PR in the clean & jerk.
69 kg
Olivia Reeves swept gold and set three world records in one of the most dominant American victories in Senior Pan Ams history. She went 6-for-6 and lifted 119/149/268 for a 23 kg margin of victory. Since 2008, only Mary Theisen-Lappen (27 kg, 2021) and Kate Vibert (26 kg, 2019) have earned wider margins of victory.
77 kg
Mattie Rogers earned a narrow victory in the W 77 kg category, lifting her first and third snatches to earn bronze with 110 kg. She then hit her 134 kg opener in the clean & jerk before struggling with a 137 kg second attempt. In the last lift of the session, she loaded 139 kg on the bar and stuck the lift to earn gold in the clean & jerk and win the category by one kilogram. Her 249 kg total was three kilos from her international PR. Rogers now has 29 Pan American medals to her name in 11 years of representing the United States.
Anna McElderry also went 4-for-6 and lifted 104/127/231 to finish seventh. Both of her top lifts came within one kilo of her PR as an 81 kg. This was McElderry’s first time representing the U.S. at the senior level. She previously competed internationally at the 2020 and 2022 Junior Pan American Championships, the 2021 Junior Pan American Games, and 2019 Youth Pan American Championships.
86 kg
Kayla Kass went 4-for-6 and lifted 96/125/221 to finish sixth across the board. This was her second time representing the United States internationally, following the 2024 IWF World Championships, and her 125 kg clean & jerk is an international PR.
+86 kg
Paris Olympian Mary Theisen-Lappen went 5-for-6 and lifted 117/161/278 to earn silver in both the clean & jerk and total, and a bronze medal in the snatch. It marks the ninth appearance in a row that an American woman superheavyweight has earned three medals. Both of her top lifts were new American records that set her up for a 28 kg improvement on her American record set just weeks ago at USAW Nationals. Theisen-Lappen now has nine Pan American Championship medals to her name.
UP NEXT
The United States senior team’s next competition is the IWF Senior World Championships in Forde, Norway, on October 2-11. The junior team is gearing up for the Junior Pan American Games in Asuncion, Paraguay, on August 20-23.
