Barry McNamara  |  Published October 23, 2017

Boston strong

Foxall ’21 headed to East Coast for world powerlifting championships
MONMOUTH, Ill. – Pound-for-pound, one of the strongest teens in the world attends Monmouth College.

Freshman Korby Foxall of Macomb, Ill., recently set several national powerlifting records for his age and weight division, and he’ll be going after more next month at the World Drug Free Powerlifting Full Power Championships in Boston.

Competing in Muskegon, Mich., in July, Foxall qualified for the international meet with a total lift of 1,410 pounds – 320 for his bench press, plus a 500-pound squat and a 590-pound dead lift. He aims to reach age-group world records in those three lifts by adding, respectively, 5, 8 and 15 pounds to his Michigan numbers.

“This will be the first time I’ve tried those lifts,” said Foxall, who competes in the 100-kilogram class. “It’s easier to do in the kind of environment that’ll be there in Boston.”

Pumping adrenaline will help him pump the iron, an activity he began in earnest in junior high.

“I started to take it seriously in eighth grade,” said Foxall, who is majoring in business. “I paid for my own personal trainer.”

That trainer, a graduate student at Western Illinois University, now lives in Germany, so Foxall moved on to Marc Kessler, the trainer at Macomb High School, who frequently competes as well.

“I started because of football, and then I thought about getting into some Crossfit events,” said Foxall, who is not a member of the Fighting Scots gridiron team but plays baseball at Monmouth. “I’ve gotten a lot more power in baseball since I’ve gotten into lifting,”

Last spring, he hit six bombs for the Bombers, and he hopes the power continues to translate to the college diamond, where he’ll compete for a spot at first base or in the outfield.

Foxall chose Monmouth for the opportunity to continue his athletic career as well as its central location between his home in Macomb and his grandparents in the Quad Cities.

To train for Boston, Foxall has been doing “lots of super sets” – going from bench press, to squat, to dead lift without a break.

“I’ll be lifting heavy until the week of, and then just concentrate on hitting my opening weights and go from there,” he said. “I feel really good about it. I’ve been hitting some really good numbers in the weight room, so hopefully I’ll hit some really good numbers when I get there.”

Foxall is confident in his abilities, and he said that’s a lesson powerlifting has taught him.

“The biggest thing for me has been self-motivation,” he said of his hobby. “Nobody can force you to do it. It’s about what you want to get out of it.

“If you’re determined enough, you can go out and get it.”
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