La Conner native mines gold in southern Nevada

It isn’t often someone leaves Las Vegas with more than they brought.

But a La Conner native beat those odds last weekend.

Mark Reynolds, who recently completed his first year as a teacher and coach in Bay City, Texas, returned from the Las Vegas area Sunday with his fifth powerlifting title belt.

The belt is valued at $600, but what it represents means far more to the 25-year-old lifter.

Reynolds took top honors at the Natural Athlete Strength Association USA Nationals Meet in Laughlin, Nevada, a quick drive from the famous Las Vegas strip.

He won the crown with a combined total of 1,181 pounds in the bench press, curl, and deadlift events.

The highlight was a personal best 656-pound effort in the deadlift. Reynolds also recorded a 360-pound bench press and curled 165 pounds.

Each lift had to be completed according to strict Athlete Strength Association guidelines, under the watchful eyes of meet judges.

That cost Reynolds a few pounds in the bench press, when a judge waved off his second attempt, citing improper technique.

“I really feel like I could’ve benched 370 or more,” Reynolds said afterward, “because I did 352 pretty easy on my first lift but then got red-lighted at 358. So, on my last lift, I had to be conservative and just be sure I could put something up.”

He settled for 360 on his third and final try.

Reynolds, who two summers ago trained with the football team at La Conner High — from which his younger sister, Lauren, graduated last week — led a field in southern Nevada that included many of the national association’s premier lifters from around the country.

He did so by posting a higher body weight to total lift ratio.

That formula is known in Natural Athlete Strength Association circles as the co-efficient rating.

“I’m really happy with how things went,” Reynolds said afterward. “I ended up getting my highest co-efficient ever.”

Reynolds, who began powerlifting while playing high school football in Texas, joined the strength association as a college student. He was drawn to the association by the strong stance taken by its founder, Rich Peters, against use of steroids and performance-enhancing drugs.

Peters, an Oklahoman, says he is looking forward to seeing Reynolds — a two-time Natural Athlete Strength Association Power Sports Lifter of the Year — at a major meet in Oklahoma City later this summer.

“My goal for that meet,” said Reynolds, “will be to hit 1,200 pounds.”

This after having hit the jackpot in Nevada.