WORLAND - Just like the old adage says, "The gym that lifts together, wins together."

Well maybe it's not an old adage but for Worland's Chopper CrossFit gym it proved true. Five members from the gym won in their respective age and weight-classes at the Wyoming Athlete Development Powerlifting Open in Pinedale on Jan. 14.

Amy Fetter, Chopper CrossFit owner Randall Homan, Alyssa Keller, Alejandra Rice and Alec Torres all took first place at the powerlifting open. Along with winning her age and weight-class, Rice also qualified for the National United States Powerlifting Association (USPA) competition in Las Vegas, July 7-9.

"I have four more competitions before July and I'm going to try and add more weight in each competition. Basically, look to get better with each competition," said Rice when talking about her preparation for nationals.

For Rice, a freshman at Worland High School, and Fetter, a mother of five, this was their second go around in a power lifting competition. The veteran lifters, who also won in their first competition on June 18, 2016, knew what to expect this time around.

"The last competition was on such a whim and we didn't have time to prepare for it," said Fetter. "This time it was good because we knew what we needed to work on. We knew what we needed to improve, which was our form. Randall (Homan) recorded our lifts and we watched them back and we looked terrible. So that's what we worked on from that first meet to the second."

Even in their second competition Fetter and Rice still had the performance jitters.

"Still felt nervous," said Rice. "I felt a lot more comfortable in the sense that I knew what the judges were going to look for but still nervous right before the lifts."

"I was just as nervous as the first time but obviously we were more prepared," added Fetter.

For rookie competition powerlifters Homan, Keller and Torres, the experience of competing was great but watching the success of their gym mates was the best part.

"I loved all of it," said Torres, "Going down there with this group and having fun was a great experience. Then to watch all of us set PRs (personal records) was awesome."

"The best part about competing was the people I was with. I've gotten really close to the people I work out with at Chopper CrossFit," said Keller. "I never played individual sports growing up, it was always team sports for me. So it was neat being in a sport that you're total in control of, especially in the training part of it."

Watching the success of his gym members was the best moment from the competition for Homan.

"My favorite moment was every single one of them breaking PRs. I don't care how I looked or did but for all of them to hit a PRs in every lift, except for bench, I was happy for them," said Homan.

The bench press was the one area of weakness for the group and going forward a weakness they plan to turn into a strength.

"The bench press we'll have to work on but that will be a good focus for us before the next competition. The Wyoming State Meet is in June, so by then we'll have attacked our weakness and eliminated the bench press weakness," said Homan.

"Definitely bench press," said Keller laughingly. "We all have to work on that and sticking with it. The training takes a long time and you have to keep at it and Randall has done a great job of mixing things up and keeping us motivated."

The pride the gym members take in each other's success is what stands out the most. For the five who traveled to Pinedale the best part for them was watching their gym mates succeed.

"It didn't feel like a competition, it was more a vacation. We're like a family and it was a fun time to watch everyone do so well," said Fetter.

"Going out there and lifting heavy weight with basically family," said Torres, "We work hard and encourage each other in training and in competition. Doing as well as we did is amazing."

"I think that's what's special about our gym. There were only five of us there but when you walked off the stage there were four other people who were just as excited about your lift as you were. There's a lot of pride we have in each other and that's what Chopper is about," said Keller.

Added Homan, "To me it's the representation of the hard work they put in. I have the location and space for them to workout but the hard work they provide is the biggest deal. It shows the strong leaders they're becoming in our gym."

As for what they gained individually the common theme was self-confidence. As they were able to demonstrate the improvement they made during their training.

"It has made me more proud of myself. As a mom of five, this is my 'me time' that gives me something to improve myself by. The physical aspect of lifting has given me way more energy to keep up with my kids. Lifting has also boosted my self-esteem and gives me a sense of pride," said Fetter.

"I'm an adrenaline junkie and when I compete it's the biggest rush," said Rice. "I love the fact that I'm stronger than most the guys at my school. I'm very competitive and sometimes I can go to school and I don't look like a girl that can do anything. Guys underestimate girls so much and one day in class my teacher had me lift and the guys couldn't believe how strong I am. I'm so competitive and I like to keep beating everyone around me, guy or girl."

During competition there's always a bonding moment for teams. While they might not be a traditional team, the Chopper five certainly had their moment in the lead up to the competition. Torres needed to drop 12 pounds in two weeks. A day and a half before competition Torres was six pounds over his targeted weight.

Falling back on his days as a Worland High School wrestler, Torres went to work by limiting meals and running on the treadmill at the hotel, with encouragement from Homan, in Pinedale the night and morning of competition. He even earned the nickname 50 Cent, after the famous rapper who underwent a dramatic weight loss of his own for a movie role.

"Alec needed to make weight so the night before the competition we were at the hotel. You had us girls relaxing in the hot tub but in the next room we could see Alec on the treadmill trying to cut weight. It was one of those moments that was funny but you felt bad at the same time," said Rice.

"I think the funniest part of the whole trip was everyone calling me sickly," said Torres. "After I made weight everyone was more excited for me to eat than I was but then I ate too much too fast then had to lift heavy weight. So that was a bit rough," said Torres.

Seeing his four gym members come together and have the success they did is one of Homan's goals but more importantly for him, he's want people to be healthy. Whether that's through powerlifting, CrossFit or some other form of exercise, he'll be there to provide an encouraging push.

"There are a lot of strong people in this town and it seems a bit abnormal for a town of 5,000 people. We would be super excited about anyone that wants to come in and try it out," said Homan.

Homan went on to add, "For me I see somebody that has a knack for something and encourage them to expand that knack. (Pointing to Alec) he's done a CrossFit competition, Olympic lifting competition and now a powerlifting competition. There are things you can glean off of from people like things they are really good at then push them in that direction."