Maine Sports Hall of Fame Member James “Chico “Hernandez, 72, of Washburn repeated his performance from last year, winning the Green Mountain & Vermont Senior Games Powerlifting State Championships.
The event was held April 18 at the Lift/VT Warehouse Gym in Williston, Vermont.
Hernandez broke a few of his personal, Maine and national records at the event in the squat and deadlift and exceeded what he lifted last in total weight, lifting a combined 867 pounds.
“Overall I feel really good about what I did and how I performed, but a little disappointed too as I did not perform the bench press as good what I would have liked,” Hernandez said. “You have days like this as I failed to reach and get 250 pounds and only tied my State of Maine record of 225 pounds.”
His squat raw, no wraps, of 317 pounds and dead lift of 325 pounds were his personal best, and he also broke his state and National Senior Games records, he said.
It’s the fifth straight powerlifting championship for Hernandez, who has only been training at powerlifting for about two years.
At the 2024 Nebraska State Senior Games, he won three gold medals in powerlifting events (squat, bench press and deadlift) in his age division. He extended his accomplishments to the national level by winning a gold medal in powerlifting at the 2025 National Senior Games in Des Moines, Iowa, competing in the men’s raw masters 70-74 age group, 4A division, where he recorded a 300-pound squat as part of his performance.
At last year’s Vermont State Senior Powerlifting Championships, he won golds in the squat, bench press and deadlift events. In September 2025, Hernandez set multiple state records at the Revolution Powerlifting Syndicate Maine State Championships in Falmouth, establishing modern raw benchmarks in the 70-74 age group with a 315-pound squat, 315-pound deadlift, 225-pound bench press and a combined total of 855 pounds. As the oldest competitor in the meet, these lifts highlighted his strength.
His performances are documented in the Open Powerlifting database, reflecting his active participation in sanctioned events under federations like the Revolution Powerlifting Syndicate and the 2026 Vermont Senior Green Mountain Championships.
Hernandez holds four state records and one world record. He has won 60 state Senior Games medals in Vermont, Nebraska, Arkansas and Maine.
“I still train by myself and train without a coach at Aroostook County Fitness in Presque Isle,” he said. “I had not done a meet since last September. My only focus was this meet, and now it’s done and with a gold back to The County.”
Hernandez will go next to the 2026 Maine Senior Games Powerlifting meet in Scarborough in August.
