2012 AAU Weightlifting Joel Ferrell Award winner

Lake Buena Vista, FL-- The AAU Weightlifting Committee is proud to present Marissa Klingseis with the 2012 Joel Ferrell Outstanding Performance Memorial Award at the 2012 AAU Junior Olympic Games.

This award is named after former AAU President and Vice President of the US Olympic Committee, Joel Ferrell. Ferrell was chair of the AAU Junior Olympic Program for many years and was very instrumental in the growth of these Games. This prestigious award recognizes outstanding accomplishments and sportsmanship of an athlete representing each official sport at the AAU Junior Olympic Games.

Klingseis a 17-year-old lifter from St. Joseph, MO where she's a senior at Central High School. Klingseis is ranked first in the nation for the sport of weightlifting and in 2012 traveled to Lima, Peru  to compete in the youth world weightlifting competition where she placed ninth. Something interesting about her is that she has been doing a paper route for eight years- up every morning at 4:00 AM.

AAU Weightlifting is proud to recognized Melissa for her hard work and dedication to the sport and wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors.

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