12 hours ago April 24-25th saw the 2021 installment of the Kern US Open, one of the year’s premier elite powerlifting meets. Many big names attended the meet, from world record holders John Haack and Dan Bell on the men’s side to Marianna Gasparyan and Hunter Henderson among the women competing. The stacked lineup didn’t disappoint, either, as several records fell on both sides. What follows is a comprehensive review of these records and the overall results of the Kern US Open: Hunter Henderson: 75 kg squat and total world records A relative novice in the sport compared to top competitors like Marianna Gasparyan (one of her opponents at the meet), the Kern US Open was only Henderson’s 5th ever meet. However, this didn’t seem to phase her as she now holds two of four possible records in the 75 kg weight class. Henderson completed a squat of 295 kilograms raw with wraps, bench pressed 147.5 kilograms and deadlifted 260 kilograms (roughly 650, 325, and 573 pounds, respectively) to total 702.5 kilograms (1549 pounds). This performance took the competition by storm, and her squat and total were enough to set new world records. With her record 702.5 kg total, Henderson also became the first woman to total over 700 kg in the 75 kg weight class. Her squat record also beat that of legendary lifter Kristy Hawkins, a world-renowned female bodybuilder and powerlifter who has held the Ms. Olympia title (the pinnacle of female bodybuilding), as well as world records in squat and total, both raw with wraps and raw overall, in the 75 kg class. Henderson now owns both of those records and managed to add a staggering 12 kg to the existing total record of 690.5 kg, a massive jump in professional powerlifting. Her Wilks coefficient (a measure of relative strength taking into account body weight, gender and weight lifted) totaled 672, good enough for second in the women’s category, after only living legend Marianna Gasparyan, who managed a Wilks score of 692.