In the span of a single week, high school junior Evan Pittman set six national and five world powerlifting records while winning his seventh powerlifting world championships in Minnesota; won first place and a $5000 scholarship in the Joe Foss Institute national essay contest; played the national anthem in two Arizona public ceremonies commemorating Veterans Day; and surpassed his original goal of $2000 as part of his philanthropic “Lift for Heroes” campaign in conjunction with the Bob Woodruff Foundation.
Scholarship Winner: On November 7th, Evan was informed that he had won the Joe Foss Institute’s Donna W. Foss national essay competition. Evan’s essay, “A Proud American, What it Means to Me,” was selected as the number one essay in the country from among more than 2500 submissions, earning a $5,000 scholarship. http://www.joefossinstitute.org/jfi-scholarship-program
Musical Ministry: In conjunction with Phoenix-area Veterans Day public ceremonies during the week, Evan played the national anthem on the violin twice – first to kick off Arizona Public Service corporation’s Veterans Day Ceremony at Arizona Center in downtown Phoenix on November 9th, and then at the 2015 Phoenix Veterans Day Parade kickoff breakfast in Central Phoenix on Veterans Day, November 11th. Click here to view Evan’s rendition of the national anthem at the APS Veterans Day Ceremony: APS 2015 Veterans Day National Anthem
Lift for Heroes: As a former military family member, Evan’s personal philanthropic campaign to raise money for combat-wounded vets kicked into high gear this week as well, surpassing his initial goal of $2000. On Veterans Day, he raised the goal to $5000, after exceeding his initial $2000 goal in less than a month. Interested donors can support Evan in his quest to make history as the only high school student to break 100 world powerlifting records by donating to the “Lift for Heroes” campaign https://www.classy.org/liftforheroes .
Chasing 100: Finally, on November 14th, Evan edged closer to his goal of breaking 100 world powerlifting records with a record-smashing performance at the World Championships in Minnesota. Evan moves to 97 lifetime world records over six years of competition, with five world and six national powerlifting records in the World Powerlifting Federation 148 lb., 16-17 year-old raw division. Evan broke the WPF world record in the squat (170 kg – 374.8 lbs.), single-lift bench press (100 kg – 220.5 lbs.), two world records in deadlift (205 kg – 451.9 lbs.), and total (475 kg – 1047.2 lbs.) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMEX5QVdg24 ) while hitting all nine of his lifts on the platform.
“This was an excellent week, with a lot of things coming together at once,” Evan said after the world powerlifting meet. “I really appreciate winning the Joe Foss scholarship award, because it recognizes the sacrifices that many of my family members have made over the years serving our country. And hitting five more world records in Minnesota puts me at 97 world records lifetime, so I am happy to be closer to that magical 100 goal.”