Congrats to Kevin McNease for being our KCSTRONGMAN of the Month of March, 2007.  KevinWas our Gus Lohman Memorial III winner last Summer, KCSTRONGMAN Challenge winner in November, was very competitive in one of the toughest PRO/Ams in the nation, the Monsters of the Mall, and placed a close second in Iowa’s strongest man.                     

ET:     Could you tell us your background?  Where do youcome from, your family, sports played in the past? 

Kevin:  Most of my family is from and resides in San Antonio, TX.  Since my father is in the Air Force we have moved around a lot.  For the past seven years we have been living in Shiloh, IL.  I am going to school at the University of Missouri-Rolla.        Growing up I played many sports.  In middle school I played soccer and basketball for the school and select teams. In high school I concentrated on football and weightlifting.               

 ET:     You burst onto the strongman scene pretty quickly. Could you tell us how you got involved in strengthsports, how you got involved in strongmanspecifically?       

Kevin:  My senior year of high school my friend, Andy Odenwald, told me about a powerlifting meet he was training for.  I decided to sign up and give it a go.  I was hooked on competitive strength sports ever since.  Last year over Christmas break I was watching The World’s Strongest Man Competition on ESPN.  I had seen WSM before, but had never actually paid attention to the weights and events.  After watching 8 hours of it, I knew that strongman was the sport I wanted to devote my efforts to.  

ET:     You have come a long way in the year since I firstsaw you compete at the KCSTRONGMAN Challenge.  Wasthere any particular time that was a turning point foryou? 

Kevin:        Thanks ET!  I got lucky that the KCSTRONGMAN Challenge was my first meet.  From there I met some of the best strongman in the area.  I was able to train, compete and learn from the best in the game.  This definitely gave me a solid foundation for everything I know about the sport.  If I had to choose a month where I thought I learned the most, I would say June of last year.  I competed in the Utah Pro/Am where I learned the difference between competitor and contender, finishing 12th out of 14.  Out of the two I beat, one was injured.  After that showing I thought strongman wasn’t my sport.  After I was finished feeling sorry for myself and thinking of excuses, I moved on.  I was once told, years ago, that you can either “get better or get bitter.”  I chose the former and upped my training and determination. I concentrated on the Gus Lohman III that was a couple weeks away.  I had a great showing at the ‘Gus’ and haven’t had a second thought about the sport since. 

ET:     What are your best lifts in training or incompetition? 

Kevin:        320lb 12” log press, 700lb deadlift, 440lb front squat, 370lb x 25ft farmers walk and a 404lb stone load to 48” 

 ET:     What are your favorite events? K

evin:  My favorite events are any type of deadlift, tire flips, and medleys.  

ET:       Where do you train.  What are the conditions likethere?  Who do you train with?  What does a typicaltraining week for you look like? 

Kevin:  I train at many gyms.  When I’m in Rolla I train at the school’s gym or my garage.  In Illinois I train at the Belleville Weightlifting Club.  During the week I train the gym lifts with my training partner, Curt McDonald.  On the weekends I train the strongman events.  I try to travel often to train with different groups such as KC strongman crew, LW Pro Strongman, Matt Reynolds and His Springfield crew.  This year I have regularly trained with Mike Wortham and Willie Wessels in St. Louis.   A typical training week for me looks like this:Monday: Overhead presses and auxiliary work.Tuesday: Squats, Olympic lifts, and upper back work.Wednesday: off/cardio (that never happens)Thursday: Incline and flat bench presses.Friday: off/cardio (that most definitely never happens)Saturday: Strongman events and deadlifts.Sunday: off unless I missed an event from Saturday  

ET:       What are your greatest achievements so far instrength sports and in strongman specifically? 

Kevin:  I’m not satisfied enough to call anything my “greatest achievement”, but I was happy with having a good showing at the Monsters of the Mall this year.  

ET:        Where do you get your motivation from? 

Kevin:  My motivation comes from my stubbornness.  I am also fueled by all the “you can’t…”s and “you will never…”s that I’ve been told.    

ET:        Where do you see yourself going, strongman wise,in the next five years?  What are your long termgoals? 

Kevin:  In the next five years, I will continue to compete several times a year.  Hopefully, I will continue to make gains and become more proficient on the events.  Winning a pro/am or nationals in my weight class would have to be my main goal as an amateur strongman.   

 ET:     What are your goals outside of strongman? 

Kevin:  My main goal outside of strongman is graduating from UMR with my degree in Mechanical Engineering.     

ET:       Is there anything else you would like to tell usabout yourself? 

Kevin:        Nothing more about myself, but I would like to thank the following:-God for all the abilities, strengths and weaknesses He has given me to make me unique.-My parents for all they do for me.  They are so supportive of everything I do.  Without them I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am today, in strongman, school and life.  They truly are my heroes.  -Andy Odenwald for getting me started in powerlifting and showing me what a real gym is like. BWC!-My current training partner, Curt McDonald, and everyone at the BWC for all their support.-Rodney Wood and Ben Moore for getting me started in strongman and for everything else they have done for me.-Eric Todd and the KC strongman crew.  Most definitely the best group of guys in strongman with a great leader and founder.  KC Strongman is the reason this sport is so great.  Everyone is such a great and positive influence on many new strongmen, such as myself. -Mike Wortham for being a great training partner and an even better friend. -All of the great meet promoters, volunteers, and helpers in the area such as Scott Tully, ET, Shawn Baier, DJ Satterfield, Darren Barnhart and all their respective groups, too many to name them all.-The great group of strongman training partners and competitors I have had: Matt Reynolds, Johnny Gold, John Conner, Andy Odenwald, the BWC, KC Strongman crew, Southside Barbell Club…and the list goes on.-Willie and Dione Wessels for doing what they do for this great sport.  They love this sport and it shows in their actions.-Everyone else that I have forgotten to mention, too many great people in the area to name them all.