As on most afternoons, Ashley Matherne sits behind the reception desk in the recreation office on campus, but that is not where she wants to be. She likes her on-campus job, but she would rather be underneath some heavy weights. Matherne used to be a world-class weightlifter. Although she has not competed since September, Matherne says that is not what she misses most. Oddly enough, she misses the hours in the gym, underneath some heavy weights, because that is what she considers “fun.”

Matherne started lifting at 19, which is common among competitive weight lifters. Her story starts during her sophomore year when she encountered Jon Magendie, former Nicholls weights and conditioning coach, in the weight room at Nicholls.

“I took the weight class just because I wanted to get into the gym,” Matherne says. “The instructor of the class (Magendie) had asked me if I would join the powerlifting team, and I just looked at him like he was an idiot.”

Magendie eventually convinced Matherne to join the team and proved he was not an idiot. Matherne would go on to place first in her weight class at the Collegiate National Championship three years in a row, from 2003 to 2005 and first in her weight class at the Women’s National and World Championships in 2004. She followed that up in 2005 by placing a respectable second at the Women’s National and World Championships. Along with other wins at different levels, she also holds so many local, state and world records that she has trouble keeping track of them all.

Matherne credits much of her success to Magendie, who she says gave up everything to train her and the rest of the team.

“It cost a lot, but he went to all our meets to make sure he coached us and did everything he could for us,” Matherne says. “I couldn’t have done it without him. I wasn’t going anywhere working out on my own, and I would have never known I had this potential if I just didn’t happen to walk into the gym that day.”

Matherne says her family brags about her powerlifting now but were a little reserved at first. They did not attend any matches during her first year of competition.

“They were like, ‘Okay, whatever,'” Matherne says. “But after I went to my second national competition and broke my first bench record there, they were like, ‘Whoa.'” After that they made every match that they could. Even aunts and uncles make an appearance when they can.”

Matherne prefers the bench press to the other lifts, and rightly so. It was the first thing her teammates were impressed by.

“When I first started, I walked in being able to bench more than some of the girls on the team,” Matherne says. “Then when I started benching more than the bigger girls, they were like, ‘This isn’t fair.’ “

In 2004, Matherne arrived at both the National and World Championships not expecting to win, and left in pure shock.

“I just wanted to come home with a medal; that was my goal” Matherne says. “I had traveled all the way to South Africa for World’s; I was going to be damned not to come home with something.”

“A lot of people liked to say that I am the strongest woman in the world because I won,” Matherne says looking just a little embarrassed. “But I only won for my weight category, and I competed in the Junior Nationals. So, from ages 18 to 24 in the 105 pound class, I guess you can say I am the strongest woman, but I just don’t like…” She laughs and cannot finish her sentence.

Twenty pounds was the difference between first place and Matherne’s second place finish at the 2005 Women’s World Championship, not a big difference at that level. She blames the loss on her increase of schoolwork.

“Basically, I started nursing school in the summer, so I was only able to train one day a week,” Matherne says. “The girl I competed against was training five days a week.”

Matherne has not competed since September because of school. She spends much of her time on campus going to class, studying and working in the recreation office, but she hopes to get back to lifting as soon as she can find the time.

Lifting is so much fun for Ashley it pains her to step away from it for now.

“I always had the attitude of doing it for fun, and that is why I did it for so long,” she says behind a desk in the recreation office. “This is killing me.