The Tawzer family of Los Alamos did not plan to become the first family of powerlifting. It just sort of happened.

This weekend, Ken Tawzer, wife Mary and son Clay will compete in the Natural Athlete Sports Association's USA Nationals in Las Vegas. All three intend to walk away with first-place trophies and new American records, but they're also competing for a larger cause.

Flash back only a year ago.

Ken Tawzer had always been an active guy. A longtime rodeo competitor, he started weightlifting in 1978 to build strength for his sport. When the Guadalupe police officer stopped riding rodeo, he stopped lifting.

Clay Tawzer, 24, began weightlifting a little more than a year ago, spotting for his dad in the family's garage.

Ken, now retired from the force, had been diagnosed with high blood pressure, and weight lifting for exercise made as much sense as anything. Mary, egged on by the boys, started to join in.

“Because of my breast cancer, age, weight and blood pressure, I wanted to do something," said the nine-year cancer survivor.

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Then Ken received some bad news: An acquaintance of his, Santa Maria Police Officer Robert Ramos, who had been killed when his gun accidentally discharged, would not have his name added to the California and national memorial walls for fallen police officers killed in the line of duty.

The reason: a loophole in the memorial wall's criteria that classified Ramos as not technically killed “in the line of duty” because he was not on police grounds when the accident occurred. Instead, as a motorcycle officer, he was getting dressed for work at home.

Ken and Clay decided to join a community effort to get Ramos on the wall.

Bolstered by friends at the gym who said Ken and Clay were lifting competitive weight, the two formed a plan to raise awareness about the Ramos campaign by competing in powerlifting with memorial T-shirts on their backs.

“We said we'd lift in his memory for one year and that these shirts wouldn't come off,” said Ken.

The two began their campaign at last year's Las Vegas USA Championships, hoping ESPN coverage might catch Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's eye.

“That's where we got our butts kicked,” said Ken.

The novices suffered disqualification for such competitive no-no's as lifting a heel during a bench press. They were forced to walk away empty-handed, and ESPN never showed.

“I had his name on my back and I felt we let him down,” Ken said.

Things changed quickly for the Tawzers, however. First, it was the American Powerlifting Association NorCal Championships, where Ken won the bench press and Clay set a new state record.

Then they won a pair of second-place trophies from the U.S. Powerlifting Federation Central California Meet, followed by a U.S. Power Federation bench press event where they picked up age/weight first-place awards, as well as an open category first-place award.

The trophies and records continued, with the most recent coming from an American Powerlifting Association competition, where Mary joined in the fun by racking up three world titles and two California titles by winning the bench press and deadlift events.

Clay competed in the bench, deadlift and squat events, winning the combined competition.

The weekend's Las Vegas national championships will take the Tawzers and their memorial campaign full circle. The shirts will come off afterward, but the Tawzers say they will still be spreading the word about Ramos for years to come.

This last event will stand as quite the memorial in itself for the slain officer, though. Mary, in spite of recovering from a fractured arm, is on track to earn two American records, and Ken has a shot at winning his age division (he would only say 50-to-59) outright.

“What a Father's Day gift to become a national champion!” said Ken.

Clay plans to demolish the bench press competition.

“He's going to break the record right off the bat and just keep on breaking it for his next three lifts,” said Ken.

The family is in awe of their own success in the sport.

“It's not the intent we had; it just blew us away,” said Ken.

The family plans to continue lifting competitively and will begin to welcome sponsors to help with the travel and entry fee costs of the sport.

Luckily for the family, gym costs are already covered, courtesy of Gold's Gym in Santa Maria.

“They're a part of the community and they do a heck of a job promoting health and fitness,” said gym owner John Mahli.

Both Ken and Mary said having a cause or goal offers strong motivation for them, whether it be for a fallen officer, showing steroids are not necessary to compete, or just showing how competitive athletes over 50 can still be.

“Kenny and I are examples of what you can do if you put your mind to it,” said Mary.

All three take pride in being able to compete in the “Pure” category, which eliminates a lifter who has ever used steroids. Ken and Clay take even more pride in winning “untested” categories, proving the drugs are not needed to win.

“I don't personally want to use them because I don't need a crutch,” said Clay, who hopes to have a long career in professional powerlifting.

That competitive spirit may be an inherited trait. Kenny reports a grandchild recently declared he would be outlifting grandpa one day.

Glenn Wallace can be reached at 688-5522, Ext. 6007, or gwallace@santamariatimes.com.

June 16, 2007