Murray and Lee maximized their time in Illinois
Erin Murray and Jeffrey Lee are the respective champions of the 2023 U82 America’s Strongest Woman (ASW) and the 2023 U105 America’s Strongest Man (ASM) contests. The strongwoman and strongman competitions took place on July 22, 2023, in Tinley Park, Illinois, and featured seven participating strongwomen and 13 strongmen on both ends of the spectrum. In a slight veering from convention, both rosters had an identical slate of five events to run through during the single-day strength contest.
According to her resume on Strongman Archives, this is Murray’s third professional strongwoman win in five career contests. Murray’s previous highlight might have been a triumph in the 2021 U73 World’s Strongest Woman (WSW). Meanwhile, Strongman Archives shows Lee’s only prior competition to be placing ninth at the 2021 (U105) Strongman World Championships — and he undoubtedly added to his reputation with the recent victory.
Here’s an overview of the final standings from the 2023 U82 ASW:
2023 America’s Strongest Woman (U82KG) Results
- Erin Murray — 30 points
- Jessica Mitchell — 26.5 points
- Erin Walklet — 23 points
- Katie Gutwald — 22.5 points
- Cassandra Moore — 18 points
- Rachael Peterson — 13 points
- Jamie Schamma — 5 points
Here’s a rundown of the final standings for the 2023 U105 ASM:
2023 America’s Strongest Man (U105KG) Results
- Jeffrey Lee — 57 points
- Zack McCarley — 55 points
- Nick Hein — 43 points
- Brandon Burley — 39 points
- Justin Loy — 39 points
- Alec Soukup — 38 points
- Dan Hughes — 34 points
- Matt Moeller — 32 points
- Kevin Candito — 30 points
- Michael Congdon — 28 points
- Bill Kendall — 26.5 points
- Jon Parker — 26 points
- Johnny Wasiczko — 7.5 points
The five events featured in both competitors were as follows: Press Ladder, Max Farmer’s Carry, Conan’s Wheel, Ukrainian Deadlift, and the Atlas Stone Series. To distinguish between the strongwomen and strongmen, weights and implements would vary in size depending on the event.
To win her title 2023 U82 ASW title, Murray took first place on the Ukrainian Deadlift (six reps, with a max weight of 199 kilograms/440 pounds) and finished in at least the top three on each of the Press Ladder, Max Farmer’s Carry, Conan’s Wheel, and Atlas Stone Series. Lee, on the other hand, won the Max Farmer’s Carry (26 feet and five inches with 195-kilogram/430-pound implements), the Ukrainian Deadlift (9 reps with a max weight of 308.4 kilograms/680 pounds), and the Atlas Stones Series (five in 27.27 seconds) to win his title.
Consistency near the top of every event appeared to be the name of the game for both successful competitors.
According to a caption of her Instagram post recapping the event, Murray is centering her upcoming efforts on the 2023 U82 World’s Strongest Woman (WSW). Based on the competition’s past precedent, it will likely place sometime in November 2023. At the time of this writing, it is unclear what Lee’s future plans are. All that is certain is that both athletes came home from Illinois with well-earned, prestigious titles.
Featured image: @e.murray_pro.strongwoman on Instagram
