BREWER – The Maine Games opened the 2007 competition season with a state power lifting meet March 24-25 at the Brewer Auditorium.

Highlights included 11-year-old Garret Allen of Hampden, who wowed the crowd with a three-lift total of 402 pounds: 148 pounds in the squat, 66 pounds in the bench press and 187 pounds in the dead lift.

Troy Varnum of Hermon, competing in the Men’s Open 275-plus weight class, bench-pressed 529 pounds, setting a Maine Games record.

Chris Page, of Hermon, had a three-lift total of 1,664 pounds: a squat of 650 pounds, a bench press of 297 and a dead lift of 601 pounds, despite having severed a thumb just months ago in a work-related accident.

Page’s total was good enough for a second place finish in the 220-pound weight class of the Men’s Open behind Travis Adams of Bangor, whose three-lift total was 1,692 pounds: 633 in the squat, 407 pounds bench press and 650 pounds dead lift.

Ginny Brockway of Waterville claimed her second Female Lifter of the Meet award with a three-lift total of 711 pounds: 281 squat, 148 bench press and 281 dead lift.

On Sunday, Karen Campbell of Winterport claimed gold in the 198-pound class of the Women’s Open bench press with 342 pounds, slightly less than her Maine Games record of 385 pounds set in 2006.

Ryan Jabar of Waterville, competing in his second Maine Games, set a record in the 114-pound weight class of the male teen 16-to-17-year-old division. He benched 110 pounds, up 44 pounds from 2006.

Michael Kalter of Saco, competing in his second Maine Games, was named Male Lifter of the Meet in Sunday’s USAPL sanctioned meet. His astounding three-lift total was 1,763 pounds: 639 pounds in the squat, 418 in the bench press and 705 in the dead lift.

The Maine Games continues this weekend with the National Anthem Auditions at Colby College and figure skating on April 14. More events are set for May, and June 16-24, more than 20 events will be offered, most of them in the Waterville area.

To obtain more information and see what’s offered this year, log on to the Maine Games Web site: www.mainegames.org.