Lake Wales weightlifter Danielle Garrison looking to hit the trifecta at county meet

LAKE WALES — Danielle Garrison never thought about competing in girls weightlifting until Somer Baker convinced her to give it a shot.

The two were teammates on the Lake Wales volleyball team when Garrison was a freshman. The older Baker was a softball standout — the county’s softball hitter of the year as a junior — who also finished second in the state in girls weightlifting as a senior.

Like Baker, Garrison’s focus was another sport, as she is a goalkeeper in soccer. But Lake Wales weightlifting coach Tashawn Williams has built the Highlanders into a top program by getting athletes from other sports, like Baker and Garrison, to compete in weightlifting as a second sport.

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Garrison couldn’t lift much when she started training during the summer before her sophomore year. But she was a quick study. A few months later when the county meet was held, she was good enough to win a county title.

The Lake Wales senior, who still plays soccer, will go for her third consecutive county title on Saturday at the Polk County Girls Weightlifting Meet that begins at 10:30 a.m. at Lake Wales High School.

Garrison, the team captain, along with veterans Lexi Thomas and Kayden Arliss will lead the Highlanders, who are favored to repeat as team champion.

Weightlifting has become the top priority for Garrison. She was the full-time starter at goalkeeper as a sophomore then started and split time with Lauren Chaney last year. They began this season splitting time, but Chaney has taken over as the starter.

“This year, I’ve had to step back,” Garrison said. "Weightlifting my junior and senior year has become the big priority. On the soccer team, there's me and Lauren Chaney. She's amazing.”

Garrison said it’s been a challenge to compete in both soccer and weightlifting. Unlike the two-sport weightlifters like Baker and current teammate Thomas, who play softball in the spring, Garrison had to juggle two sports at the same time.

"It's only because I have two understanding coaches," she said. "But I've done it for three years."

Garrison remembers how she felt the first time she went into the weight room to train.

“It was so intimidating,” she said. “I feel for the girls this year. We’re almost all freshman. There are a lot of new girls. So when I walked in, it was so intimidating because you see girls like Faith Garza, Makayla McDonald and there just throwing up tremendous weight, which when I’m looking at them, I don’t realize that they’ve been in here for four years and have been working. And it was guys and girls in the summer. Then you see these guys with 315 and all these huge weights. So it was really intimidating. But I learned quickly.”

Garrison could barely lift 95 pounds on the clean-and-jerk at the start and barely 100 on the bench. Still she went on to become the county and district champion as a sophomore then finished third at regionals, barely falling short of qualifying for state.

Last year, she won county and district titles again, finished fifth at the region meet and was 10th at the state meet. Garrison was more than happy with how she finished last year after going into the season a little behind because COVID limited her summer workouts.

“I was so so happy,” she said. “I went from not making state to finishing 10th at state. So I was so happy. I got five out of six of my lifts. I was so happy.”

Garrison is lifting a bit more than last year but dropped a weight class down to 139 pounds. Competing at 154 last year, she usually weighed around 146 to 148 pounds. This year, she weighs around 137 pounds. Dropping down a weight class has been more of an adjustment mentally than physically.

“I wanted to drop for a lot of reasons,” she said. “I just felt like it put me in a better place in all aspects. But it's been difficult. Playing a cardio sport like soccer and maintaining a 12-pound weight loss has been weird. And I'm hard on myself, because I'll hit 170, which is only 5 pounds more than what I did at state last year, but I'm 12 pounds lighter. So 170 is one of the tops in the state at 139 (but) not at 154. So it's a weird, mental thing because I'm like, is this a lot of weight? In the weight class of 139, it is. I’m lifting more, just not a significant amount, but also being in a lower weight class gives me an advantage.”

Williams has seen Garrison grow over the past three years, and not just as a weightlifter.

“She came to me as a 10th-grader, and she didn’t really have much knowledge of the sport,” Williams said. “Her technique was poor because she never lifted weights before. The biggest transformation is as a leader. Danielle is very soft-spoken, but this year, she really has taken on a leadership role. She’s the captain of our team, but it’s just been about how vocal she has been with the girls. She has taken a lot of things on. She just really has been a positive force for my new girls, because I have a bunch this year.”

Williams will put his lifters in groups, mixing veterans with the new girls. Garrison said McDonald served as a mentor to her when she was starting out and said she hopes she is having the same impact now on her younger teammates.

In addition to the traditional bench and clean-and-jerk, a third lift, the snatch, was added this year.

“I have a love-hate relationship with snatches because they’re so hard, and they’re new,” she said. “It’s been real interesting to learn.”

Early in the season, she opted out of the snatch, which is a separate medal and isn’t included with the bench and the clean-and-jerk for the overall score. However, Williams convinced her to starting competing in the event.

Garrison doesn’t plan to lift or play soccer in college, so the county meet is the first what will be her last four weightlifting competitions. She’s at 170 on the clean-and-jerk and 145-150 on the bench this year, which could put her in the mix for a top three finish at state.

Last year, she lifted 315 pounds at the state meet, which was 10th at 154 pounds but would have been tied for third at 139 pounds. The 2A state champion last year lifted 355 pounds at the state meet but second place was 320 pounds.

Her ultimate goal in the clean-and-jerk is 185 pounds, which she said will be more difficult after she dropped weight.

“It’s a goal, but it’s loose because I made it (a goal) when I weighed 146 pounds, but I think I can do it,” she said. “Hopefully by state.”

Roy Fuoco can be reached at roy.fuoco@theledger.com or at 863-802-7526. Follow him on Twitter: @RoyFuoco.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lake Wales' Danielle Garrison looking for 3rd straight county title