Lakeland girls weightlifters win 3A-10 title; Winter Haven's Logan top lifter
In the seven years of girls weightlifting, Lakeland has won multiple district titles, and head coach Jeremy Bennett described his program as having some ups and downs. There’s no doubt that this is one of the up years.
In an expected close battle in the team competition, Lakeland prevailed in the Traditional competition to win the overall district title, which for the first time combined team points from the Olympic and Traditional competitions.
“We knew it was going to be close,” Bennett said. “The top four, just doing the math, it was a toss-up. Bartow surprised me today, which is awesome.”
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Through the Olympic competition, which is the snatch plus the clean-and-jerk, Winter Haven led with 42 points, one point ahead of Bartow. Ridge Community and Lakeland were tied for third with 39 points.
Lakeland finished with 46 points in the Traditional competition, which is the bench plus the clean-and-jerk, to finish with 85 total points. Overall, Bartow was second with 81 points, and Winter Haven was third with 80 points.
“We’ve had our ups and downs, there have been times we’ve had our butts kicked, which is what we need,” Bennett said. “Honestly, there’s no substitute for hard work, and I can’t say enough about these girls. That’s really them. It’s not me. I’m just along for the ride.”
Lakeland was led by Rhyan Parrish and Indiana Myers. They were the only district champions for the Dreadnaughts, but both lifters won their weight class in the Olympic and Traditional competitions. Parrish won the Olympic at 119 pounds with a total lift of 250 pounds, and she won the Traditional with a total lift of 285 pounds.
Myers (169) won the Olympic and Traditional with total lifts of 315 pounds, respectively
Also for Lakeland, Mikiyah Rucker finished second in the Olympic and third in the Traditional at 129 pounds. Teammate Sabrina St. Don was second in the Traditional and fifth in the Olympic also at 129. Salma Tirado was second in the Traditional and third in the Olympic at 169 pounds. Brianna Brown was second at 183 in the Olympic competition.
Bartow used depth to fend off Winter Haven as the Yellow Jackets did not have any individual champions. Ja’Nae Hutchinson (110) and Kiana Whitaker (139) had second-place finishes in the Traditional, and Hutchinson, Angelina Whitaker (119), Kiana Whitaker, Aniya Jenkins (169), Toniah Patterson all had second-place finishes in the Olympic competition.
Winter Haven had the most individual champions as four lifters won their weight class in both the Traditional and the Olympic competitions. The Blue Devils were hurt in the team standings as two lifters did not make their weight and one lifter was sick.
The Blue Devils’ Alyvia Logan (154) was the top lifter in the competition as her total lift in the Traditional was 340 pounds. No lifter in any other weight class lifted more. She also had a total lift of 295 in the Olympic competition.
Also for Winter Haven, Riley Matthews (265) won with total lifts of 265 and 240, Gabriella Fiorillo (139) won with total lifts of 290 and 260, and Winter Haven’s Tatyana Alexander (199) won with total lifts of 290 and 260.
Lake Gibson’s Alessandra Diaz at 101 pounds, Ridge Community’s Alesia Smith at 110 pounds and Haines City’s Katherine Abadia (183) were the other lifters who won their weight class in both the Traditional and Olympic competitions.
In the unlimited weight class, Lake Gibson’s Jaidaah McQueen won the Traditional and Ridge Community’s Kaylla Dor won the Olympic.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland girls weightlifters win 3A-10 title; Winter Haven's Logan top lifter
