High schools: Lake and Sumter girls shine at state weightlifting finals

Weightlifters from Lake and Sumter counties turned in stellar efforts at the Florida High School Athletic Association girls state championships at Port St. Joe High School.

Area lifters competed in classes 3A through 1A, which were held Thursday through Saturday, respectively. No local lifters won state titles; however, there were numerous platform — top 6 — finishes in the Traditional and Snatch categories.

Final results in the Traditional category were determined based on the combined weights from each competitor’s best lift in the bench press and clean-and-jerk. The Snatch — which was added this year — is when lifters take the weight and lift it over their heads in one move while in a squatting position then rising into standing position while holding it aloft.

In Class 2A, Leesburg finished with three points in the Traditional category, good for a tie for 23rd place. The Yellow Jackets improved to 12th place in the Snatch with five points.

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Class 1A state meet

Most area lifters competed in Class 1A.

In the team competition, Eustis finished fourth in the Snatch with 15 points, followed by South Sumter (13th place, five points), The Villages (13th, five), and Mount Dora Christian Academy (28th, one). In the Traditional competition, Eustis, South Sumter and The Villages led the way among area teams with seventh-place finishes (seven), MDCA (20th, three), and Umatilla (27th, one).

Local lifters posting platform finishes in Class 2A included Leesburg’s Katilynn Brady, who medal in both categories. The lightest lifter among all classifications — at 86 pounds at weigh in — Brady finished third in the Snatch with 90 pounds and sixth in Traditional with 220 pounds.

Also medaling for the Yellow Jackets were Faith Garrison in Traditional at 169 pounds, who finished with 340 total pounds. In the Snatch, Samantha Raize was sixth with 130 pounds.

In Class 1A, local lifters earning medals and platform finishes in the Traditional category included Eustis’ Kiara Smth, who finished fourth at 101 pounds with a combined total weight of 240 pounds.

In addition: at 119 pounds, Eustis lifter Zeta Zachman finished fourth (275 pounds total weight); at 129 pounds, The Villages’ Marissa Sullivan was fourth (305) and Umatilla’s Grace Hawkins was sixth (290); at 139 pounds, MDCA’s Emily Allen was fourth (305) and Lorelai Ellerby was sixth (295), at 169, Adrienne Alvarado from The Villages was fourth (315); at 199 pounds, South Sumter’s Alexis Adams was third (325); in the unlimited category, South Sumter’s Mary Wilhelm finished fourth (385).

In the Snatch category, Smith, Zachman and Sullivan recorded the top overall finishes for area lifters with second-place finishes in their weight classifications. Smith (101 pounds) hoisted 90 pounds, Zachman (119) lifted 105 pounds and Sullivan (129) 110 pounds.

Other platform-level performers among area lifters in the Snatch included: Sosnowski (sixth place, 119 pounds, 95 pound total weight), Ellerby (fourth, 139, 115), Allen (sixth, 139, 110), Eustis’ Katie Short (fifth, 154, 110), Wilhelm (third, unlimited, 125), and her South Sumter teammate, Nevaeh Cooper (fifth, unlimited, 115).

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Lake and Sumter county girls shine at FHSAA state weightlifting finals