Facing off against six other schools from Central Florida the boys weightlifting team participated in the FHSAA Districts Championships at home on March 30. The team placed first in snatch and third in traditional (bench and clean and jerk), and all 19 lifters qualified to move on to regionals. 

Two lifters from each weight class competed. Top performers of the night included junior Benjamin Stewart (154 weight class), senior Alvaro Alcala (183 weight class), senior Erik Eaton (unlimited weight class), and junior Rylan Fitzgerald (199 weight class). Several of the lifters hit all of their lifts and set new personal records.

In preparation for big meets, practice has consisted of heavy weights, timed sets, and form intensive workouts. 

This season, snatch was added to the movements in competitions. Snatch requires a lot more mobility than bench and clean and jerk, as the lifter has to lift the bar in one motion from the ground to overhead. The team had to learn form for the new movement by first perfecting their technique in practice. 

“We have been doing more technique focused workouts and perfecting our form specifically for snatch since it is a new movement to us,” senior Tyler Martinez said.

Up to this point, the boys had not won any of their meets, so districts was a good change for them. 

“The season has been great and the team has done way better than anyone predicted they would have at the start of the season,” Martinez said.

The boys are currently ranked third in the district 5 class 3A out of seven schools, following behind East River and Colonial. 

“We’re an underdog team,” head coach David Attaway said. “We don’t have the support of football like some schools do. We have weightlifters.”

The team continues to work at practice to prepare for their next meet.

“It is great seeing how strong others are and my own potential,” Stewart said. 

The boys weightlifting’s next meet, regional championships, is April 9 split into two sessions. Tickets can be purchased on gofan.co.