Schools across the area sent athletes to compete in powerlifting at the State level this month, with many placing.
Grant Powell, powerlifting coach at Davenport, said they took nine boys to compete in the eight-man powerlifting meet this year. Of those, Devin Murfin placed third, Tyler Gilkinson placed fourth, Laken Durbin placed 10th, Brody Robinson placed fifth, and Chase Denwalt placed fourth.
He said Davenport had powerlifting in the past, but just got it started back up this year.
“I think the guys really bought into the lifting program and continued to get better with every meet,” Powell said. “Overall, everyone showed strength improvements from the beginning to the end of the season.”
This was the first year Prague competed in girls powerlifting, according to coach Dailyn King. They had eight total on the team, and three advanced to State. Sophomore Jalyn Goodnight in the heavyweight division finished sixth, while freshman Emma Hinkle finished 13th in the 165 division and freshman Keira Carter finished 10th in the 121 division.
“We train with intention and purpose in the weight room and via conditioning for our program to increase their overall athleticism, power, speed, and explosiveness. Athletes are able to gain more confidence in their movements and body control for their sport and athletic goals,” she said.
She added that she saw many of their athletes across the board - not just in softball - gain confidence and even a little swagger just from improving their overall strength, speed and performance.
“Overall, this powerlifting season was phenomenal. The girls did well at each meet, and it gave them a little more focus once we returned from Christmas to maintain and keep improving their gains before this spring slow pitch season,” King said.
On the boys’ side, Prague saw Ronan Martin make State runner-up for the 181 class, and Garrett Anderson placed 10th in the 168 class.
Chandler High School likely has the longest team in the area, with coach Fred Peery saying they’ve had powerlifting off and on since 1991. This year, the team was runner-up at Regionals and had nine athletes qualify for State. James Fine placed fifth in the 242-lbs class.
“I was really impressed with our guys that decided to continue to work at Powerlifting. The sport is not easy. It takes work, commitment and confidence in yourself,” he said. “Someone who competes at a high level in Powerlifting is an elite human being and will have a great opportunity to be successful in life.”
North Rock Creek started their powerlifting program in January 2023. Coach D’Morea Morton said the boys’ team has qualified five to six athletes each of the last three years, while the girls’ team has seen “tremendous” growth from one in the first year to two in the second and seven qualifiers this year.
They had five medalists total this year: Kaiden Samuels in third, Molly Campbell in second, Elektra Coughran in third, Dru Houghton in third and Morgan Bertram in third.
Morton said they’ve grown a lot since the first year, and he’s beyond proud of how their athletes competed this year.
“Powerlifting is teaching our kids how to compete to the best of their ability and that everything is earned. There are tons of strong athletes across the state. We set team standards and individual goals. We push our athletes to work hard and achieve them,” Morton said.