The powerlifting teams will compete at Lamesa tomorrow.
“We have strong lifters every year, and we have the numbers this year,” Maiden Coach Lonnie Hines said. “A lot of freshman guys are definitely stepping up.”
Both teams competed in Pecos on Jan. 7 with the Maidens coming in fifth overall, and the Indians coming in fourth overall.
“I felt the first meet we did exceptionally well,” Indians Coach Eric Pierce said. “On the boys side we took only one lifter that had ever competed in a meet.”
The Maidens, however, had the leadership of two time state qualifier senior Kayla Coon, who placed first in the 123-pound class with a lifting total of 705 pounds. Coon has already clenched the qualifying weight for state which means she must hone her skills for the rest of the season.
“Bench is my best event because it’s the most comfortable for me,” Coon said. “Deadlift is the worst because my form isn’t as good as it could be.”
Freshman Andrew Alvidrez was the top lifter for the Indians finishing first in the 132-pound class, lifting a total of 920 pounds.
“It felt great,” Alvidrez said. “I went planning to try hard and hopefully win. I didn’t expect I would actually win.”
The youth of the Indian team caused some drawbacks, the biggest of which according to Pierce came from mental errors.
“That is the scariest thing going into the meet with such a young team,” Pierce said. “We have to get better at knowing the rules and not making mental mistakes on lifts, especially the bench press.”
The Indians had seven lifters place in the top six while the Maidens had three lifters in the top six.
“We have a tremendous group of kids who want to work hard,” Pierce said. “We are very young, but the kids have made up for there youth with there tremendous work ethic. They show up everyday ready to work and get better…this team has a bright future.”
Pecos Results
Maidens–5th with 14 points
Individually–114-pound class–Kinsey Tharp–4th (165+80+165=410 pounds); 123-pound class–Kayla Coon–1st (280+160+265=705 pounds); 165-pound class–Selena Quintero–2nd (160+120+220=500)
Indians–4th with 25 points
Individually–114-pound class–Salvador Antillon–3rd (215+120+230=565 pounds),Jimmie Vaughn–4th ( 165+165+180=510 pounds); 123-pound class–Sawyer Jenkins–5th (250+160+280=690 pounds); 132-pound class–Andrew Alvidrez–1st (330+225+365=920 pounds), Eric Rivas–2nd (325+185+325=835 pounds); 181-pound class–George Klassen–4th (345+200+365=910 pounds); 198-pound class–Mark Martinez–2nd (310+205+305=820 pounds)
