The boys and girls powerlifting teams have both had a successful start to the season. The girls team has placed first at two of the three meets they have competed in, while the boys have also had several individuals bring home medals.

At the LCM meet, Jacie Miller and Sarah Bates both placed first in their weight class. Anna Broussard placed second, while Sydney McGraw, Trinity Stensaker and Ceideah Walker all placed third in their respective weight classes. As a team, the girls placed first with a total of 35 points.

In the boys division, four Bears placed first in their weight classes: Hunter Angelo, Ethan McKay, Trent Brown, and Colt Lebleu, Grant Lacour placed second, while Ryan Davila, Malik Griffin, Shawn McKay, and Lucas Russell all placed fourth. As a team, the boys placed second with a total of 40 points.

At the WOS meet, the girls team brought home another first place trophy. The following lifters all placed first in their weight class: Kahlan Smith, Jacie Miller, Sarah Bates, and Kelsey Dyson. Sydney McGraw placed second and Ceideah Walker placed third.

Hunter Angelo, Ethan McKay, Trent Brown, and Colt Lebleu all placed first in their respective weight classes, while Jacob Peters placed second and Greyson Kuykendall placed third. Angelo also earned the title of Top Male Lifter at this meet.

During the Silsbee meet on Feb. 15, the girls team place third overall. Individual medals were won by Ceideah Walker (third), Kahlan Smith (first), Jacie Miller (first), and Anna Broussard (third).

The boys team placed second and individual medals were won by Grayson Kuykendall (third), Julian Arteaga (second), Jacob Peters (third), Hunter Angelo (first), Ethan McKay (third), Colt Lebleu (first), Blake Ferguson (third) and Trent Brown (first).

Both teams are now getting ready for their Regional meets, which will determine if they move on to the State meets in March. The girls will compete at Regionals on March 3 in Edna and the boys will compete on March 10 at Goose Creek High School in Baytown.

Even though this is senior Jacie Miller’s first time to compete in powerlifting, she has been training in this sport since this past summer at Mike Denman’s training center in Mauriceville. She has seen a lot of success so far and got all three of her max lifts at the WOS meet.

“I set a goal for myself at the beginning of the week, which helps me push myself to lift my heaviest during the meet,” she said.

Senior Grant Lacour has been involved in powerlifting for many years and has even advanced to the State meet in previous years. This season, he has been working hard to hopefully do the same thing.

“I really just focus on one lift at a time,” he said. “Doing it lift by lift helps a lot.”