Published: May 08, 2008 10:29 am         

Mexia Powerlifting had successful year

The year started out with great numbers of kids wanting to improve their strength. Grades and a change in desire took away many. However this did not phase most of the hard workers who were left. We did not keep an easy workout schedule. Our practice was at 6:30 in the morning, and yes, that is awful early to be lifting heavy weights! That just shows the level of commitment these kids were putting forth in order to better themselves.

Listed below are the athletes who made it all the way through the year to the district meet. I am very proud of these individuals.

Boys - Mike Williams, Bradley Crenshaw, Emmanuel Villasenor 5th, Jacob Bishop, Will Johnson, Michael Gamble 1st, and Jared Pollard 2nd.

Girls - Kallie Contreras 4th, Abigail Gonzales 2nd, Brittany Fulmer 1st, Marisa Hernandez 1st, Joanna Arellano 3rd, Jessica Avila 4th, and Stacey Cortinez 1st.

These finishes were from the district meet, held in Palestine, from which we took home 2nd Place in the girls division. This is the first team award for Mexia Ladycat Powerlifting in many years.

Jared Pollard and Michael Gamble qualified for regionals. Michael won his weight class at regionals, with a total of 1500 lbs. This advanced him to the state meet, in which he placed 7th and had a total of 1520 lbs. This was Michael’s second trip to state; he also achieved this goal last year! He improved on his total from last year by over 100 lbs!!!

We also had two girls qualify for the regional competition. They were Brittany Fulmer and Stacey Cortinez. Both of these young ladies were able to lift state qualifying totals. Fulmer lifted 685 and Cortinez was able to lift 925 lbs. At the state meet in Killeen both of the young ladies competed well. Stacey was able to place 4th in the state. She improved on her total from last year by over 100 lbs!!!

Others who competed this year were Jared Phillips, Cody Cotton, Josh Zamora, Robert Pollard, Elias Soto, Jairo Gonzales, Andres Lara, Brandon Allen, and Estrella Garcia.

I would like to personally thank Coach Heath Brittain for assisting me this year. Neal Bowe was also very instrumental with the development of the kids.