When it comes to girls weightlifting in Osceola County, nothing really changes but the date.
The St. Cloud Lady Bulldogs won both the Olympic (Clean and Jerk and Snatch) and Traditional (Bench and Clean and Jerk) disciplines to win their 14th consecutive Orange Belt Conference championship Friday at the Harmony gym.
St. Cloud, with a combined event team score of 142 outlifted second place Harmony (107) and third place Tohopekaliga (84) for the OBC crown. Osceola (49), Celebration (21), Liberty (17), Gateway (12) and Poinciana (8) rounded out the team scoring.
“We had some truly outstanding performances tonight, especially considering one our favorites in both disciplines failed to make weight,” St. Cloud coach Cory Aun said. “Those great performances included Haley Wright, who won the 101-pound class in the Olympic discipline. It was her first varsity meet. On a personal note, I was thrilled that my daughter Ashley won both titles and had a personal best in the snatch. We ask a lot of her and ever since she was a freshman, moving her up and down in weight classes to help the team score points. She has made a lot of sacrifices for her team and I am extremely proud of that fact.”
On the Olympic side, St. Cloud took the team title with 76 points; while Harmony (50) was second and Tohopekaliga third (40). Individual winners for St. Cloud in that discipline included Wright (101 weight class), Aun (110), Sophia Recio (129), Belen Gonzalez (154), Morgan Van Auken (183), and Reese Butler (199).
Other class winners in the Olympic included Harmony’s Abriana Nunez (119), Morgan Pasqual (169) and Kaytlyn Simpson 9 (unlimited). Tohopekaliga’s Alexa Woodman captured the 139-pound title.
In the traditional, St. Cloud had repeat winners Aun (110), Gonzalez (154), and Butler (199). Jaylone Mejia (183) also took an individual title for the Bulldogs as they won the discipline with 66 points.
Behind double wins by Nunez (119), Pasqual (169) and Simpson (unlimited), Harmony was second in the traditional with 57 points. Woodman repeated at 139 and Rosimar Amurrio won at 129 as Tohopekaliga was third with 44 points. Kianna Moran from Gateway (95-90-185 total pounds) took the traditional title at the 101-pound weight class.
Although St. Cloud won for the 14th straight time, Aun acknowledged it was getting tougher each year to repeat.
“Nick Lippert (Harmony coach) and Rob Weilert (Tohopekaliga) are doing absolutely phenomenal work with their programs,” Aun said. “They are a main reason the sport continues to grow in our county.”
The meet marked the end of the 2023-24 regular season. On Jan. 26, St. Cloud, Harmony, Tohopekaliga, Osceola, Poinciana and Celebration will all participate in the Class 3A, District 9 meet at Harmony High, and Gateway and Liberty will participate in the 2A, District 8 championship at Leesburg High.
