St. Cloud takes 11th OBC girls weightlifting team title

On a night when three different teams had two or more individual champions, the St. Cloud Bulldogs used their superior depth to win an unprecedented 11th consecutive girls Orange Belt Conference weightlifting championship Friday at Harmony High Shool

The Bulldogs posted three firsts and seven seconds on their way to 79 team points to easily outdistance Celebration (45).  Osceola and Harmony tied for third (28), Tohopekaliga was fifth (26). 

St. Cloud got championships from Abby Davis (110-pound weight class), Kaitlyn Gallagher (119) and a surprise win for Kiley Holland (154), who hit her last attempt in the clean-and-jerk for a 140-145-285 total to edge Harmony’s Avery Heap (140-140-280). Overall, 17 of 20 St. Cloud lifters scored points.

“Going into OBCs, I thought we had a chance to have five champions but we only got three with Kiley’s win being a bit of a surprise – so our depth definitely saved us tonight,” St. Cloud coach Cory Aun said.  “We knew we had a chance to dominate the lighter weight classes and we did.”

As expected, the top returning lifters from a year ago won their weight classes this time around. Davis, last year’s 101-pound champion, took the 110-pound class this year with impressive 150-pound bench press and 160-pound  clean-and-jerk. Celebration’s Helena Huyke, the 119-pound champion from last season, won the 129-pound class (135-160-300), while Osceola’s Katlyn Walters won a second straight OBC crown, at 169 (135-170-305).

Harmony’s Adriana Rosa dominated at 139 (145-190-335) to win her division by 55 pounds over second place Nyla Roberson of St. Cloud. Rosa’s total not only won at 139 but would have been the winning total in the next five higher weight classes and was 20 pounds heavier than her second place lifts at last year’s state championships.

Upstart Celebration continues to build a solid program under coach Cliff Branch. In addition to Huyke, the Storm had a surprise winner at 101 in Alessandra Diaz (100-115-215) and had the 199-pound champion in Indiana Ramos (140-145-285). The Storm picked up multiple point scorers in five different weight classes for its second consecutive runner-up finish, just two years after the Storm finished a distant fifth at OBCs.

“Without question it has been the result of dedication and the hard work these girls have put in,” Branch said.  “Our kids have bought into the system and they come to work every day.  Our philosophy is simple-- let’s take another step forward today.”

Other individual champions included Osceola’s Alyhia Williams at 185 (130-145-275) and Poinciana’s Jamelise Rivas in the unlimited class (165-135-300).

Prior to the regular OBC meet, a separate competition was held in the snatch completion.  A move is underway to have the snatch eventually replace the bench press portion of the competition, which would get the sport in line with Olympic and other weight lifting competitions. In the snatch, the teams finished in the exact same order with St. Cloud (74 points) taking first, Celebration (43) second, Harmony and Osceola tying for third (36) and Tohopekaliga (29) coming in fifth.

District competition begins next Saturday. Harmony will host the 3A, District 9 meet that includes St. Cloud and Tohopekaliga. Celebration and Poinciana will participate in the Class 3A, District 10 meet at Winter Haven High. The top six finishers in the district competition advance to regionals the following week.

“We fully expect to advance most of our lifters to regionals,” Aun said.  “Several of our lifters are planning on moving down a weight class to create their best chances to advance, so we may not have as many top three finishes as we did this week.”