St. Cloud High grabs 11th straight conference weightlifting championship

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  • St. Cloud girls’ weightlifting team won their 11th consecutive Orange Belt Conference Championship at Harmony High School on Jan. 13. Photo courtesy of St. Cloud High School.
    St. Cloud girls’ weightlifting team won their 11th consecutive Orange Belt Conference Championship at Harmony High School on Jan. 13. Photo courtesy of St. Cloud High School.
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St. Cloud High School’s weightlifting team repeated as Orange Belt Conference champions last week, but this time it was not so easy for Coach Cory Aun’s squad.

The Lady Bulldogs won two individual championships and used its depth to rack up 59 points to edge out Celebration (45) and host Harmony (43) to win its 11th consecutive OBC crown. Celebration led all teams with three individual champions, while fifth place Osceola (26) joined St. Cloud by claiming two individual champions.

St. Cloud’s margin of victory was a lot tighter than the 2020 conference championship, when the Lady Bulldogs claimed five individual championships and won the team title by more than 40 points over their nearest competitor.

“Maybe a little bit closer than expected,” Aun said after the victory. “Our overall depth was responsible for the win. We only won two weight classes, but had five seconds and had 15 of 20 lifters score points for us (each team could enter two athletes in each weight class). But give Harmony and Celebration a lot of credit, they had some outstanding efforts. The overall talent and interest in the sport among county schools continues to get better. ”

Team depth that made the difference for St. Cloud, as the Lady Bulldogs had both lifters score team points in 6 of 10 weight classes. Celebration High, which finished in second place, only had multiple point scorers in three weight classes; Harmony had four. Points were awarded for the top 6 finishers, on a 7-5-4-3-2-1 basis in each of the 10 weight classes.

The early weight classes proved to vital for the Lady Bulldogs as they scored 24 of their 59 points in the two lightest weight classes. Abby Davis and Maya Indio finished first and second in the 101-pound weight class and Kaitlyn Gallagher and Ashley Aun were took gold and silver at 110-pounds.

Celebration’s individual champions came from Helena Huyke (119), Maria Hincapie (169) and Megan Peck (183).  Huyke’s 125-pound bench press and 155 pound. clean and jerk (280 total) was 50 pounds more than her closest competitor.

Osceola had first place finishes by Katlin Walters (154) and Aleysha DeJesus (199). Other individual weight class winners included Harmony’s Adriana Rosa (139), Tohopekaliga’s Hanna Rodriguez (129), and Poinciana’s Jamelis Rivas (UNL).

Notable performances included Celebration’s Hincapie whose winning total of 330 not only won the 169-pound weight class but would have also won the three heavier weight classes above her; and Toho’s Rodriguez (140-170-310) and Harmony’s Rosa (145-170-315) also turned in outstanding performances – lifting a combined 180 pounds and 175 pounds above their respective body weights.

All county teams will be in action today (Thursday) and tomorrow in district competition. Harmony and Celebration are each hosting their respective competitions. The top six lifters in each weight class from districts go to regionals.  Regional winners will get an automatic bid to state, with the top 15 non-winners from each weight class (regardless of region) also advancing.  St. Cloud is scheduled to host the 3A state championship meet Feb. 13.