Six of the Middle Keys’ strongest ladies were riding in style after the long weekend, delivered to Marathon High School on the morning of Feb. 20 to balconies full of cheering teachers and classmates by Marathon Fire Rescue and MCSO officials. Hailing from a small island with a skyrocketing statewide reputation in girls weightlifting, Justice Lee, Sierra Earnhardt, Ella Dunn, Sabrina Schofield, Ayme Maradiaga and Mikkel Ross returned from the 2024 FHSAA State Championships in Lakeland with four pieces of hardware for MHS. Earnhardt finished the meet as a bronze medalist in the 119-lb. weight class for Olympic lifts, while Dunn earned a fifth-place medal in the same category for the 101-lb. weight class – and just barely missed out on a second medal with a seventh-place finish for traditional lifts.
And with a performance that topped her lifts in regional competition by 10 pounds in both the snatch and clean and jerk, plus a bench press that broke her own personal record in competition, sophomore phenom Lee became the first dual state champion in Monroe County girls weightlifting history. A 135-pound snatch, combined with a school-record 190-pound clean and jerk and 175-pound bench press, secured double golds for Lee in both traditional and Olympic lifts for the 183-lb. weight class.
