LADY ’CANES LIFTERS CRUSH QUAD MEET

a woman squatting on a bench with a barbell
Coral Shores’ Grace Patterson was a double winner at the Hurricanes’ Dec. 4 quad meet at Gulliver Prep. DOUG FINGER/Keys Weekly

Two Keys teams traveled to Gulliver Prep for a quad meet in girls weightlifting Dec. 4, and Coral Shores outlifted the competition in both traditional and Olympic lifting.  For the Hurricanes, Sydney Eysenbach, Karla Gutierrez and Grace Patterson were double winners, claiming the top spots in their respective weight classes in both events. Teammate Juliana Rodriguez was first in the Olympic category. 

For Marathon, Ayme Maradiaga, Ella Evans, Justice Lee and Samantha Schofield were double winners. Ava Merryman won the traditional event in her weight class. Lee, a state gold medalist in both events last season, was the top lifter last Wednesday. The junior powerlifter posted the highest score in the Sinclair coefficient, which takes different variables into account to see which athlete was the top lifter regardless of body weight. She also claimed the best lift in each event. Lee posted top lifts of 175 pounds in clean and jerk, 145 in snatch and 170 on bench. 

Olympic Lifts (Snatch & Clean/Jerk)    

Place                  Team                Points
1Coral Shores50
2Marathon44
3Keys Gate36
4Gulliver Prep14

Traditional Lifts (Bench & Clean/Jerk)

Place                  Team                Points
1Coral Shores51
2Marathon49
3Keys Gate35
4Gulliver Prep11
Tracy McDonald
Tracy McDonald fled to the Keys from the frozen mountains of Pennsylvania hours after graduating from college and never looked back. She is a second generation coach and educator, and has taught in the public school system for over 25 years. She and her husband met at a beginning teacher meeting in 1997 and have three children born and raised in Monroe County. In her free time, McDonald loves flea markets, historical fiction and long runs in the heat.