Keys weightlifters had a late-season meet up at Coral Shores prior to the FHSAA District 16 1A Championships, which will be at Doctors Charter School on Wednesday, March 26. The Dolphins won both the Olympic and traditional events at the March 12 meetup, with the Hurricanes in second place in both categories.
Unsurprising to followers of Keys weightlifting, the top three lifters of the meet were Marathon’s Tanner Ross, Max Childress and Damian Stasiewicz. Ross had the highest scores using the Sinclair coefficient, with a 267.3 in Olympic and 302 in traditional. The senior strongman’s 215-pound snatch lift set a new school record for all weight classes and bested the closest competitor last week by 30 pounds.
Childress scored 253 and 296 while Staciewicz came in at 240 and 282 in the Olympic and traditional events. The Sinclair coefficient essentially factors a lifter’s age, gender and weight to determine who, pound-for-pound, had the best showing. Mid- to high-200-level scores are indicative of solid youth scores, with national-level lifters hitting the mid to high 300s.
Ross hit the 300 mark with a combination of 280 pounds on bench and 285 in the clean and jerk. Childress, just a bit more than 20 pounds lighter than Ross, benched 260 pounds and hoisted 265 in the clean and jerk event. Stasiewicz totaled 250 on bench and 225 in the clean and jerk. Many of Marathon and Coral Shores’ lifters, including the top three, have more in the tank for the post-season. Marathon coach Jessie Schubert is adamant that his athletes perfect their form prior to going heavy to stress safety and maximize outcome when the time is right, namely in the postseason.
The Dolphins had six double winners whose lifts put them at the top of the Olympic and traditional leaderboards in their weight classes. Chase Leird (129 pounds), Stasiewicz (169), Vitalii Konyk (183), Childress (199), Ross (219) and Braulio Garcia (238) all won both events for Marathon. Matthias Martinez-Velez won the traditional event in the 154-pound class.
Coral Shores had a pair of double winners in Tyler Bettner (139 pounds) and Andrew Grgek (unlimited). Bettner’s top bench press, 185 pounds, is 135% of his current body weight, giving him a significant edge in his weight class. Grgek, fresh off a trip to states in wrestling, used his agility from that sport to parlay into a win in his weight class in the clean and jerk and snatch lifts.
