With the most prestigious event in Florida girls weightlifting just one week away, four area athletes punched their tickets to the big show by winning an FHSAA Region 8 title. Winning a region outright is the only sure way to earn a spot in the state championship lineup; other athletes must wait to see how the other regions finish to see whether they make the cut.
Marathon’s Justice Lee Isom did not just outlift her 183-pound class opponents on Jan. 31 at Keys Gate; she destroyed them. Lee Isom won her dual titles by nearly matching her personal best in the clean and jerk, the event which factors into both events’ totals. The 205-pound feat was the only one in any weight class to top 200 pounds and is just two pounds shy of Lee Isom’s own record. She did break one record last week, clearing a 175-pound snatch to help her win the Olympic event by 145 pounds and break her own personal and school record in the process. On bench, the senior strongwoman pressed up 185 pounds to beat her opponents in the traditional event by over 100 pounds and secure her spot at states, where she hopes to strike gold for a third consecutive year.
Coral Shores’ Vanessa Gabriel will make the trip to Lakeland after winning both the Olympic and traditional events in the 1A Region 8 Unlimited competition. Gabriel combined a 130-pound snatch and 195-pound clean and jerk to win the Olympic event by over 50 pounds, then added a 175-pound bench press to her clean and jerk lift to win the traditional event by triple digits. Gabriel will represent the Keys in her weight class in both events to double her hopes of state glory.
Securing automatic tickets to states along with Lee Isom and Gabriel are two more Dolphins. Ella Evans won the traditional event with a monster 155-pound bench, a Herculean feat given her 119-pound weight. Tiny but mighty, Evans added a 145-pound clean and jerk to win the title of top lifter in the traditional competition. Evans finished third in the Olympic event with a 95-pound snatch lift.
The final regional champ, Adelle Bainbridge, picked up her first regional gold medal in the 154-pound Olympic event. Bainbridge combined a 115-pound snatch and 160-pound clean and jerk for the win. Her 130-pound bench press helped seal a bronze medal in the traditional event.
Other medalists in the 1A competition include Marathon’s Nivi De La Torre (Unlimited) with a third-place finish in Olympic and fifth in traditional, her sister Alysa (183) with a fifth in Olympic and sixth in traditional, and Tinashay Cunningham (139), who finished sixth in the Olympic event.
Hurricane medalists include Mira Jones (129) with a bronze in Olympic and fifth in traditional, Lily Ooms (183), who was fourth in Olympic and fifth in traditional, Elaina Kerns (199) with fourth in Olympic and sixth in traditional, and Mallory Hughes, who finished fifth in traditional in the 110-pound class. Karla Guitierrez (154) and Caylyn Gwilliam (169) each finished sixth in their respective traditional competitions to round out the 1A medalists.
Key West competes in the larger 2A region, and picked up a bevy of medals in the regional championship meet. The top finisher for the Conchs was Caylee Moore, who won a pair of silver medals in the 129-pound class. Aaliyah McLeod won dual bronze medals at 199, and at 101, Courtney Ward and Althea Olsen each picked up a sixth-place medal. Olsen was sixth in traditional, while Ward was sixth in the Olympic competition.
In past seasons, local lifters who placed as deep as sixth have earned a bid to states, but as the sport’s popularity grows, so does the competition. This year, the only athletes who will be representing the Keys at the state level are those who won regionals outright. Bainbridge and Evans, though each secured a regional title in one event and a third-place finish in the other, did make the cut to represent Marathon in both events, giving the Keys eight different ways to medal in Lakeland.
