Coral Shores traveled to Marathon on Dec. 6 for an in-county weightlifting meet six weeks from district competition. Marathon’s Mikkel Ross and Justice Lee again led the pack in the Sinclair algorithm and total lifts, respectively. Ross, who participates in the 129-lb. class, won both the traditional and Olympic events as well as having the highest Sinclair score. The Sinclair score takes into account an athlete’s total lifts and their body weight, determining who, pound-for-pound, had the strongest lifts.
Lee had the highest totals in all three lifts last Wednesday, placing her at the top of the 183-lb. weight class in both the traditional and Olympic events. Lee added 5 pounds to her total last week on the bench press for a solid 160-lb. lift, which she matched in the clean and jerk. She lifted 135 in the snatch event.
Marathon’s Sierra Earnhardt, who competes in the 119-lb. category, was third using the Sinclair algorithm, winning both events for her class. Also winning double first places for the Fins were Marquisha Abraham at 154 and Sabrina Schofield at 199. Coral Shores had a trio of double winners in Rachel Rusch at 110 pounds, Grace Patterson at 169 and Sydney Eysenbach in the Unlimited class.
Four Fins shared first places at the event. At 101 pounds, Ella Dunn and Ayme Maradiaga split the wins, with Dunn winning the Olympic event and Maradiaga taking first in traditional. Cami Wrinn and Ava Merryman did the same in the 139-lb. competition, with Wrinn winning Olympic and Merryman taking the traditional event.
Marathon and Coral Shores are in the FHSAA’s 1A classification while Key West, with a larger student population, is classified as 2A. The ’Canes and Fins will participate in a few more local meets prior to their first round of postseason competition, which begins on Jan. 27 at Doctors Charter High for their district meet. Key West’s district meet is set for Jan. 25.
