.gif)
The first powerlifting meet of the season came with significant success forth the Columbus Cardinals’ and Rice Raiders’ lift teams. The Rice-hosted ‘Swamp Strength 1.0’ marked the first of several competitions to be held this season at the school. Lifters in the county got off to a hot start as each school had top performers and placements at the conclusion of the meet.
Rice
The host Rice Raiders took full advantage of their home floor with many first-place finishes from several different weight classes. The boys had their fair share of gold medals as they had a strong outing as a group. John Mendoza finished as one of the top lifters from the entire meet as he secured the top spot in his weight class. Luis Ceballos, Angel Gonzales and Jose Martinez took the top ranking in their respective weight classes as well. Ethan Luna finished in second place in his weight class, and Zane Zbranek and Gavin Tate picked up third place in their respective weight classes to increase the team’s score.
The girls also had a plethora of strong performances, finishing with three total gold medals. Samantha Olvera, Reagan Nelson and Bradi Freeman finished as the top lifters in their respective weight classes to bring home the gold. Rice also had several top-3 finishers that did not take their class’s top spot. Vanessa Marquez and Breelyn Freeman took second-place finishes after their performances. The bronze medal finishers were Raelee Nelson, Citlalli Vazquez and Estrella Gonzalez.
Columbus
The Cardinal boys failed to come away with any first-place finishes in their first meet of the season. However, they did pick up a few top-3 finishes to bolster their team score. They had several second-place finishers with Logan Hinson, Kase Weishuhn, Ralphie Johnson and Ross Heffley coming in as the runners in their weight classes. Another Heffley, Logan, finished just behind his sibling in the same weight class as one of Columbus’ third place finishers. Cayden Tello was the only other top-3 placement for the boys.
Andreanna Shropshire took the Lady Cards’ lone gold medal as the top lifter in her weight class. Melanie Hernandez claimed Columbus’ only silver medal while Zoe Pore added the Lady Cards only bronze medal.
