AUBURNDALE — One of the county's smallest schools came up mighty big at the 2018 Polk girl's high school weight lifting championships Saturday.
Frostproof outclassed 14 other schools to win the third annual event, after finishing second last January.
Bartow was runner up, followed by 2016 champ Lake Gibson, Lakeland and Auburndale.
The Bulldogs dominated in the lower weight classes to build an insurmountable lead.
Frostproof got firsts from Amaya Mosley at 119 and Ashlyn Smeal at 129. Smeal bested teammate Alisa Mendes for the top spot. Both had a combined lift of 230 pounds, so the tiebreaker is what the athletes weighed in at.
Smeal was one ounce lighter than Mendes, but their one-two finish accounted for 12 of Frostproof's 49 points, the Bulldogs' exact margin of victory over the Yellow Jackets.
“It's been a lot of time, a lot of hard work,” Frostproof Coach Becky Mendes said. “We were runner-up last year, but I think we just set some goals and they wanted it. They wanted it so bad. They worked so hard to get here. They were determined. We we're like 'we want to be on the top of that podium.' They've seen it, they've watched it and they just made the decision that this was our year.”
Other Bulldogs to get second included Valentina Excalante at 110, and Gabby Sams at 139, while Janell Wiley at 101, Chloe Martinez at 110, Mikaela Valdez at 119 and Cheyanne Canner at 154 all collected thirds.
“I was really praying that all that hard work would pay off for them this year and thankfully it did,” the coach added. “When we committed to lifting a lot and putting in the work in the off season, they're beginning to see what it takes.”
Alisa Mendes said plenty of team support is one of the keys to the Bulldogs' success.
“We all encourage each other. When one is down, we are all down,” she said. “We push each other really hard.”
Other highlights included a new county record set at 110 by Auburndale's Jessica Walters who had a combined lift of 255 (130 bench press, 125 clean and jerk), and a combined lift of 325, best of the day, by Lakeland's Shakira McCoy (160 and 165).
Following are the top three finishers in each weight class with their combined lift totals in the bench press and clean and jerk:
101 – Jessica Medina, Lakeland (230); Emma Respress, Fort Meade (220); Janell Wiley, Frostproof (175)
110 – Jessica Walters, Auburndale (255); Valentina Escalante, Frostproof (205); Chloe Martinez, Frostproof (185)
119 – Amaya Mosley, Frostproof (240); Breanna Wilson, Lake Gibson (230); Mikaela Valdez, Frostproof (200).
129 – Ashlyn Smeal, Frostproof (230); Alisa Mendes, Frostproof (230): Anna Reich, Lake Region (210).
139 – E'Laurie Smith, Bartow (270); Gabby Sams, Frostproof (265); Dezarae Maldonado, Auburndale (260).
154 – Mariah Wiggs, Lake Gibson (260); Taniya Blackman, Bartow (260); Cheyanne Canner, Frostproof (240).
169 – Jepherine Magloire, Winter Haven (310); Danielle Karacson, Bartow (275); Keyonna Wiggins, Auburndale (265).
183 – Trinity Euson, Haines City (255); Tyra Armstrong, Bartow (255); Abygayle Rausch, Auburndale (250).
199 – Shakira McCoy, Lakeland (325); Unique Rivers, Kathleen (295); Jakiya Martin, Lake Gibson (250).
UNL – Ashanti Darbey, Bartow (320), Isaly Morgan, Ridge Community (310); Lorna Nieves, Lakeland (300).
TEAM: Frostproof 49, Bartow 37, Lake Gibson 31, Lakeland 28, Auburndale 21, Ridge Community 11, Haines City 10, George Jenkins 8, Winter Haven 7, Fort Meade 5, Tenoroc 3, Lake Region 2, Mulberry 1.