After months of training and preparation, years for some, the SHS Powerlifting team entered the Parkland High School gym determined to make an impact at the annual PA State Teenage Powerlifting Competition.
After a 13 hour day of lifting featuring 270+ lifters from 13 different schools across the state, the SHS powerlifting team won medals and broke records.
18 SHS students participated on Saturday, Feb. 22 at Parkland High School in Allentown, PA in the official qualifier competition for the National level one hosted in Milwaukee later this year.
SHS teacher Nick DeLuca serves as the coach for the team of lifters.
“All 18 of our lifters have qualified for Nationals in Milwaukee in April, and several will be travelling to lift there,” DeLuca said. “Today was an enormous success.”
Junior Maegan Voss won first place for the 16-17 age group in the 114 lbs weight class. Senior Jaden Clapsadl won the first place medal for the 18-19 age group in the 103 lbs weight class. Other medal winners were sophomore Abigail Retzlaff, freshman Bella Morris, sophomore Josephine Wilt, junior Charlotte Rhoads and freshman Dylan LaGore.
Sophomore Jacob Rhoads set the new Pennsylvania state records in squat, bench and deadlift for the 13-15 age group in the 130 lbs weight class.
“The atmosphere is- it’s really loud, since there’s a ton of weights slamming …,” Rhoads said. “…it’s just like, you’re by yourself, nobody’s paying attention to you since everyone is going at once. There’s no competitiveness [at the meets].”
Junior Charlie Kopp went eight for nine on his lifts and only failed one bench. He achieved a squat personal record (PR) of 365 lbs, and a deadlift PR of 405 lbs in a very competitive weight class.
Kopp appreciated the organization of the event.
“So, you get there, you get your bearings, we have our little team station just in the corner of the big gym that we’re in, where we keep all our snacks and everything,” Kopp said. “Right before it starts, there’s a little rules session that tells you what you need to do, how to not get disqualified, etc. And then it starts … there’s 4 different platforms and there’s 3 different flights: A, B, C, and platforms 1, 2, 3, 4. You’ll have your flight and a platform.”
The platform is where the lifters perform their lifts- where they set up and where all of the equipment is. Each flight is a group of lifters and helps to organize when the lifters go. Those in flight A lift before everyone else.
“Flight A will begin and be on every platform, they’ll go through their 3 lifts, starts with squat, first attempt, second attempt, 3rd attempt, and then it moves on to flight B,” Kopp said. “They do the same thing, then flight C, and then they clean it up for the next activity, which is bench.”
Rhoads describes the work ethic required to train for these meets, citing his teammates as a major source of motivation to keep going.
“I’m not special,” Rhoads said. “I just go to the gym frequently. You just go to the gym everyday for two years. And over time, it’s just a little bit, a little bit, a little bit.”
Kopp has been part of a long term training process required to compete at these meets.
“I was training, specifically for powerlifting, for like 3-4 months,” Kopp said. “It depends how experienced you are. It’s essentially just building up your strength over time, correcting your form on squat, bench, and deadlift to make sure you can follow the rules properly during the meet and have successful lifts.”
Kopp stresses the importance of team unity to maintain motivation for one of the most training intensive high school sports.
“It’s an individual performance, but everyone has each other’s back and everyone is supporting each other,” Kopp said. “Having that teammate role is vital: you have all these guys cheering you on and giving you support. Maybe you fail a lift, but you have someone coming over to cheer you up and motivate you to get back into things. It is very important to have that team around you to help you get through the meet.”
Coach DeLuca has had the most crucial role in the team’s success.
“He’s done everything for the team,” Kopp said. “He has gotten all of this set up. He has done so much preparation to get these meets in order and actually get a team for us. I really respect how much time he has dedicated to organizing this. It’s all on him. If he weren’t putting his effort into this, we wouldn’t be going to these meets. I mean, we got two trophies this meet. We wouldn’t have that kind of success if it weren’t for him putting in that effort to get us there.”
