STARKVILLE — Four boys and three girls from Starkville High School have powerlifting gold on their minds.
At Saturday”s Mississippi High School Activities Association State meet at the Mississippi Coliseum, two senior Lady Yellow Jackets will look to repeat first-place North State finishes, while Marcus Tate will try to capture his second straight gold medal after winning the 275-pound boys class at North State.
What the two Starkville programs lack in overall numbers, which creates a considerable gap in their chances to win team titles this weekend, they make up for in individual standouts.
Tate, the strongest of the Yellow Jackets” state qualifiers, lifted 335 pounds on the bench, 570 in squat, and 575 in the dead lift at North State. He”s confident he can repeat his bench and squat numbers but believes he”ll have to lift 600 pounds or better in the dead lift to finish first.
He didn”t make it to state last year, but the 2010 regional meet proved competition heats up well before state.
“Last year, (opponents) came back lifting more than I thought they”d do,” said Tate, a senior. “They were doing 600 like it was nothing. I”m strongest in the dead lift, but I don”t think I”m gonna be able to do 600 at all (on Saturday). Every time I try it my back starts hurting. But it”s state, so I know what I”ve got to do.”
Said first-year powerlifting coach Willie Gillespie, “I hope he gets 600 up because if he does I feel certain he”ll win.”
Gillespie hopes the success of the girls program draws more interest toward a sport he said has seen waning numbers.
Starkville”s Jondia Weatherspoon (148), Latrecia Halbert (225), and Latedra Burkhalter (125) will participate Saturday. Weatherspoon and Burkhalter are coming off first-place finishes at North State.
“We feel like Jondia”s numbers were some of the best in the state,” Gillespie said. “I”m really pulling for her. She”s been great for the program and embodies the word “student athlete.”
Weatherspoon had a total lift of 655, with a personal-record 295 in the dead lift at North State.
Burkhalter dead lifted 320, benched 135, and squatted 275 to take first at North State, while Halbert took third with a personal-record 240 squat, 295 dead lift, and 120 bench.
Burkhalter looks to have a flawless performance Saturday after scratching during squats and not completing the 2010 state meet.
The Lady Yellow Jackets could have had more state qualifiers had it not been for a weight-class snafu that saw two girls miss the chance to lift at North State (only two competitors per weight class).
“We were expecting six to seven, who we felt good about their chances in that division,” Gillespie said. “They were right up there.”
Halbert said she was affected by the shuffled weight classes, which saw her lose out on second place because an opponent weighed less than she did.
“I was mad, but I was kind of happy because I still qualified, which I had never done before,” Halbert said. “This is my best year as a Lady Jacket, but I am nervous.”
Kjuan Harvey, a 114-pound region winner, took second at boys North State.
Harvey lifted 120 on the bench, 225 in the squat, and 240 in the dead lift.
Raphael McClain took second in the 132 class at North State with a 415 dead lift, 185 bench, and 325 squat.
The status for Starkville”s fourth boys competitor, 148-pound lifter Ladorious Pittman, is uncertain due to an injured groin, Gillespie said.
Pittman benched 180, squatted 260, and dead lifted 375.
Gillespie hopes a year”s worth of fundamentals training will show beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday.
“(Football) coach Jamie Mitchell was real instrumental in helping choose the squad we used from football,” Gillespie said. “Him having won a state powerlifiting meet he was very helpful.
“You could see the progression and confidence in the kids. Once they grasped the concept and the strategy, you saw it click. Everyone is lifting their best.”
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