The powerlifting teams have been practicing since Jan. 3 and have their first competition today in Burnet.

“I think I have been waiting all year for it,” junior Ava Speicher said. “It is one of my favorite sports. It takes a lot of discipline, but yeah I am excited.”

There are three events that the students participate in to rack up points. At the end of all three events, the student’s points are added up together to get their total. 

“There’s squat, bench and deadlift, and you get three chances each to lift in a meet,” trainer Jan Brister said. “You’ve got to have at least one good squat, one good bench and one good deadlift to have a total.”

Powerlifters have certain equipment they use when lifting the weights to ensure the students don’t get hurt and to get an extra boost when lifting. 

“We wear suits that help us bounce back up, belts to support our backs and some people use gloves, and we have bench shirts,” Speichert said. “They all really just help us lift more weight.” 

As they prepare for their meet today, coaches and students feel excited to try to reach their goals for this meet and for the rest of the season.

“We have a new crop of athletes coming in,” girls powerlifting coach Tyler Cleavinger said. “Hopefully we have gotten stronger over the course of the year.”

Just like everything else in life, powerlifters can learn valuable strategies from the sport. A main thing they can learn from powerlifting is how to strategize and take in their surroundings.

“Discipline, cause you’re watching your weight like what you eat and being in sports in general you are doing the right things or you can’t do sports,” Speichert said. 

To some students, powerlifting can be a sport used as a stress reliever. Using the afterschool program helps them cool down after a long day of school.

“Sometimes it helps you take your mind off school, like a lot of sports do,” Speichert said. “Like after school I can get rid of all that bad energy if I have a bad day and just relax.”