Starting on May 6th, the FHSAA Boys Weightlifting State Championship took place at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, FL. Four Leon County schools were represented in two different classifications with Florida High and Maclay having athletes compete in the 1A class and Lincoln and Godby having athletes compete in the 2A class.
In high school weightlifting, the Traditional and Olympic categories use different lifts to determine an athlete’s total score. Traditional weightlifting combines the bench press and squat, focusing more on overall strength and powerlifting-style movements. Olympic weightlifting combines the snatch and clean and jerk, which emphasize explosive power, speed, technique, and full-body coordination. Athletes can compete in one or both categories during meets and championships.
Class 1A
Florida High and Maclay athletes delivered multiple podium finishes at the FHSAA 1A Boys State Weightlifting Championships, highlighted by a pair of runner-up performances from Florida High’s Jason Harville and strong Olympic showings from both Tallahassee programs.
Florida High placed seventh overall in the Traditional competition with nine points and fifth overall in the Olympic standings with 12 points. The Seminoles were led by Harville in the 219-pound class, where he earned second place in both disciplines. Harville totaled 635 pounds in the Traditional competition and followed with a 545-pound total in Olympic lifting to secure another state runner-up finish.
Jason Aliche also produced a standout performance for Florida High in the 238-pound class, finishing third in both categories. Aliche recorded a 635-pound total in Traditional lifting before adding a 540-pound Olympic total for another pair of podium finishes.
In the Unlimited class, Micah Deem added points for the Seminoles with a fourth-place finish in Olympic lifting after totaling 510 pounds. Luis Rodriguez competed in the 119-pound division and placed 10th in Traditional with a 305-pound total, while Antonio Dickey Jr. finished 11th in the Olympic standings of the 154-pound class with a 385-pound total.
Maclay also saw success at the state meet, led by Justin Murphy’s podium finish in the Olympic competition. Competing in the 183-pound class, Murphy placed third with a total of 480 pounds after also finishing eighth in Traditional lifting with a 530-pound total.
Andrew Guyer added a ninth-place Olympic finish in the 169-pound division with a 420-pound total, while Nic Streety placed 12th in the 199-pound Olympic field after totaling 430 pounds. Abram Wildrick rounded out Maclay’s state qualifiers with an eighth-place finish in the Unlimited Olympic division, recording a total of 480 pounds.
Class 2A
Lincoln and Godby represented Tallahassee at the FHSAA 2A Boys State Weightlifting Championships, with Lincoln earning a top-five finish in the 169-pound class.
Lincoln tied for 25th overall in the traditional standings with three points, led by Javon Johnson’s fourth-place finish in the 169-pound division after totaling 590 pounds. Kaylen Rogers also competed for the Trojans in the 183-pound class, placing 11th with a total of 565 pounds. Both Lincoln lifters competed exclusively in the Traditional category.
Godby’s Tre Stenson competed in the unlimited class and finished ninth in the Traditional competition with a total of 625 pounds.
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