Telegraph Staff Writer
It was a big day for the Keystone Heights High School girls weightlifting team at the Jan. 18 District 5-1A finals at Fort White High School, with two lifters accomplishing something that hasn’t happened in 10 years.
The Indians qualified 11 individuals for the Region 2 finals, which will be held Saturday, Jan. 29, at 11 a.m. at Father Lopez High School in Daytona Beach. Ariel King and Grace Wagner are moving on as the champions of their respective weight classes. Keystone’s last individual district champ was Jaelyn Miller in 2012.
When she was informed that she and Wagner were the first champions since then, King said, “Wow. I don’t know what to say.”
Wagner admitted it was hard to believe Keystone had gone that long without having at least one champion “because we do have a good program.”
“It’s definitely crazy to think some girls just haven’t done it (since 2012),” she said.
Wagner, a senior, came close to winning a championship last year, when she was the district runner-up in the 139 class. That followed a third-place finish in 2019 and a fifth-place finish in 2020.
“It feels pretty amazing,” Wagner said of winning this year. “I’ve been working for it for five years. To finally be able to call myself a district champ is absolutely amazing. I can’t wait to see what I call myself by the end of the season.”
Wagner is hoping to earn her first-ever trip to the state finals. She’s made great strides toward that end. She improved her district totals from last year to this year by 15 pounds in the bench press and by 25 pounds in the clean and jerk. Her 260 overall total this year was 40 pounds more than last year’s total.
“This was the last time I was ever going to compete in districts,” Wagner said. “I had to give it to my all and hope that it worked out. It did. It worked out really good for me.”
King, a junior, is in her third year of weightlifting. She placed fifth at the district meet last year, lifting in the 154 class. She dropped down into the 129 class this year, but improved her district totals from last year to this year by 25 pounds in the bench press and by 5 pounds in the clean and jerk. Her overall total of 235 this year was 30 pounds more than she did last year.
“I honestly didn’t see myself coming this far,” King said. She credited coaches Mary Karshner-Smith and Todd Gillenwaters with pushing her to perform to the best of her abilities.
King wants to go as far as her coaches want her to.
“They really want me to go to state,” she said. “Because they want that so much for me, I also want it a lot.”
King said she and Wagner were in tears when they figured out they both placed first after looking at the totals. It meant a lot to each lifter that the other had won. They both lifted in the 154 class in the past and have been close since then.
“It was really a good feeling,” Wagner said of seeing King win her class. “Ariel’s always been kind of the person who I kind of put under my wing. I’m the oldest on the team. I’m the only senior. For the past three years now, she’s kind of been the person who’s been right under me and always there with me. We were in the same weight class for about two years.”
The top six lifters in each class at the District 5 finals earned the right to move on to the Region 2 finals. Joining King and Wagner will be Abbigail Anthony-Rozier and Kaylee Wright, who were runners-up in the 110 and 183 classes, respectively, Heidi Knapp (third in the 119 class), Kathryn Brossette (fourth in the 129 class), Harmony Geiger (fourth in the 169 class) Lillian Mitchell (fourth in the 183 class), Schiley Starling (fifth in the 119 class), Chloe Still (sixth in the 139 class) and Kenly Chitty (sixth in the 154 class).
“I’m very proud of my girls,” Karshner-Smith said. “We’ve come a long way this year.”
Anthony-Rozier, a freshman, and Wright, a junior, made improvements from last year to this year similar to those made by King and Wagner. Anthony-Rozier improved her overall total by 30 pounds, while Wright improved hers by 45 pounds.
Knapp and Starling improved their overall totals by 15 pounds, while Mitchell improved hers by 10 pounds.
Wright is seeking to qualify for state for the second straight year. Last season, she became the Indians’ first state qualifier since 2013.
“I foresee more than one girl — like we had last year — going (to state) this year,” Wagner said, adding, “It would be pretty awesome to have a group of girls going.”
King said, “I think it would be a really good experience for a bunch of us to go to state, even if we don’t place.”
As for the Region 2 meet, King hopes it’s as special for her and Wagner as their last meet was.
“We won districts together,” King said. “I’m hoping that we can take regionals, too.”
