BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Keystone Heights High School’s Chloe Still earned an at-large bid to the Class 1A girls weightlifting state finals after finishing as the runner-up in her class in the traditional event at the Region 2 meet, which was held Feb. 3 at Chiefland High School.
Still, who competes in the 139-pound class, had a clean and jerk of 140 and a bench press of 145 to finish with an overall total of 285. She was 10 pounds away from winning the championship.
Her clean-and-jerk total was 5 pounds greater than what she lifted at the previous week’s District 6 meet.
The state finals are Saturday, Feb. 17, at R.P. Funding Center in Lakeland. Still will lift in the first flight, which begins at 9 a.m.
At-large state berths were determined by comparing the totals of the second- through 10th-place lifters at the state’s four regional meets. Keystone’s Cadie Bowles fell 5 pounds shy of qualifying in both the traditional and Olympic events.
Bowles, who competes in the 101 class, placed sixth in the Olympic event with a 155 total (65 snatch, 90 clean and jerk) and was seventh in the traditional event with a 175 total (90 clean and jerk, 85 bench). Her bench, snatch and clean-and-jerk totals were all 5 pounds better than what she did at the district meet.
Keystone had five lifters (including Bowles) who earned points in the Olympic competition. The Indians finished with 13 points, which tied them for sixth with Bolles and Father Lopez.
Ashlynn Brown and Kenly Chitty each had a 240 total to finish tied for third in the 154 class. Due to the weigh-in tiebreaker, Brown was the official third-place finisher, while Chitty was fourth. Brown did 120 in both the snatch and clean and jerk, while Chitty had a 100 snatch and a 140 clean and jerk. Each lifter improved by 5 pounds in the snatch from the district meet, while Chitty also improved her clean and jerk by 5 pounds.
Kourtney Marsh had a fourth-place total of 190 (80, 110) in the 119 class, with her snatch total being 5 pounds greater than what she did at the district meet.
Paige Harrington was fifth in the 183 class with a 235 total (95, 140). She was 10 pounds away from earning an at-large state berth.
The Indians also had the following results in the Olympic event: Alivia Richardson 10th in the 101 class with a 135 total (60, 75), Madison Sapp 14th in the 110 class with a 160 total (65, 95), Still eighth with a 220 total (80, 140), Morgan Wilson 11th in the 169 class with a 205 total (85, 120), Raegan Lee 17th in the 169 class with a 190 total (85, 105), Lily Mitchell 11th in the 183 class with a 205 total (85, 120) and Ava Herman 12th in the unlimited class with a 235 total (100, 135).
Herman improved in the snatch from the district meet by 10 pounds, while Lee improved her snatch total by 5 pounds. Mitchell did 5 pounds more in the clean and jerk than she did at the district meet.
In the traditional event, Keystone had three lifters besides Bowles earn seventh-place finishes in Chitty, Harrington and Herman.
Chitty had a 250 total (140 clean and jerk, 110 bench) and tied for sixth, but the weigh-in tiebreaker resulted in her official seventh-place finish.
Harrington finished in a three-way tie for sixth place with teammate Mitchell and Wolfson’s Auria Kemp, but Kemp was awarded the official sixth-place finish due to the weigh-in tiebreaker, while Harrington and Mitchell were seventh and eighth, respectively. Harrington had a 120 bench and a 140 clean and jerk, while Mitchell had a 140 bench and a 120 clean and jerk. Mitchell’s clean and jerk improved by 5 pounds from the district meet.
Herman finished in a four-way tie for seventh (and was officially seventh) in her class with a 290 total (135 clean and jerk, 155 bench). Her bench total was 10 pounds greater than what she did at the district meet.
Keystone also had the following results: Marsh ninth with a 205 total (110, 95), Wilson 10th with a 245 total (120, 125), Brown 12th with a 235 total (120, 115), Lee 12th with a 230 total (105, 125) and Richardson 13th with a 140 total (75, 65).
Brown and Marsh each had a 5-pound improvement from the district meet in their bench total.
