BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Keystone Heights High School’s Chloe Still and Union County’s Riley Gibson and Taleya Smith missed out on earning medals, but they placed in the top 10 at the Feb. 15 Class 1A girls weightlifting state finals in Lakeland.
Still competed in the 139-pound class of the traditional event, finishing eighth out of 20 with a 315-pound total. She went 3 for 3 on all of her bench-press attempts, with her best total being 165. Still missed only one of her clean-and-jerk attempts, with her best total being 150.
It was a 35-pound improvement (15 in the clean and jerk and 20 in the bench) on her overall total from last year’s state finals, in which she placed 14th, competing in the same weight class.
Gibson placed ninth out of 20 in the 119 class in the traditional event with a 255 total, which was a 35-pound improvement from last year. She was successful on all three clean-and-jerk attempts, with her best total being 120. Gibson missed only one bench-press attempt and had a best total of 135. If she had been successful on her attempt at 140, she would’ve placed seventh.
At last year’s state meet, Gibson competed in the same weight class and was 19th with a 220 overall total, improving her clean and jerk by 15 pounds and her bench press by 20 pounds.
Smith, who was making her first appearance at state, placed ninth out of 18 in the 169 class in the traditional event with an overall total of 310 (150 clean and jerk, 160 bench press).
The top six in each weight class received medals.
Union’s Alexia Cyr was making her second straight appearance at state. She placed 12th out of 20 in the 139 class in the traditional event with a 295 total (140, 155). Like Gibson, she was successful on all three of her clean-and-jerk attempts and missed only one bench attempt.
Cyr, who competed in the 169 class last year, improved both her clean and jerk and bench press by 5 pounds at the 2024 state meet.
The traditional event also included Bradford’s Timya Ray, Keystone’s Ava Herman and Union’s Briena Haight. Haight had a 300 total (135, 165) in the 169 class, while Ray and Herman had totals of 315 and 310, respectively, in the unlimited class. Ray had a 150 clean and jerk and 165 bench, while Herman’s clean-and-jerk and bench totals were 150 and 160, respectively.
Keystone’s Ashlyn Brown competed in the 154 class in the Olympic event. She finished with a 250 total that consisted of a 115 snatch and a 135 clean and jerk.
