Telegraph Staff Writer
Keystone Heights High School’s Kaylee Wright won her weight class in both the Olympic and traditional events at the Feb. 4 Region 2-1A girls weightlifting finals at West Nassau High School, which qualified her for state for the third straight year.
Wright, competing in the 169 class, won the Olympic event with a snatch of 115 and a clean and jerk of 155 for a 270 total, putting her 10 pounds ahead of Palatka’s Al’Lyssa Ford and Camden Posey.
Her clean and jerk, combined with a bench press 180, gave her a 335 total in the traditional event. That put her ahead of Palatka’s Posey by 25 pounds.
The winners of each weight class in each of the four regions in Class 1A automatically qualified for the state finals, which will be held Saturday, Feb. 18, at RP Funding Center-Jenkins Arena in Lakeland. An additional 16 at-large lifers were selected for each class based upon region totals.
Chloe Still, who placed fourth in the 139 class in the traditional event with a 245 total (120 bench press, 125 clean and jerk), was 10 pounds shy of earning an at-large state berth.
Paige Harrington and Ariel King each had totals that left them 5 pounds shy of receiving at-large berths. Harrington was fifth in the 183 class in the Olympic event with a 220 total (95 snatch, 125 clean and jerk), while King was sixth in the 129 class in the traditional event with a 250 total (130, 120).
Kenly Chitty was sixth in the 154 class in the Olympic event with a 215 total (90, 125).
The Indians had a team score of 10 in the Olympic event to place 10th and a score of 11 in the traditional event to place seventh.
Keystone also had the following results in the Olympic event: Heidi Knapp with a 165 total (70, 95) in the 119 class, Trista Harrison with a 165 total (75, 90) in the 129 class, Ashlyn Brown with a 210 total (100, 110) in the 154 class, Morgan Wilson with a 195 total (85, 110) in the 169 class and Lily Mitchell with a 185 total (75, 110) in the 183 class.
The traditional event also included the following Keystone results: Chitty with a 235 total (110, 125), Brown with a 210 total (100, 110), Wilson with a 210 total (100, 110) and Harrington with a 225 total (100, 125).
Wright is looking to earn a medal at state for the second straight year. After placing 11th in the 199 class at the 2021 state finals, she placed sixth in the 183 class last year, becoming the first Keystone girls weightlifter to earn a state medal in nine years.
Medals are awarded for top-six finishes.
Wright will lift during the 1 p.m. session.
Admission is $9. Tickets can be purchased via rpfundingcenter.com.
The cost to park at the venue is $10.
