Kaylee Wright and Grace Wagner will both compete at the Feb. 12 state finals
Telegraph Staff Writer
Keystone Heights High School’s Kaylee Wright improved upon her fifth-place finish from last season, taking third place in the 183-pound class at the Region 2-1A girls weightlifting finals, which were held Jan. 29 at Daytona Beach’s Father Lopez Catholic High School.
Wright was one of two from Keystone to place, with Grace Wagner earning a fifth-place finish in the 139 class. The two earned at-large berths to the state finals, which will be held Saturday, Feb. 12, at Port St. Joe High School. It’ll be Wagner’s first time competing at state, while Wright will be making her second straight appearance.
At the Region 2 meet, Wright had a 305 overall total (155 bench press, 150 clean and jerk), which was 60 pounds less than 183-class runner-up Takeirra Bakken from Bradford. Champion Marleah Dampier of Fernandina Beach had a 375 total.
It represented a 40-pound overall improvement from 2021, when Wright was lifting in the 199 class. She made her biggest jump in the clean and jerk, improving by 30 pounds.
Wagner had a 255 total (120, 135), improving by 40 pounds from last season’s regional meet. Like Wright, Wagner’s clean and jerk improved by 30 pounds.
The Indians had 11 competing in all, with Ariel King missing out on placing sixth in the 129 class by 10 pounds. She had a 235 total (120, 115), missing out on two attempts of 125 in the bench and failing to get a successful lift on her first two clean-and-jerk attempts.
King’s total represented a 20-pound improvement from 2021.
Lillian Mitchell was 30 pounds away from a sixth-place finish in the 183 class with a 225 total (120, 105).
Also competing for Keystone were Heidi Knapp, who had a 175 total (95, 80) in the 119 class, Schiley Starling, who had a 160 total (85, 75) in the 119 class, Kathryn Brossette, who had a 210 total (110, 100) in the 129 class, Chloe Still, who had a 195 total (95, 100) in the 139 class, Kenly Chitty, who had no official total in the 154 class (she didn’t have a successful bench-press attempt) and Harmony Geiger, who had a 235 total (120, 115) in the 169 class.
Knapp, Starling, Brossette and Geiger all had totals that were 10 pounds better than what they lifted at the District 5 finals.
