I'm Kind of a Big Deal!

Yesterday evening I realized my cell phone was in my purse in my closet so I checked it just to make sure I didn't have any missed calls or texts. I saw that I had 5 missed calls and 3 voicemails and started to get worried. I rarely get called on my cell but when I do it's usually my mom (Hi, Mom!) and she'll call our home line if I don't answer the cell. So I hurriedly check the voicemails and they were all about the same thing...

My senior year high school weightlifting team was voted Gainesville Sun's Girls' Weightlifting Team of the Decade!

2004 Keystone Heights High School: In the inaugural season of the sport, the Indians finished as the FHSAA state runners-up. They are the only area team to finish second at the state finals and Keystone Heights' 22 points is the highest point total by a state runner up in the six-year existence of the sport. Brittany Meng won an individual state championship at the 119-pound weight class. She bench pressed a then-state record of 135 pounds and added a state-finals record of 165 pounds in the clean (which was was discontinued after that season in favor for the clean and jerk) for a 300-pound total. Jaime Grogan (270-pound total) was the state runner up to Meng, while Erica Seypura (340) was the state runner up in the 183-pound class. Kayla Couey (345) placed third in the 139-pound class, with Kasey Fagan sixth (345) in the unlimited class, Meagan Greer seventh (225) at 101 pounds and Kristina Ford seventh (320) at 199 pounds. Other Keystone Heights lifters that qualified for the state meet included Renee Dowell (250) in the 129-pound class, Brenda Ward (275) in the 139-pound class, Ashlee Grant (285) in the 154-pound class and Liza Wheeler (315) in the 199-pound class.

“I think that season was a season of a lifetime. To have that many athletes working towards a common purpose with an awesome work ethic, that's a coach's dream. They were an awesome group of kids, they had the heart of a lion and they were a lot of fun to coach.”— Terri Parrish, coach

The article is a bit deceptive saying that the sport has only been in existence for six years. It has only been sanctioned, recognized by the FHSAA as a sport, for six years. Before that, north and south Florida each had a "State Competition". I lifted on the team from my 8th grade to senior year and in those five years, I only lost one regular season meet. It was to a fellow teammate, Jaime Grogan, who took second place to me every meet, so although I was disappointed to not take first, I was really excited to lose to her. I probably would have cried if I lost to anyone else, but I could be happy for her so it took the sting away :) Enough bragging on myself...

Something else that the article doesn't mention is that our team was undeafeated in the regular season. But not just for the 2004 season. Keystone hadn't lost a meet in the (at the time) 8 years of its existence. I'm not sure if they're still undefeated, but I know they were for at least several years afterwards. Keystone breeds some strong chicks!

I love being able to say that I was a state champion weightlifter. It's something that I realize has no eternal significance, but it always makes me smile to see the look on people's faces when they hear that a 5'1" non-body-builder-type competed in weightlifting and actually won a state championsihp. Have you ever played the game "Two Truths and a Lie" as an ice breaker? Me winning State is always one of my truths. My lie is usually that my mom is an ex-nun :)