Winning and Weightlifting

The Maclay Boys Weightlifting Team Took On Lincoln and Gadsden County

Photo by Benjamin Brunner on Unsplash

In Piepers Field House on March 20 the Maclay Marauders boys weightlifting team held a match against the Lincoln Trojans and the Gadsden County Jaguars. The Marauders have grown immensely over the past three years and have brought home many wins. Overall, Maclay finished first, scoring 38 points, Lincoln came in second scoring 18 points and Gadsden County ended in last place, scoring 14 points.

There is a wide variety of Marauders throughout the different weight classes. Seventh grader Liam Cauley finished first in the 119 weight class for the traditional lifts. But none of the Marauders competed in the 129 and 139 weight classes.

“I felt really confident, especially since we are going into districts next week,” senior Rich Smith said.

The top traditional lifters from Maclay were junior Zac Scovotto and junior Adam Bailey. Scovotto stands in the 169 weight class and Bailey stands in the 183 weight class. Top traditional lifter overall from the meet was Julius Darty in the unlimited weight class from Lincoln High School.

“Really at this point the hay in the barn as they say with the weights,” head coach Evan Gentry said. “We are looking to prepare the guys to mentally hit the weights they want to right now and it’s more of a mental game.”

The top Olympic Marauder lifters from the meet were senior Will O’Connor, senior Jack Grooters, Scovotto, sophomore Keaton Beach and freshman Will James. O’Connor was the top overall Olympic lifter with a final total of 470 lbs.

O’Connor led the meet with two new personal records on snatch and clean and jerk. On snatch, he lifted 210 lbs, and on clean and jerk, he lifted 260 lbs. Both lifts led the meet and helped the Marauders secure the victory.

“I think we have been doing pretty good,” O’Connor said. “We have shown improvement throughout the season. We had our last meet of the regular season today. We have got a pretty good shot at doing well in districts and regionals.”

The Marauders now head into districts next week on Wednesday, March 27 ready to achieve their goals of placing well.