The girls’ powerlifting team, led by head coach Tanner Street, has started its 2022 season with anything but low standards.. The girls’ team had a successful 2021 season, and is hoping to continue that success into this year.

“Expectations for this season are high,” Street said. “We like to try and qualify as many girls as possible for regionals. Then hopefully have these ladies also move on to state.”

For many athletes and coaches, powerlifting appears to bring out the best in everyone involved. Participants uplift each other and like to see everyone succeed.

“Everyone’s cheering everyone on, even if it’s the other team,” senior powerlifter Breton Estes said. “It’s definitely a confidence boost. I love the team, it’s not dramatic, it’s a lot of fun, the coaches are great too.”

Coach Street seems to play a large role in this environment, from motivating his lifters to facilitating their development in practices.

“My favorite part of coaching powerlifting is helping athletes set big goals,” Street said, “and getting to see the look on their face when they shatter them.”

Powerlifting practices don’t seem like any slight task, either. Lifters are constantly working on themselves and trying to increase their lifts.

“A typical practice is a 45 min to an hour lifting session,” Street said. “The workout would be a heavy upper, heavy lower, dynamic upper or dynamic lower lift depending on the day of the week.”
While powerlifting is considered an “individual” sport, teammates appear to have an immeasurable impact. They help each other dig deeper and strive for further success.

“My favorite part of powerlifting is probably teammates,” Estes said. “My lifting partner is Mackenzie Benton, and we’re best friends, so it’s just great to be able to bond with each other.”