Calvary Lady Cavaliers’ powerlifting team edged out the competition at the 2020 Calvary Baptist Academy Invitational at Calvary High School on Saturday. The Lady Cavs took four of the eleven weight classes. Taking top honors as Female Best Lifter was Calvary’s Kailey Brookshire. Brookshire lifted 300 lbs on squat, 160lbs on Bench, and 320 on Deadlift. The closest competition to Brookshire for Best Lifter was Aubrey Mayo from Calvary who finished 66lbs behind her fellow teammate. Calvary secured the top five positions in the Female Best Lifter competition. Skylar Odom finished third followed by Mya Evans and Kaylin Little.
Calvary dropped in classification from 2A to A this year and will drop from Division IV to Division V in the powerlifting state competition. Last year the Lady Cavs finished as state runner-up missing the state title by just one point. The seasoned team brings some powerhouse lifters to their new division. “We have three seniors who were all state champions: Kailey Brookshire, Mya Evans, and Kaylin Little,” Calvary coach Dan Vanderberg said. “They’ve been with me since the beginning and we return a good bit of our lifters. We only graduated one, Aly Lazarus, and her mom is helping us out and coaching. She’s a great kid. She’s lifting at Midland University on a lifting scholarship. She’s one the first to graduate from our girls squad since we’ve had a team.” The success of the Calvary team in only its third year has caused a buzz around the school. “There’s some excitement around the halls when you’re trying to compete for a state championship. Eventually, people are wanting to come out and be a part of it. That’s helped on our guys side more than the girls. We’ve got 14 girls and only graduating three, so the future’s really bright,” said Vanderberg.
The Lady Cavaliers light and mid-weight classes found success today as Mayo (105), Brookshire (114), Odom (132), and Little (148) all won their weight class.
A program in only its second year competed in the girls division is the Castor Tigers powerlifting squad. Castor head coach Taurus Johnson and his wife Vanessa were both former powerlifters from Louisiana Tech.
Although a college athlete, the Johnsons allowed their daughters to make their path. “We didn’t want to pressure our daughters into any sports but we were going to let them find their path,” Coach Johnson said. “My oldest daughter (Zakiya) came to us a couple of years ago and thought she wanted to give powerlifting a try. We took her to a couple of meets and let her see and she loved it.” Zakiya Johnson lifted for a year independently in meets not sanctioned by the LHSAA. The Johnsons saw an opportunity at Castor and approached the school about a powerlifting team. “We approached the school about powerlifting because she had several classmates inquiring about it and the school was all for it. They’ve been very supportive.” So the question is with Castor High School being a Class B school and not having a football team, how do you recruit from mainly a basketball school. “We put out the invitation early in the year for anyone to volunteer for workouts. We started teaching the rules and we get the benefits of taking them slow. Another good thing we have is we have a junior high program coming along. A lot of the little kids in Castor are interested. We’ve got first, second, and third grader’s parents calling us and their kids want to learn to lift.” The bigger schools get a boost with their football programs but the junior high team at Castor hopes to kick the Tigers up in competition. “The reason why we decided to start a junior high program is that we don’t have a football tradition. Most of these guys (bigger schools) get a jump with their football programs. Some of the bigger programs start at junior high.” Johnson said. In their first year, Zakiya Johnson as a state runner-up in the 198 division.
The Castor Tigers powerlifting team brought five of their nine lifters to the meet for today’s action. Zakiya Johnson finished second in the 220 division today. She leads her division with her 265 squat and 130 bench, but her 240 deadlift wasn’t enough as division winner Averishia Simpkins 310 deadlift pushed past her to win the division. Tyler Bryan and Zach Jones finished fifth and sixth, respectively in the 225 boys division. Ryan Wagoner finished eighth in the 275 division. Wayne Mangum finished tenth in the 198 division.
In the boys division, Winnfield edged out Peabody and West Monroe to capture four weight classes to their opponent’s three. Parkway snuck one away. Randal Hughes from West Monroe gained the Male Best Lifter award.
The Ringgold Redskins powerlifting team was represented at Calvary today. Tyrin Cunningham finished third in the 165 division with a 385 squat, 210 bench, and 405 deadlift for a total of 1000. Natrun Gollatt finished fourth in the 148 division with a 345 squat, 175 bench, and 410 deadlift.
The state champion Calvary boys powerlifting team did not compete in today’s meet, but will soon shine and push for another trophy in the cabinet.
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