Some Hawks showed off their strength this weekend at Rio Rancho High School.
Volcano Vista’s girls finished in fifth place in the state powerlifting championships this weekend, while the boys placed 10th.
Saturday was the first in-person state meet in powerlifting, which was added as a sport for the 2020-21 school year. Seventeen high schools from around the state competed in the meet, which featured 96 boys and 79 girls. It was the first state powerlifting appearance for both of Volcano Vista’s teams.
The meet awards points for the top five finishers in nine weight classes. First place gets seven points, second gets five, third gets three, fourth gets two and fifth place earns one point. Lifters have three attempts each at the squat, bench press and deadlift. The total amount of weight of the three heaviest successful lifts is recorded.
The Volcano Vista girls earned 18 points. Lovington High School won with 59 points.
The Hawks who earned points are:
- Ariel Vigil, second place in 105-pound weight class with a total of 390 pounds
- Karaline Tafoya, third in 105 with 360
- Julianna Candelaria, second in 114 with 425
- Andrea Ochoa, second in 165 with 600
The boys team finished with seven points, while Rio Rancho won with 47. Rio Rancho also won last year’s championship.
Joseph Quijano was second in the 132-pound weight class with a combined 770 pounds lifted, Marcus Perea was fifth in 220 with 1,060 pounds, and Hirum Begay was fifth in 242 with 1,105 pounds.
