Even with being in a whole new class this year, the Quitman High School Girls Powerlifting Team was extremely successful.
They followed up their State Championship last year as a 4A team by competing and placing at State again this year as a 3A team.
The team, with only a few returning members, demonstrated an incredible amount of determination this year as they worked on essentially rebuilding their team while going up against new opponents from what they were accustomed to in the past. After starting their season with 11 lifters, they ended up having eight lifters qualify to compete for the State Championship. As a team, they ended up in third place at the State Championship. They did, however, have some individuals win first place and even second place in their weight classes.
Over the course of the year, the girls in each weight class had to work on mastering the three major lifts they are judged on: squats where the bar is balance on their shoulders behind their neck as they squat and lift back up, deadlifts where they lift the bar from the ground in front of them and straighten back to hold, and bench presses where they lift the bar from their chest while lying on the weight bench.
Two of their members that competed in the super heavy weight class, or 242 plus, are sisters: Akaysha Pace and G’Kayla Coleman. G’Kayla took first place this year, and Akaysha was right behind her in second place.
The girls are two of the few returning members, and they have learned a great deal and can see where they have grown since joining the team.
“I’ve done powerlifting since ninth grade and have been one of the top 12 lifters every year that I’ve done powerlifting. My ninth grade year, I was not as strong as compared to what I am now,” declared Akaysha. “It’s also really helped me grow as a person. As the years went by, I went from having to depend on my older sisters in the team to becoming the older sister and have people depend on me. That’s how I’ve changed the most. Weight-wise, I only really went up 100 pounds because I’ve always been pretty strong. It took me actually wanting to be first place for me to give it my all. I think I’ve always had it in me and could have done then what I do now, but I think it took someone pushing me to do it. My ninth grade year, I did what everybody else was doing on the team. As I progressed through the years, one of my coaches was always there to push me to do more because if somebody beside me was doing 225, I would just do 225 with them. I know I can do more, so I pushed myself to do more.”
Of course, they had different motivations that helped push them to do their best this season.
“My motivation is the team itself,” proclaimed Akaysha. “I love everybody on the team as if they were my own sisters. I know if I show up, then they’ll show up. I know if I try, then they’ll try. Anything that I would want my teammates to do for me, I do for them. That’s my motivation.”
G’Kayla declared, “I’m in tenth grade, and this is only my second year in powerlifting. My motivation this year was winning. Last year when were in 4A, I did get third in the state, but I lost to my sister since she came in first. That’s just something I refused to do this year. Last year, I couldn’t compete with her because I wasn’t as motivated as I was this year, but this year I was able to compete with her. I knew if I could beat my sister then there would be no problem for me. This year, I didn’t really compete with anybody else in our weight class. My main motivation was just to compete against Akaysha and not pay attention to anyone else. They were there, but I knew I could beat them if I beat her. I’m the younger sister, so I’m always going to be competitive. Anything she does, then I’m going to do it and then do it better because she already did it. Just because I’m younger than her, I strive to be better. I know I have two more years to do this, and there’s now a big target on my back if I continue to do powerlifting now that she’s leaving. Now, I don’t have to worry about her, but I have to worry about the others that were behind me. It’s going to make it difficult these next two years, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”
They each have their favorite lifts to do when it comes to the competition.
“The bench is my favorite part,” informed G’Kayla. “I’ve seen myself grow the most in bench this last year. My ninth grade year, the most I could do on the bench before state was 115, and then at state I did 135. This year, I have been able to do 165, and my goal for next year is to break the record, which is at 200. I think I can achieve it because that’s where I’ve seen myself grow the most. I feel like people underestimate bench, and it can make you or break you in a meet just like a squat can. If you can’t get out of bench, then you can’t get to deadlift where you can really try to compete. Bench isn’t the most important part, but it’s still important because if you can’t get out of that, then you’re done for the day.”
Akaysha stated, “My favorite part would be deadlift. That’s the part where you could start off losing by five pounds and end up beating somebody by 20 pounds. The deadlift is really the most exciting part. It’s the most heart racing, nerve wrecking part.”
Both girls agree that squats are their least favorite lift because of how difficult and complex it is with judging.
“The squat is the most technical,” explained G’Kayla. “In a meet, there are three judges, and they all have a light switch in their hands. They can give you a red light or white light. Three white lights is a good squat. Two white lights is still a good squat, but two red lights mean it was a bad squat. Three red lights is a scratch. One judge may say you didn’t get low enough in the squat, and the other two may say that you did get low enough from their side, so you’re good. Then on the next squat, you may do the same thing, and two of the judges say you didn’t get low enough, so you scratch that squat. The squat is just the most technical lift. You can’t have your feet touching the rack. You have to get low enough. You can’t have your hands come off the bar a certain way. You have to be almost perfect, so that’s the most difficult part.”
The success the girls and the team had this year was earned through hours of hard work and dedication. Starting in October, the girls on the team would arrive at the school to start practices at 6:00 every morning except for Wednesdays. Those practices did more than just helping them move up in weights.
“I don’t think anybody really thinks about how much your body aches after going to those early practices and then having to walk through school for eight hours,” expressed G’Kayla. “It’s real strict, but I feel like it helps build character in powerlifting. It builds endurance because if you can work out at 6:00 in the morning and go throughout the day with your body aching and then get up the next day and do it all over again from October to the end of March, then it shows where you were dedicated and that it’s really what you want to do. It really helps with not giving up. My last deadlift at our recent meet was 370. I had it halfway up, and that endurance comes in where you can keep going back and lock it in place without giving up on it. That’s where endurance comes in. You’re able to push through and fight through it. If you can fight through school by sitting in class for eight hours when your body is in shambles, then you can fight through for that last little piece when lifting. You can fight through it without a problem.”
Those practices are important and show how dedicated the members are to the sport. They are also strategic, and the girls know how much of an overall impact it could have if they were to choose to just skip one.
“If you don’t come, it’ll hurt yourself more than anything else,” explained Akaysha. “Missing one workout can mess you up for the entire month because we work out on a plan. Mondays we usually do squats, Tuesdays and Thursdays we do bench, and then Fridays we do deadlift. If you missed that Monday and it was on a build week where we were doing sets of eight, then the next week you aren’t going to be strong enough to do the sets of five because we get heavier the next week. Missing one practice can mess you up, but coming back and getting back on track is what really matters.”
The sport has taught life lessons that they will never forget because of the endurance it creates.
“I feel like powerlifting is a life lesson within itself,” declared Akaysha. “It teaches you not to give up. I feel like if I can make it this far in powerlifting, then I know I can make it in life because I didn’t give up on powerlifting. If I’m at practice and can’t do something, I want to keep trying until I get it. It really helps show that you can keep pushing in life. I feel like our generation now just tries to take the easy way out on everything. It says a lot about your character if you can keep pushing nowadays because a lot of people don’t work for anything anymore. That’s not okay. You keep practicing and grinding so that when it comes to a meet, you can show out and do your best in everything you’ve been taught. If you come to practice and skip workouts and don’t do anything, it isn’t helping you. If you’re in life and just show up to a job interview but don’t actually do the interview, that’s not helping you. You have to really work for what you want when it comes to powerlifting and in life. With everything you do, you get out of it what you put in.”
G’Kayla added, “Also, at practice, I may not be able to do 350, and then at a meet I can do 370. I may not be able to get it right now, but in the heat of the moment, it pushes me so much that I can get it. I feel like that’s a life lesson as well. You may be having a hard time and can’t get it right now, but when the time comes, you have enough in you to get it. At the end of the day, you don’t want to see yourself fail. You always want to push yourself to get more and do more. That’s a life lesson I’ve learned through powerlifting as well.”
With everything they’ve experienced on the team, they do have some advice for others who may be considering joining the team.
“Never give up,” advised Akaysha. “That’s the main thing. Even in the middle of a deadlift, you could be halfway there, and as long as you don’t give up, that’s all that matters. Nobody really knows their full potential when it comes to powerlifting. Everybody has something to bring to the team. It doesn’t matter if you can only lift five pounds or 500 pounds, you bring something to the team. Don’t ever be discouraged just because you might not lift as much as the next girl. Don’t be discouraged just because this girl made the top 12 and you didn’t. You may not be part of the top 12 or may not make it past regionals or south state or anything like that, but you still bring value to the team.”
