POWERLIFTING | Holden girls finish as Division V state runner-up

In a season of firsts for the Holden powerlifting program, the Lady Rockets accomplished another major one at the state meet Friday at the Rapides Parish Coliseum in Alexandria.

The Holden girls finished as the state runners-up in Division V, trailing Ascension Catholic 30-23 in the final standings.

“As the season went on, I kind of thought we had a chance to make some real noise,” Holden coach David White said. “They just kept exceeding expectations.

“I kind of felt like trying to get to them (Ascension Catholic) this year was probably going to be tough,” White said. “We were a little closer to them than I thought we would end up being. I did my best to try not talk about that in front of the girls because you never know how they’re going to react in that setting. It was a real big stage for them, and they exceeded expectations. I can’t say enough about them.”

The Lady Rockets were paced by Lauren Politz, who won the 165-pound class with a total of 760 pounds -- a 315-pound deadlift, a squat of 300 pounds and bench press of 145 pounds.

“When she had a chance to put people away, she just put them away,” White said. “She was great. That’s all you can say about her – just absolutely great.”

Politz, who has been battling pancreatic cancer, was named the Outstanding Lifter in the heavyweight division.

“To do what she’s done this year, that’s an inspiration to everybody,” White said. “You kind of feel guilty sometimes. You wake up and you don’t want to do something maybe because you don’t feel real good. You do don’t have a leg to stand on. What she’s going through and for here to not only win a state championship like that but just dominate like she did, it will definitely make you kind of question your own toughness some time. She’s tough.”

While Politz anchored the Lady Rockets’ effort, Madalynn Cooper finished second in the 181-pound class with a total weight of 555 pounds (175 squat, 105 bench press, 275 deadlift), while Josie Purvis was fourth in the 198-pound class with 590 pounds (225 squat, 115 bench press, 250 deadlift).

Also, Kayla Davis was second in the 220-pound class with 690 pounds (240 squat, 115 bench, 325 deadlift), Haylee Bordelon was fourth in the 105-pound class with 380 pounds, and Olivia Barnes was fourth in the 114-pound division with 530 pounds.

The Holden duo of Gabby Sharp and Allison Wilson finished sixth and seventh, respectively in the 220-plus-pound division, with Sharp lifting 620 total pounds and Wilson hitting 590.

“Not only did they hit big lifts, they were great teammates to each other, the way they kind of took care of each other,” White said. “The older girls helping out the younger girls. I was just very, very proud.”

On the boys side, Holden didn’t record a point as a team, but Lane Courtney finished eighth in the 148-pound class with 655 pounds, freshman Joel Penalber was eighth in the heavyweight class with 830, and senior Joel Gill was eighth in the 165-pound division with 815 pounds.

“They all had good days,” White said of the Holden boys. “They all competed really, really hard. They were great teammates to each other helping each other out.”

With the program’s first season in the books, White, who thanked assistant coach Melissa Torres for her dedication during the season, now has an automatic recruiting tool in a state runner-up finish he hopes will help grow the team’s numbers.

“We’re going to try to continue to build this thing the right way and continue to get better,” White said. “We’ll see where that takes us.”

“It’s such a cool sport. If people just approach it with the right mindset of trying to get better, you can get a lot of satisfaction out of it, I think. We’ll see where it goes.

“It was fun, man. It really was. It was a fun year.”

DIVISION IV

French Settlement’s Serenity Smith finished fourth in the girls 165-pound division with 600 pounds (185 squat, 95 bench, 320 deadlift).

On the boys side, Springfield’s Noah Bonura was seventh in the 181-pound class with 955 pounds, while Tykelon Jackson was sixth in the 275-pound division with 1,245 pounds

Austyn Wallace was seventh in the heavyweight class (1,200 pounds) and Ian Miller was 10th (1,130 pounds).

Live Oak's Hawkins finishes as state runner-up

The parish had two competitors that placed at the Division I level, one each from Live Oak and Denham Springs.

Live Oak junior Kee Hawkins compiled a total of weight of 1,450 pounds to finish as the state runner-up in the 220-pound weight class.

Hawkins’ lifts included a 520-pound squat, 535-pound dead lift and 395-pound bench press.

“I couldn’t be prouder of how this young man competed all year and how he represented our school and community at the state meet,” Live Oak powerlifting coach Brett Beard, who is also Hawkins’ coach on the Eagles' football team. “After last year he wanted so much more and did just that, it’s been so much fun watching him grow.” 

Hawkins’ finish helped Live Oak tie for 10^th place in the team standings with five points along with Archbishop Rummel, and Fontainebleau. 

Denham Springs’ girls were ninth with three points behind the fourth-place showing of Lauryn Bowman in the 114-pound weight class. The senior totaled 645 pounds with a 250-pound squat, 145-pound bench press and 250-pound dead lift.