MH-MA led by Senior Zoey Stec and Junior Sam Joyce competed for the first time ever, at the class 2A Powerlifting Meet at Conway Springs this past Saturday.

Zoey set a new State record for her weight class in the bench-press with a lift of 150 pounds. She also bested the State record in her class for a combined total weight lifted in the three different events for the day by 60 pounds. Her nearest competitor in the 165-pound division trailed her by 40 pounds. The 550-pound total, with a weight to lift ratio of 3.374 earned her the title as the Kansas Class 2A Female Powerlifter of the Year.

First year coach Zach Fredrickson was truly impressed: “There were 312 student athletes participating in this meet. Zoey was singled out as being the best of the best, that is truly an amazing accomplishment, even more so because this is her first year in competition! Zoey’s tremendous work ethic will serve her very, very well for the rest of her life.”

Fredrickson went on to add: “I can’t be prouder of my team, Sam Joyce set a new State 2A record in the Heavyweight Division, with a bench-press lift of 370 pounds. Sam is such a beast!”

Joyce finished with a second place overall in the Heavyweight Division. Also medaling on the day were Sophia Riley with a 3rd Place finish in the clean and Landston Taylor added a 6th Place overall finish, in a very competitive 156-pound division.

**Story submitted by Mike Stec**