By T. Scott Boatright
MONROE — The Cedar Creek boys powerlifting team finished third at the Louisiana High School Athletics Association Boys Powerlifting Championships at Fant-Ewing Coliseum on the campus of the University of Louisiana-Monroe.
Cedar Creek, the defending Division V state champs, totaled 34 points, being edged out by new state champion Ascension Catholic (36) points and second-place finisher Sacred Heart of Ville Platte (35 points).
Pointe Coupee Catholic finished fourth with 23 points, well behind the Cougars.
In top three finishes on Friday, Cedar Creek had a pair of athletes place in the 148-pound class with Lawson Lillo totaling 425 pounds in the squat, 310 in the bench press and 405 in the deadlift for a total lift of 1,140 while Parker Newman finished third in the 148-pound class with a 410-255-385=1,050 (squat/bench press/deadlift=total).
Cedar Creek’s Austin Webb finished in third place of the 165-pound class with lifts of 380-290-415=1,085.
In the 181-pound class, Cedar Creek’s Owen Robinson finished second with a total of 1175 pounds, while Regan Pike finished in fourth place with a total lift of 1,125 pounds.
Cedar Creek’s Landon Amidon came in third in the 198-pound class with lifts of 435-275-410=1,120 while Cougar Jordan Vail finished two spots behind in fifth place with a total lift of 1,095 pounds.
Cedar Creek’s Nicholas Thompson placed seventh in the 220-pound class with a total lift of 1,105 pounds.
Cougar Carson Riley finished first in the 242-pound class with lifts of 550-395-555=1,500.
It was a team finish that Cedar Creek coach Jacob Angevine found pleasantly surprising.
“We had a lot of kids step up,” Angevine said. “We had a lot of kids exceed expectations that we had placed on them. We told a couple of kids that we needed them to move up one spot, and we had a couple of kids move up two to three spots.
“There was one or two mistakes we made that kind of cost us in the end, but then again, after everything we’ve been through over the last couple of months with injuries and everything else, it’s remarkable. We had a great team with only two seniors, so another great thing is that most of them are coming back. We’ll be climbing to the top of the mountain again next year.”
Today the Cedar Creek female powerlifters, who finished as runners-up last year, will compete in Girls State Championships.
“All the girls made weight tonight and they are fired up,” Angevine said. “They came in with game faces on. They stayed the whole time at the meet, so they’ve had game faces on since about 9:30 (Thursday) morning.”
