State Strong

Maclay Boys Weightlifting Team Competes in State Championship

Photo courtesy of Andrew Berenson/Maclay Andalusian

On Saturday, April 12, the Maclay boys weightlifting team headed down to Lakeland for their state competition. The two competitors that represented Maclay were senior Andrew Berenson and junior Justin Murphy, both competing in the 183 lb weight class. 

“The competition was a great experience,” Murphy said. It was cool to see all the different ranges of lifters. I also went 6/6 for my lifts and placed seventh overall in Olympic.”

Berenson dominated at the meet, especially in the Olympic division. In Olympic, the lifters are only based on the clean and jerk and snatch. In these respective lifts, Berenson snatched 190 lbs and clean and jerked 255 Ibs. This led him to an overall Olympic total of 445 lbs landing him fifth place in the state for Olympic. Murphy was not far behind Berenson in the Olympic division. Murphy snatched 190 lbs and clean and jerked 245, leading Murphy to seventh place in the state for Olympic as only a junior.

“Going into the meet I wasn’t nervous at all, only excited,” Berenson said. “It was the best meet I could have asked for, performance wise. I went 6/6 olympically and reached my goal of being on the podium, placing fifth overall in the state.”

After a great season, the boys weightlifting team plans to celebrate their season on April 24 at their end of season banquet.