At 3:30 every day, a steady stream of determined students flea from Trinity’s main campus to find sweaty refuge from their studies in the Race Athletic Center weight room. In October, sophomore Roshane Perera was one of these students and began attending open workouts with some of his friends. These workouts are provided by Cal McLellan, an employee of the local fitness company Spectrum Sports Performance, and can be performed with intent to improve strength or blow off steam.
On April 18, Perera won fifteenth place in the Varsity Weightlifting State Meet with lifts of 145 pounds and 125 pounds in the bench press and clean and jerk, respectively. These weights were dramatically more impressive than his starting numbers— 105 and 100— from just a couple months previous.
Perera admittedly struggled at first in the uncharted world of weightlifting. Despite this, the sophomore preserved every day and continued improving steadily.
“I got into [it] because I really liked the individual aspect of the weightlifting,” Perera said. “I liked being able to push my body to its limit and being able to know that the amount of work I put in is what I get out.”
Roshane’s affinity for weightlifting only grew, as what was once a mere way to stay in shape became his main sport. He was recruited by other lifters on the current weightlifting team after they noticed his determination and success in the weight room after school.
However small of a transition this may seem, it changed the dynamic of Perera’s workouts entirely. Now, instead of just working out every day, he had to worry about increasing his maximum weights for meets and making sure he could make the correct body weight for his class.
High school weightlifting meets are split into different weight classes, to be fair to all lifters. Roshane is in the 119 pound weight class, the lightest grouping that the Florida High School Athletics Association has to offer.
“It’s a pretty sparse weight class compared to some of the others,” Perera said. “On average I compete with about four or five lifters at each meet.”
This scarcity of competition does not degrade the sophomore’s accomplishments whatsoever. This season, despite the vast learning curve, Roshane won first place in every meet in which he competed.
To win a weightlifting meet, the highest of three attempts for each of the two sanctioned lifts, bench press and clean and jerk, are added together. Each lifter’s combined tally is scored against the other members of their weight class.
“He is not seen as a rookie since he has had so much success in winning his weight class,” weightlifting coach Drew Nemec said of Perera’s explosion of success. “He has become very confident and understanding of the rules and policies of weightlifting. His success did not surprise me because I have watched his determination in both practice and meets.”
On March 18 at Bishop Moore, Perera put his undefeated season on the line as Trinity competed in the District Meet. Again, the standout sophomore took first place in his weight class and advanced to the Regional Meet.
Again lifting at Bishop Moore on March 25, Perera won the Regional Meet. With this victory, Perera secured himself a spot in the Florida State meet that took place on April 18 at the Kissimmee Civic Center.
After looking at the scores of past champions, Perera knows he will have his hands full at States.
“I’m hoping to place top 10 in the state, but even that might be a stretch,” Perera said before his meet. “I am hoping to just give it all that I have and enjoy my experience at the state competition.”
Perera walked into the State Meet with the full support of both his teammates and his coach. Nemec also remarked that the State Meet would be a whole new experience for the sophomore.
“It will be a challenge because he is new to this, the judging is more strict and you really do not know who you are competing against and what they are able to lift,” Nemec said. “I am very proud to have coached Roshane this year and am very impressed with his accomplishments either way [the meet goes].”
Perera was one of three total lifters from Trinity Prep to ever make the Varsity Weightlifting State Meet, and still has two years of high school lifting to improve even further. Perera will continue to workout in his time off in hopes of carrying this year’s success into next season.
