In sports, many credit certain capabilities to innate talent: having good hands in tennis, fast reflexes in soccer, or quick thinking in football. However, there is one sport in particular that is zero percent talent and 100 percent grit, hard work, and determination; weightlifting.
In recents weeks, the boys’ weightlifting team made unprecedented success after placing sixth in districts, having three individuals win regionals and competing in states. This is the first time in Trinity history that the team has moved past the district tournament. In addition, seniors Boaz Kim, Ramy Asfoor and Jackson Salinas qualified for states, another record for the team.
The captain and four-year member of the team, Jackson Salinas attributes the team’s achievements to the overall synergy of the group.
“It’s a team chemistry,” Salinas said. “We are all really close with each other and we all come to practice and we all compete together. People always talk about how [weightlifting] is not really a team sport, but we all come together and we all cheer each other on every week. ”
Jackson is not the only person who is proud of the team’s achievement, as first-time boy’s weightlifting coach Amanda Dean commends the team’s dedication and effort to the season.
“These guys, they worked really hard,” Dean said. “They set some goals for themselves, and they just went out and trained as hard as they could and follow the protocol and kind of set their mind to try and do the best they could that day and came out ahead.”
Salinas’ team chemistry is one of the many contributing factors to their season’s success with Dean believing technique and is a key aspect.
“We spent a lot of time talking about technique and doing the list correctly,” Dean said. “And our boys are really, really well trained in good technique. And from there, I think it sets them up nicely to be able to gain the strength to do the lifts really well in these [competitions].”
With both of these factors combined, it resulted in newfound skill and a prolific season for the entire team. But the team’s career is not going to peak here, as Salinas notes that there are many young, talented athletes on the team including his younger brother.
“I think that because of the amount of younger guys that we have on the team that are really good like Mason Pengra and Michael Salinas, Peter [Deng], I feel like we’re going to be competitive for a really long time.”
All in all, the boy’s weightlifting team achieved unprecedented success with a bright future ahead of them. Though this is Dean’s first year coaching the team, she is already in love with the team and their camaraderie.
“I love how they kind of mesh and gel around each other,” Dean said. “[To] go to these big meets and see one of our guys who’s getting ready to do a heavy attempt and just seeing all the guys come over to [it] to watch and be loud for them. And hype them up and pump them. It’s really fun to kind of be in that atmosphere to see how they interact and how they really, truly support each other.”
