Raider power lifters were met with success last weekend at their meet in Graham.
Four individual lifters scored gold medals despite the new difficulties of the present season.
“I was put in a higher weight class than I was last season, so I had to lift against stronger people,” junior Katy Steimel said. “I wasn’t expecting to get a gold medal.”
Rider power lifting has been pushing it just as hard in the weight room this year as they have in previous years, training almost every day.
“It’s pretty tough,” senior Amber Carlson said. “We’re always thinking ‘more weight, more weight.”
Behind that training is motivation and each of the lifters has his or her own goals they want to accomplish.
“Winning is a big part of it,” Steimel said. “But so is self-competition, I’m always training during off season to be better than I was in the last one.”
The girls team scored a third place victory overall.
“Our group of lifters have been working very hard and have become very close,” head coach Bill Davison said. “Each pushes the others to do better, we all celebrate when one lifter does more.”
Whether it’s through support or competition, each member of the team encourages the others to go further.
“We’re always trying to support each other,” Carlson said. “We support each other as a team so we can win as a team.”
Amber Carlson, Katy Steimel, Tiffany Nguyen, and Bailey Stanfield all placed at the top of their weight classes at the power lifting meet.