Wewahitchka weightlifters to compete at youth nationals this month
Wewahitchka coach David Peavy racked up many miles behind the wheel during the month of May.
First, he drove to Jacksonville for the 1A FHSAA track meet, held on May 17 and 18, and followed that up with a trip to Orlando for the Florida Weightlifting Federation State Championships, where two of his Gator lifters competed from May 18-21.
The Florida Weightlifting Federation, an affiliate of USA Weightlifting, is the “central governing body” in the state for the Olympic style of weightlifting. Olympic weightlifting involves the snatch and the clean and jerk.
Peavy reported that rising ninth grader McKenzie Hatcher won gold in the under-15, 71 kg weight class, and rising junior Ashlyn Ake claimed bronze in the under-17, 71 kg weight class.
Hatcher’s lifts totaled 126 kg, or 278 lbs, while Ake totaled 136 kg, or 300 lb.
After their success in Orlando, the duo will travel to Colorado Springs, Colorado, and compete at the USAW Youth Nationals during the last week of June.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the effort these two have put in,” said Peavy after his long drive home on Sunday.
Meet the Editor
Wendy Weitzel, The Star’s digital editor, joined the news outlet in August 2021, as a reporter covering primarily Gulf County.
Prior to then, she interned for Oklahoma-based news wire service Gaylord News and for Oklahoma City-based online newspaper NonDoc.com during her four years at the University of Oklahoma, from which she graduated in May with degrees in online journalism and political science.
While at OU, Weitzel was selected as Carnegie-Knight News21 Investigative Fellow among 30 top journalism students from around the country. She also was senior editor managing a 12-person newsroom in coordination with Oklahoma Watch, a non-profit news organization in eastern Oklahoma.