Fantastic Four headed for state meet

Rockdale’s Lady Tiger powerlifting team was anything but empty-handed when they came home Saturday from the Region III meet in Dublin.

Seniors Jesenia Navarro, Mackenzie Musto, Jena Locklin and Alondra Rubio all qualified for the state meet in Waco on March 20, placing in the top two of their respective divisions.

“(Our) kids competed really hard,” said coach Ryan Montalvo. “I didn’t know if we would get all four girls out but they battled and pulled it off. Super proud of them.”

Rubio won her class with a 375 in the squat, 185 in the bench press and a 360 dead lift for a total of 915.

Rubio achieved this after taking up powerlifting near the end of January.

“Advancing to state is one of the biggest and proudest moments of my life,” Rubio said. “Coach has definitely worked with me and pushed me to be great.”

Navarro and Musto both qualified for state after advancing to the regional meet three straight seasons and missing on the next level.

Locklin came into the meet ranked fourth in her division but improved her dead lift from 280 to 300 pounds. This put her in front of the second and third-ranked lifters to win a silver medal.

R ESULTS (squat, bench press, dead lift - total)—2. Navarro, 290-130-255-675. 2.Musto, 300-190-300-790. 2. Locklin, 320-150-300-770. 7. Lisbett Boussart, 285-155-270-710. 1. Rubio, 370-185-360-915. 6. Alyssa Grady, 190-105-230-525.

TIGERS—For the boys, Kevin Liu, Bryce Flowers and Gavin Aguilar will compete Saturday in Smithville for a chance to be a state qualifier.

THORNDALE—For the Lady Bulldogs, Landri Martinka, Makaelyn Vivas and Emily Owen all qualified for the state meet in Waco.

THS head powerlifting coach Hudson Evans praised the Lady Bulldog lifters and said he was very excited to see all their hard work pay off.

RESULTS (dead lift, squat, bench press - total)—Martinka, 200- 135-270-605; Vivas, 235-125-220-585; Owen, 200-125-220-545.

BULLDOGS—Thorndale’s Jason Penick, Raymond Avalos, Luke Merz, Hayden Kylberg and Kaleb Yount will all compete at their regional Saturday in West.