Dynasty on the Platform: St. Cloud Bulldogs Capture 15th Straight Orange Belt Conference Girls Weightlifting Title

By: J. Daniel Pearson
Positively Osceola

St. Cloud posted six individual champions in the Olympic and three in the traditional to rack up 151 total team points and win their 15^th consecutive Orange Belt Conference girls weightlifting championship on Friday night.

The Bulldogs finished the Olympic (snatch plus clean-and-jerk) portion of the competition with 78 points to easily outdistance second-play Harmony (39). Poinciana (31) and Tohopekaliga (30) were third and fourth respectively.

St. Cloud had three champions in the traditional (clean-and-jerk plus bench), but also picked up multiple placement points to breeze past the Longhorns, 73-50. Tohopekaliga (29) edged Poinciana (20) for third, gaining enough points to take third overall.

“It was a night of surprises,” St. Cloud coach Cory Aun said. “Overall, I felt we had enough depth to win the team title but I was really surprised that we had six Olympic champions.”

St. Cloud was led by double gold medalists Aubrey Manzo at 101-lb. weight class and Autumn Frost (unlimited). They also picked up additional individual Olympic champions in Ava Aun (119), Caitlyn Carver (154), Skylar Hsu (169) and Layla Rivera (199). Nyla Jones (199) won the other individual traditional championship for the Bulldogs.

Second-place Harmony had double gold medalists in Jocelyn Rodriguez (129) and Samantha Arscott (183); while Tohopekaliga also had two double medalists in Jayleen Sanchez (110) and Julianna Navarro (139).

Using the Sinclair formula that takes into account lift totals, body weight and other factors, Harmony’s Nya Flores (154) was determined to be the top overall lifter in the traditional. She edged Navarro (139) in the Sinclair rating 202-200.

It was a close battle for top lifter on the Olympic side, with Tohopekaliga’s Navarro barely edging out St. Cloud’s Caitlyn Carver (188.136 – 187.449) for the top spot.

All Osceola County teams move on to district competition next week, with St. Cloud, Harmony, Tohopekaliga, Poinciana and Osceola competing with Haines City, Davenport, Winter Haven and Ridge in the Class 3A, District 9 meet next Saturday at Harmony.

Although St. Cloud will be favored to win the team title, Aun noted that the district competition was all about moving lifters on to regionals. “We worry about team scores at OBCs, but sole focus at districts will be to qualify as many lifers as possible to regionals,” the veteran coach said.

2025 OBC Girls Weightlifting Championship Results

Team (Olympic-Traditional-Team Total)

St. Cloud 78-73-151

Harmony 39-50-89

Tohopekaliga 30-29-59

Poinciana 31-20-51

Osceola 17-18-35

Celebration 14-12-26

Liberty 4-12-16

OBC Champions Olympic

Weight Class: Snatch-Clean/Jerk: Total

101 Aubrey Manzo (St. Cloud) 80-95-175