By:  J. Daniel Pearson

Heading into Friday night’s OBC Girls Weightlifting Championships, St. Cloud coach Cory Aun had some concerns about his team’s ability to defend its title.  All-State lifter Reese Butler was out with an injury and Aun knew rival Harmony had some strong contenders – especially in the lighter weight classes.

“The loss of Reese earlier in the season to a torn ulnar collateral in her elbow was devastating,” Aun said.  “We knew we were going to concede as many as five or six weight classes to Harmony in each discipline.  Still, we felt good about our depth and our upper weight class lifters have been quietly putting together a solid year.”

Aun’s concerns maybe were just a little unfounded as St. Cloud won both the traditional (clean and jerk/bench) and Olympic (snatch plus clean-and-jerk) team competition to tally 154 points and win their 15th consecutive Orange Belt Conference championship.

Harmony (122) was runner-up and Tohopekaliga (74) was third.  Osceola (26), Liberty (20), Poinciana (18), Celebration (17) and Gateway (4) rounded out the scoring.

“Our depth absolutely made a difference,” Aun said.  “Both Harmony and Tohopekaliga had some awesome lifters up and down their lineup.  With the loss of Reese, we needed some girls to step up and they did that.  We had 40 potential point scorers entered and I think all but three scored points for us.  Getting double wins from Morgan and Autumn at 199 and Unlimited really helped, but everyone did a great job.”

Overall, Harmony posted more individual champions in both the Traditional (6) and Olympic (5) than St. Cloud (7 total); but it was the Bulldogs depth that made the difference.  With points awarded on a 7-5-3-2-1 basis; the Bulldogs 10 total second place finishes and nine third place finishes to provide the margin of victory in the team race.

For Harmony, Natasia Puchales-Santana (101-pounds), Jocelyn Rodriguez (119) and Madilyn Fitzgerald (154) were double gold medalists for Harmony.  Other Longhorns OBC champions included Morgan Pasqual (169) and Alexandra Alzarez-Arroyo (183) in the Olympic discipline and Jirehas Chiciana (110), Nya Flores (139), and Samantha Arscott (183) in the Traditional.

“Overall, I thought we had a really good meet,” Harmony coach Jordan McLaughlin said.  “We seem to be peaking at the right time and look forward to continuing that momentum at districts next week.”

St. Cloud had double wins by Morgan VanAuken (199) and Autumn Frost (UNL); while Ava Nasco (129) and Kaylee Milien (139) took gold in the Olympic and Belen Gonzalez (169) won in the traditional to account for the Bulldogs seven individual champions.

Other gold medalists included Osceola Dudley Ferrer (110-Olympic) and Tohopekaliga’s Julianna Navarro (129-Traditional). 

Harmony will host the Class 3A, Region 2, District 9 championships next Friday, Jan 24.  St. Cloud, Tohopekaliga, Celebration, Poinciana and Osceola will also participate in the 10-team meet. The four District Champions (Districts 9-12)  in each weight class will advance to the Region 2 championships; while 16 at-large spots are available for the next best lifters across all four districts.

OBC Olympic Champions

Clean-And-Jerk / Snatch

  • 101:  Natasha Puchales-Santana (Harmony)
  • 110:  Dudley Ferrer (Osceola)
  • 119:  Jocelyn Rodriguez (Harmony)
  • 129:  Ava Nasco (St. Cloud)
  • 139:  Kaylee Milien (St. Cloud)
  • 154: Madilyn Fitzgerald (Harmony)
  • 169:  Morgan Pasqual (Harmony)
  • 183:  Alexandra Alvarez-Arroyo (Harmony)
  • 199: Morgan Van Auken (St. Cloud)
  • UNL:  Autumn Frost (St. Cloud)

OBC Traditional Champions

Clean-and-Jerk / Bench Press

  • 101:  Natasha Puchales-Santana (Harmony)
  • 110:  Jirehlis Chiciana (Harmony)
  • 119:  Jocelyn Rodriguez (Harmony)
  • 129:  Julianna Navarro (Tohopekaliga)
  • 139:  Nya Flores (Harmony)
  • 154: Madilyn Fitzgerald (Harmony)
  • 169:  Belen Gonzalez (St. Cloud)
  • 183:  Samantha Arscott (Harmony)
  • 199: Morgan Van Auken (St. Cloud)
  • UNL:  Autumn Frost (St. Cloud)

County Sports Notes:  The Orange Belt Conference Girls Basketball Championship is slated for next week (Jan. 21-24).  St. Cloud is the defending champions, but the Bulldogs (11-6) are the number two seed behind Gateway (15-4).   The Panthers and St. Cloud will host first and second round games on Tuesday and Wednesday; with Celebration scheduled to host Friday’s neutral site championship game.

Both Osceola (District Champion) and Harmony (District Runner-up) advanced to Thursday’s Class 3A, Sub-Regional in the FHSAA State Duals Championship.  Harmony was eliminated after a tough 38-34 decision to Viera; while Osceola advances to the Elite 8 with a 35-30 win over Ft. Pierce Central and a 40-27 win over Viera.  The Kowboys will face Wellington on Friday night for the Region 2 Championship.  The Kowboys will host the 1-A through 3A state championships Friday and Saturday.  Since founded in 2018, Osceola has never failed to reach the Elite 8 in the state duals – finishing second to South Dade last year.  The OBC Wrestling Championships are slated for Gateway High School on Wednesday, Jan. 29.

District soccer tournaments start this week and brackets will be released on Monday.  Both state power Celebration (11-3-1) and OBC Champion Gateway (15-1-0) are looking to make deep runs in the playoffs.  The Storm will compete with Harmony, Poinciana and St. Cloud for the Class 7A, District 7 crown; while the Panthers find themselves in the Class 5A, District 7 tournament with schools from Polk County.  OBCGirls Champion Harmony (10-5-1) and Celebration (13-4-2) are expected to battle it out for the Class 7A, District 7 girls championship.