By: J. Daniel Pearson for Positively Osceola
St. Cloud’s outstanding weightlifting program added three more gold medals to their growing collection, as Reese Butler and Ashley Aun came away with FHSAA Class 3A state weightlifting titles this past weekend at the RPF Center in Lakeland. Tohopekaliga’s Alexa Woodman took home some big hardware as well as she earned a Silver and Bronze in Lakeland.
Butler, competing in the 199-lb. class, had a sensational meet – winning state championships in both the Traditional (Bench Press plus Clean-and-Jerk) and the Olympic (Clean-and-Jerk plus Snatch) disciplines. Butler successfully lifted 155 in the snatch and 210 in the clean-and-jerk to total 365 pounds – five pounds better than second place finisher Dana Tolleson of Milton High.
Buter was spot on during the competition, hitting eight of nine lifts she attempted.
In the Traditional, Butler added a best of 175 on the bench to give her a 175-210-385 total, easily out-distancing second place finisher Makayla Waterhouse of Charlotte High. “Reese had a phenomenal meet,” Bulldog head coach Cory Aun said. “She hit almost all her lifts and came away with two state championship titles.”
After finishing with two bronze medals last year as a junior, Ashley Aun also reached the top of the podium by winning the Traditional state title in the 110-lb. weight class with a counting total of 145 (clean-and-jerk)-155 (bench)-300—15 pounds heavier than second place finisher Bella Ortiz of Pace High School.
About the only disappointment for Aun came in the Olympic, where she was one of the favorites. She barely missed her final attempt at 165 in the clean-and-jerk and had to settle for a 115-155-270 total. Had she had made the lift, she would have tied for first with gold medalist Lani Barrett (Pace) and would have actually won the class outright based on weighing in at a lower body weight.
“She concludes her high school career with a state championship and barely missing another,” Aun said of his daughter. “She loves the sport. From the time she was walking, she would be in the garage with me using a pipe and imitating me lifting. I am extremely proud of her performance this weekend and in her career.”
With the three individual state champions, Aun has now produced eight state titles in girls weight lifting as St. Cloud’s head coach.
Osceola County also had one other lifter medal in the state championships, as Tohopekaliga’s Alexa Woodman turned in a terrific performance at the 139-lb. class – taking a silver in the Olympic competition with a combined lift of 340-lbs. and winning bronze in the Traditional with a 350-lb. total,
Osceola County was well-represented in the 3-A State Championships, qualifying 16 lifters from five different schools. St. Cloud led the way with seven total lifters, five of which qualified in both events. Harmony sent four to the state meet; while Osceola and Tohopekaliga had two each. Celebration sent one. Of the non-scorers, Lady Bulldog lifter Morgan Van Auken had a top 10 finish at 183-lbs. in the Traditional.
Individuals had to place in the top six in order to score team points, which were tallied on a 7-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Pace High won the Tradition team title with 30 points, defeating Winter Springs (27) and Niceville (26). St. Cloud was sixth (14). In an extremely tight race for the Olympic team championship, Pace came out on top again, slipping by Winter Springs by just one point (28-27). St, Cloud was sixth in that event with 12 points.
“Overall, I thought we had a really good meet,” Aun said. “Of our seven qualifiers, Ashley was the only senior, so the future is bright.”
St. Cloud will have a chance to add to their medal count in the boy’s state weightlifting championships in April. Mikey Ziss will be a favorite to win double gold, after accomplishing that feat last year.
