Apollo High School has been making its weightlifting presence known in 2019. But, at the Kentucky State lift meet on March 16, AHS not only made a positive showing, they brought back two state champions. And for the first time in school history, one of those champions was female.
The high school boys team finished fifth with three medalists out of the 20 schools and more than 440 lifters that competed.
For the boys, Mariano McKenzie won third place in the 175-pound weight class, Marvin Ramirez took second place in the 205-pound weight class and Daniel “DC” Boone was awarded first place as Heavyweight State Champion.
Boone also set the high school state meet bench record with a 475-pound press, shattering the previous record of 435 pounds.
“DC Boone has been working for this goal for two years and now that it’s officially down as the Kentucky High School record there’s some relief,” said AHS strength and conditioning coach Tyler Matthews. “But, this is only the beginning of him.”
The girls also had three medalists. Valerie Gillim was not only runner up in the 115-pound weight class, she also broke the previous bench record in her weight class of 85 pounds with a successful 95-pound bench. Gillim also tied the record for total weight lifted with the winning competitor, but the winner of a tie is determined by who has the lesser body weight.
Amari Sanders was runner-up in the heavyweight class, while Raylee Estes became the state champion in the 145-pound weight class.
“I’ve been recruiting girls for three years and to finally get enough to come was great,” Matthews said. “We have strong girls and that showed. If we can grow the girls’ team, they’ll be right in the top of the state every year, just like the guys. The sport needs more females and I’m just glad to do a very small part in growing that.”
Looking to the future, Matthews is optimistic of what his students can accomplish.
“Obviously, we are building a culture of winning, but all the kids controlled what they could, have great effort, had great attitudes and did what they were supposed to do,” Matthews said. “We only want to continue to improve, grow and bring more kids every year. I’m really proud of the medalists — they all spend a significant amount of time in the weight room prepping for their sports and I’m glad they had another outlet to come compete.”
