Lobo Lifters Host 11th Annual Sandhills Meet
    by Jessica Ray, Staff Writer ~~ The Monahans News, January 28, 2008

Monahans hosted the 11th annual Sandhills Powerlifting Meet at the high school gym on Saturday. Schools of various classifications from across the area met with all the brawn they could muster. In the end, it was neighboring Kermit that took home the team titles in both the girls and boys division, but the Lobo boys were right behind in second place. The Lady Lobo lifters, who have several new additions to the power squad, placed fourth out of 12 teams represented.

According to the rules of powerlifting, lifters take three attempts at each of the squat, bench press and dead lift. The best lift is added to the total weight to determine places. The places in each weight class determine how many points are earned for the team, which factor into the team standings.

In the boys' division, team standings were as follows. 1. Kermit, 40 points; 2. Monahans 34; 3. McCamey, 24; 4. Fort Stockton, 24; 5. Pecos, 19; 6. Wellman-Union, 19; 7. Reagan County 17; 8. Seminole, 15; 9. Greenwood, 12; 10. Iraan 9; 11. Alpine, 5; 12. Marfa, 4; Balmorhea, 4; 14. Rankin, 2 and 15. Crane with 1 point.

Dallas Bowden placed fourth in the 114-pound weight division. He had a total lift of 425 pounds, including a 135-pound squat, 100-pound bench and a 190-pound dead lift.

Bobby Fabian lifted in the 123-pound division for third place and three team points. His 300-pound squat, 180-pound bench press and 300-pund dead lift added to the 780-pound total.

In the 148-pound weight class, Kelton Mitchell brought in another fourth-place finish and two team points. Mitchell squatted 345, bench pressed 225 and dead lifted 350 for a 920-pound total.

Matt Montoya placed fourth in the 165-pound weight class with a total of 1010. He lifted 350, 235 and 425 in the squat, bench press and dead lift, respectively.

Stephen Neel, also in the 165 class, placed eleventh with lifts of 340, 180 and 350 for a total of 870 pounds.

Hector Venegas placed second in the 181-pound division. He lifted 1085 pounds, the same as first-place Chris Pando of Kermit. Venegas squatted 415, bench pressed 270 and dead lifted 400 pounds.

Austin Grigry placed sixth in the 198-pound weight class with a 905-pound total. He carried out a 370-pound squat, a 210-pound bench press and a 325-pound dead lift.

Anthony Santiago, a retuning stat qualifier, won the gold in the 242-pound weight class. Santiago is currently ranked fifth in the stat in his weight class and division, according to thspa.org. On Saturday, he squatted 550, bench pressed 320 and dead lifted 510 for a combined 1380 pound.

Riley Price placed second in the 275-pound weight class. He had a total lift of 1120 pounds, including 450 in the squat, 230 in the bench press and 440 in the dead lift.

Shaq Smith placed second in the super heavyweight division with a total lift of 1255 pounds. Smith pulled off a 500-pound squat, which was 20-pounds more than what first-place Chris Thomas of Kermit squatted. Smith also beat Thomas in the bench press, lifting 325 pounds. It was the dead lift, however, that sent Smith to second place. Thomas lifted 470 pounds, while Lobo Smith lifted 430. Smith's total 1255 pounds was a mere five pounds away from first the first-place lift.

Stetson Standish, also in the SHW division, placed fifth with a total of 1005 pounds, including 420 in the squat, 235 in the bench press and 350 in the dead lift.

Also lifting for the boys, on the Monahans B team, were Michael Cherry who placed sixth in the 123 class; Fabian Flores who place tenth in the 148 weight class; Bubba Boyett who placed thirteenth in the 148 weight class; Brandon Baggett who placed tenth in the 165 class; Daniel French who placed fifteenth in the 165 class; Colby Nelson who placed eleventh in the 181 class; Garrett King who placed fifth in the 198 class; Anthony ford who placed sixth in the 220 class; Alex Wetzig who placed ninth the 242 class and Matt Ornelas who placed fourth in the 275 class.

In the girls' division, team standings were as follows. 1. Kermit, 34 points; 2. McCamey, 29; 3. Wellman-Union, 27; 4. Monahans, 26; 5. Pecos, 21; 6. Fort Stockton, 21; 7. Seminole, 14; 8. Reagan County, 12; 9. Crane, 7; 10. Greenwood, 4; 11. Alpine, 2 and 12. Rankin with 1 point.

Kimberly Medcalf, added a point to the team total with a seventh place finish in the 123-pound weight class. She had  a total lift of 375 pounds including 150 on the squat, 70 on the bench press and 155 in dead lift.

In the 132 pound weight class, Adriana Rendon placed fourth, good for two points. She squatted 195 pounds, bench pressed 85 and dead lifted 240 for a 520 pound total.

Placing sixth in the 132-pound class was Quen Carter with a total 480-pound lift. Carter lifted 165, 100 and 215 pounds in the squat, bench and dead lift, respectively. Sixth place accounts for one team point.

Ambre Vanderburg placed fourth in the 148-pound weight class. Her squat of 240, bench press of 125 and dead lift of 225 made up her 590-pound total.

Allycyn Ramos, in the 165-pound weight division, placed third. 215 pounds on the squat, 120 on the bench and 225 in the dead lift totaled 560 pounds.

The Monahans girls fared best in the 181 weight class, where Kembra Mitchell and Driana Sida brought in the goals and silver, respectively, earning 12 points for the Lady Loboes.

Mitchell lifted a total of 695 pounds including 305 in the squat, 125 in the bench press and 265 in the dead lift. According to thsgpa.org, Mitchell was ranked second in the state after last week's 610-pound lift, which she upped by 85 pounds on Saturday.

In second place was Driana Sida. Sida squatted 200, benched 110 and dead lifted 255 for a combined 565 pounds.

In the 220-plus division, Morgan Haynes placed third with a total lift of 655 pounds. her best lift in the squat was 270 pounds, followed by a 130-pound bench press and a 255-pound dead lift.

Visit the boys powerlifting site at thspa.org, or the girls site at thsgpa.org to track the progress of these lifters. The standings after the Big Lake on February 23 will determine who gets a pass to the Region I meets in March. The teams will next compete in a Kermit Invitational on February 9.

keyed by Laura Hinojos , Junior 08'