By Kyle Coppola
Leesburg High School Wins Boys Weightlifting District Championship
The Leesburg High School Yellow Jackets have won the Boys Weightlifting District Championship in dominant fashion. It was not even close as Leesburg High outlifted the 5 other programs taking part in the Districts including Mount Dora High, Tavares High, Eustis, Belleview and Lake Weir.
(Photo Credit – azaliasphotos)
Leesburg High would take the district championship in both Olympic and Traditional Weightlifting. Tavares would finish 2nd in Traditional while Eustis and Mount Dora took 3rd and 4th. In the Olympic it was Mount Dora finishing 2nd with Tavares 3rd.
Lets recap the competition
Traditional Weightlifting
119 Pound Class
The 119 pound class was won by Jeremy Lacey from Leesburg High with 445 pounds of weight put up. He won by nearly 200 pounds over second place finisher Cade Ingram from Eustis who put up 250 pounds. Andrew Stanton of Mount Dora High finished 3rd with Dylan Ungoria of Tavares and Jayden Griffen of Belleveiw taking 4th and 5th in the class.
129 Pound Class
In the 129 pound lcass Leesburg once again dominated with Kayden Adams taking 1st place with 395 pounds of weight. Tavares Kason Cole finished 2nd with 365 pounds. Barath Balaji for Leesburg took 4th place.
139 Pound Class
Leesburg would dominate this class with Gage Anderson and Gavin Proctor fighting it out for 1st place honors. Gage Anderson would outlift Proctor by putting up 375 pounds while Proctor would manage 330 pounds of weight. Belleview’s Richard Barnes and Elyjah Niemeic came in 3rd and 4th place.
154 Pound Class
Tavares Nicholas Demerritte who has been one of the best lifters in this class all season put up 490 pounds of weight to take and individual district championship win. Mount Dora’s Lampkin Cortez finished 2nd with 415 pounds of weight while Lake Weir’s Cedric Maxwell finished 3rd with 395 pounds.
169 Pound Class
This is where things started to heat up for Leesburg, Jason Nguyen barely took home the individual district championship win in this class with 535 pounds while Danny Englerth finished 2nd with 530 pounds. Tavares Ethan Mentz finished 3rd in a very respectable effort from him putting up 455 pounds of weight.
183 Pound Class
Mount Dora High would score one of two individual wins of the district championship with Hayes O’Hera finishing 1st with 515 pounds followed closely by Leesburg’s Ryan Thompson in 2nd with 510 pounds. Victor Villasmil of Leesburg finished 3rd with 490 pounds. This one was a nail bitter but not as close as the Unlimited class which stole the show.
199 Pound Class
Leesburg once again dominated this weight class as they have done most of the year. Zach Field finished 1st with 665 pounds of total weight. Meanwhile Savion Latimore finished 2nd with 570 pounds. Mount Dora’s Josh Collins finished 3rd with 480 pounds.
219 Pound Class
Mount Dora’s Russell Fickett entered his final District Championship of his career as the clear favorite in this class. Fickett would put up 590 pounds of weight while Leesburg’s Jamahr Williams finished 2nd with 565 pounds. Nick Chandler for Eustis finished 3rd with 480 pounds while Tavares Ari Bentley took 4th place with 460 pounds.
238 Pound Class
Leesburg’s Logan Thompson destroyed the competition in this class. It was not even close as Thompson outlifted 2nd place Szacari Minnis by over 90 pounds. Thompson put up 615 pounds of weight to take 1st place while Minnis put up 525 pounds to take 2nd. Jackson Quick from Lake Weir finished 3rd. There was a tie for 4th but Tavares Brandon Deeb took the place over Jose Sanchez of Leesburg.
Unlimited Class
Finally we come to the Unlimited class and wow did these boys put on a wild show. There were four favorites coming into the competition but ultimately Xavier Ford would outlift the other competitors by just 5 pounds. That is how close it was. Ford took 1st place with 505 pounds of weight, Zachary Smith for Mount Dora took home 2nd with 500 pounds while Eustis Raquan Mose took 3rd with 500 pounds. Leesburg’s Jake Hernandez finished 4th with 585 pounds. The class was decided by 20 pounds between the top four competitors. A truly enjoyable District Championship
Olympic Weightlifting
119 Pound Class
Only two competitors took part in the 119 Pound Olympic Class. Leesburg’s Jeremy Lacey faced no threat from Eustis High’s Cade Ingram. Lacey finished with 355 pounds while Ingram finished with 190 pounds. Lacey looks primed for big things in the Regionals.
129 Pound Class
This class found Kayden Adams finishing 1st for Leesburg High. Adams put up 400 pounds and he faced no competition with Kason Cole of Tavares finishing 2nd having put up 280 pounds and Leesburg’s Barath Balaji finishing 3rd wotj 240 pounds.
139 Pound Class
Only two competitors competed in this class both Leesburg students. Gage Anderson took 1st place with 350 pounds while Gavin Proctor took 2nd with 290 pounds.
154 Pound Class
One of the most intersting classes in Olympic Lifting saw Nicholas Demerrittee of Tavares challenged but Demerittee would ultimately be too much. He won with 380 pounds of weight. 2nd Place was Mount Dora’s Cortez Lampkin with a respectable 360 pounds while Leesburg’s Tyrell Davis and Jeremiah Nealy finished 3rd and 4th.
169 Pound Class
Once again this class was dominated by a pair of Leesburg weightlifters. Danny Englerth put up 480 pounds to take 1st place. Jason Nguyen finished 2nd with 440 pounds. Tavares Ethan Mentz finished 3rd with 410 pounds.
183 Pound Class
It was Leesburg domination as Ryan Thompson put up 485 pounds. Tavares Jeremy Batista finished 2nd with 350 pounds. Thompson is primed to do some big things at the Regionals.
199 Pound Class
A close competition saw Leesburg’s Zach Field put up 550 pounds with Savion Latimore finishing 2nd for Leesbur in a 1-2 finish. Latimore put up 520 pounds of weight. Tavares Jelani Bentley and Kane Stevenson finished 3rd and 4th.
219 Pound Class
This class would be another 1-2 finish for Leesburg as Jamesr Williams finished 1st putting up 505 pounds of total weight. Theo Prater finished 2nd for Leesburg with Tavares Evan Peterson and Ari Bentley finishing 3rd and 4th. Rounding out the class was Eustis Nick Chandler who finished 5th.
238 Pound Class
Leesburg once again flexed their muscle with a 1-2 finish. Logan Thompson finished 1st with 555 pounds of total weight. Jose Sanchez for Leesburg finished 2nd with 400 pounds of weight. Eustis Szacari Minnis finished 3rd, Tavares Brandon Deeb finished 4th with Eustis Sebastian Lopez finishing 5th.
Unlimited Class
The Unlimited Class proved why Leesburg is considered the top weightlifting school in Lake County. Jake Hernandez finished 1st with 420 pounds with Kakari Connor finishing 2nd with 405 pounds. Eustis Dylan Hall finished 3rd with 380 pounds. Tavares AJ Matta finished 4th along with fellow Tavares weightlifter Marco Guerrero who finished 5th. Eustis Raquan Mose rounded out the field.
Leesburg Peaking At Right TIme
All the Leesburg High School weightlifters appear to be peaking at the right time. They put on a dominant performance at Districts and this team is a serious threat along with many individuals to go far in the FHSAA Regionals and States. Congratulations to Leesburg on yet another district championship!
Photo Credit – azaliasphotos
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
