POWER: Griffin battles to 4th in Class 2A

Shelbyville's Kelsi Griffin finished fourth in the 165-lb. weight class at the
State Girls Powerlifting Championship in Corpus Christi on Friday. (Photo by
Ray Griffin)

Shelbyville powerlifter Kelsi Griffin tied her career best by lifting 775 pounds Friday, which was good enough to place fourth in the 165.5-lb. weight class in Class 2A at the State Powerlifting Meet held in Corpus Christi.

Brittany Clark of Arp, who came in as the No.1 qualifier in the weight class with 930 pounds, won the State title with 885 pounds, with Daniella Noguez of Poth placing second with 800 pounds. The third-place weight was 790 pounds and was recorded by Mollie Sepert of Maypearl, just 15 pounds better than Griffin, making it an exciting competition heading into the final round of lifts.

Rosemary Davis of Alpine and Elizabeth Aguero of Florence finished 25 pounds behind Griffin in fifth place with identical weights of 750 pounds. Davis captured the fifth-place tiebreaker, while Aguero came in sixth. Stephanie Ramirez of Winnsboro placed seventh with 700 pounds.

Griffin lifted 330 pounds in the squad competition, which put her in a tie for third place behind Clark (375) and Noguez (335) and tied with Sepert, just five pounds off the second-place pace.

Griffin continued in a third-place tie after the bench press; she lifted 130 pounds, which was identical with Sepert. Both lifters had a total of 460 pounds heading into the dead lift competition.

Clark bench pressed 175 pounds to increase her lead with 550 pounds, compared to Noguez, who bench pressed 140 pounds to stand at 475 pounds. But Noguez only led Griffin and Sepert by 15 pounds after the first two events.

"Kelsi had a chance to get anywhere from second to fourth place going into the dead lift," stated Shelbyville Athletics Director and powerlifting coach Jim Bradford. "Noguez pulled away, but Kelsi and the Sepert girl were tied going into the last lift of the meet.

"It was an exciting experience for her and she did a great job finishing fourth."

In the dead lift, Clark outdistanced the field by lifting 335 pounds to capture the competition in Class 2A by 85 pounds. Noguez dead lifted 325 pounds to take second, just 10 pounds ahead of Sepert, who secured third place over Griffin by lifting 330 pounds in the final event. That compared to 315 by the Shelbyville athlete.

Griffin qualifying for the State Girls Powerlifting Meet with the fifth-best weight total in the state in the 165-lb. class and third in Class 2A. She had her best performance of the season at the Class 2A Region III Meet held in Forney two weeks ago, improving her regional qualifying weight of 755 by 20 pounds to finish 2nd in Class 2A Region III.

The top qualifier for State in the 165-lb. weight class was Clark, with 930 pounds. Victoria Avila of Hebbronville was second with 845, Noguez of Poth was third with 785 pounds, Rosemary Davis of Alpine was fifth, while Griffin was fifth with 775 pounds.

Class 2A State Powerlifting Meet - 165.5-lb. Class