POWER: Small, Pitts overcome odds at State
Abilene, placed fourth in the 165-pound weight class, totaling 1,330
pounds. (Submitted Photo)
Center's Jeremy Small's size is very deceiving. His teammate, Kevinski Pitts, backs down to no one. The duo overcame the odds and came through with outstanding performances Saturday at the Division 2 State Powerlifting Meet in the Taylor County Expo Center in Abilene and posted fourth and seventh finishes, respectively, in their weight classes to represent the Roughriders well.
It was Small's second straight trip to the State competition. He finished fourth in 2009 and overcame some technical problems to once again earn the fourth spot this season. He also encouraged Pitts, who was making his first trip to battle Texas' best.
"Both kids competed very well," said Center Powerlifting Coach Tracy Adair. "I am so proud of their efforts the entire year. It is a great honor just to be at the State meet and I'm sorry that the judgments are so subjective in some of the lifts.
"I do not feel that the judgments went in our favor on some of the lifts, but it was a great year for boys' powerlifting at Center."
Adair was referring to a pair of judgments on lifts that Small said were judgment calls that went against him. The senior said he was told he didn't go all the way down on his best squat lift and that he didn't lock his leg on another lift. Both were crucial calls, but Small still managed to finish fourth.
Small, who competed in the 165-pound weight class, came into the competition having lifted a season-best 1,370, which would have tied him with eventual state champion, Michael Pyon of Kennedale. Pyon was second after the squat, lifting 525, while Julio Mendoza of Port Isabel, who placed second in the overall competition with 1,365 pounds, was first with 560 pounds. Small was third at 515 pounds, failing to equal his season's best 560 pounds. Texarkana Liberty-Eylau's Terran Cooper, who finished third, was fifth with 490 pounds.
Pyon outlifted the competition in the bench press, lifting 340 pounds. Cooper made up ground, lifting 325; Mendoza cleared 305 and Small continued to trail despite setting a personal best with a 280- pound bench press.
Small's best lift on the final competition - the dead lift - had been 545. If he equaled that lift he would have tied for third. But he had another judgment go against him, leaving him at 535. Despite the 'calls' going against him, he still had the second-heaviest lift in the dead lift.
Pyon lifted 505 in the dead lift to win the overall competition by five pounds, finishing with 1,370 pounds. Mendoza dead lifted 500 for 1,365 total pounds and Cooper lifted 525 in the final competition to tally 1,340 pounds. Small came up 10 pounds short, finishing with 1,330 total pounds, placing fourth out of 12 competitors.
Fifth place in the 165-pound weight class went to Jordan Taylor of Waco LaVega with 1,320 pounds, while Joel Rockmore of Lake Worth lifted 1,290 for a distant sixth.
Pitts competed in the 198-pound class. He set a personal best in the dead lift, with 560 pounds, surpassing his previous best by 15 pounds.
Justin Duran of Raymondville, who easily won the weight class with 1,625 pounds, took the early lead with 675 pounds in the squat. Chris McFarlin of Taylor, who would finish third overall, was in second place with 600 pounds. Pitts, who had a personal best of 580 pounds, could only lift 545 in the squat.
Pitts was just five pounds under his personal best in the bench press, pushing up 290 pounds. Francisco Cisneros of Hondo cleared 405 to top all weight class competitors.
Pitts lifted 560 in the dead lift, which was the third-best, behind Duran and Cisneros, giving the Roughrider a strong finish.
Alex Costilla of Falfurrias was fourth overall with 1,485 pounds, Dai Le of Iowa Park finished fifth with 1,465 pounds, Allan Grove of Ingleside lifted 1,440 for sixth and Pitts was behind him.