Rio Rancho, Lovington, Legacy Academy win first powerlifting state championships

RIO RANCHO – At the 2023 State Powerlifting Championships, there was one first-place girls team trophy, and there were 12 individual first-place medals handed out at Rio Rancho High School.

On Friday, at the 2024 State Powerlifting Championships, there were three first-place trophies, and 36 individual champions crowned at the Rio Rancho Events Center.

“This year is the first as a sport, and that makes me so happy, because more and more girls are gonna want to start doing this,” said Rio Rancho senior Arianna Valenzuela, the Class 5A state champion at 181 pounds. “And it’s not just boys are strong. Girls are strong as well.”

Powerlifting this year made its debut as an official sport, and this weekend was its first state competition. Rio Rancho (Class 5A), Lovington (4A) and Albuquerque’s Legacy Academy (Class 1A-3A) won the team championships.

The boys will compete on Saturday.

“It’s gotten so exponentially bigger,” said sophomore Rebecca Neal of Highland, a 4A state champion at 148 pounds. “And it’s gonna get bigger.”

Neal is one of many first-timers in this sport. She also plays basketball, soccer and is an excellent long jumper on the track. It was Highland’s football coach, Phil Lovato, who also coaches powerlifting, who gave the clinching sales pitch to Neal.

“Eventually coach Lovato told me, ‘Hey, you could win state,’ ” Neal said. She lifted a total of 645 pounds Friday, winning her event with a five-pound margin.

Speaking of multi-sport athletes, a large number of girls do other sports.

Like Rio Rancho’s Valenzuela, who is one of Class 5A’s top throwers in the field events. She lifted a combined 845 pounds in the squat, bench press and deadlift, a huge improvement over her 2023 total. Cleveland and Clovis finished second and third, respectively, in 5A.

Lovington was the overall girls state champion a year ago.

But there has been such a burst of interest that the New Mexico Activities Association expanded girls powerlifting to three classifications.

This is where Legacy Academy comes into the picture, as the small Class 1A school on Albuquerque’s West Side defeated Estancia and Logan in the 1A-3A standings.

“There’s a lot of energy (in this sport),” said Silverbacks junior Davina Griffis, a state champion at 165 pounds. “Energy is big on our team to get us pumped up.”

It was her sister, Ariana McCabe — “my sister is a beast,” Griffis said — who convinced her to try powerlifting. And McCabe was a state champion herself Friday, taking the 114-pound title — on her 18th birthday, no less.

Oak Grove Classical Academy senior Aislyn Grebe was another member of that first-time state champion group, and realized that the addition of a 1A-3A division made it possible for so many girls who could probably not win state competing against the larger schools, to win a first-place medal.

“I’ve been lifting since 2021, and my friends were like, you’re really strong, so you should do it for fun,” Grebe said. “Last year, I didn’t feel like I was qualified enough to do it.”

And, she added with a giggle, she didn’t have expectations of winning state this year.

“That’s crazy,” she said. “Honestly, I thought I would totally (flame) out.”

Lovington has pretty much been the most dominant girls powerlifting program the last couple of years. The Wildcats had five individual champions Friday, and scored an impressive 59 points, far ahead of runner-up Silver (with Portales third). All 12 Lovington entries (there are 12 weight divisions) scored team points by placing in the top five.

Senior Delaney Pack, the 4A winner in the 97-pound division, was one of the most fascinating state champions Friday.

The Lovington senior just six days ago was on the floor of Bob King Court at the Pit, helping Lovington to the Class 4A co-ed cheerleading title, the Wildcats’ sixth in a row.

“It helps you in other sports,” Pack said. “And I felt so welcomed whenever I came in. It’s such an unreal environment to be in.”

Pack started lifting as a sophomore.

“I saw everyone doing it, and I wanted to do it,” she said with a smile. “And a lot of the cheerleaders did it.”

Photos: Girls state powerlifting competition