EDINBURG — Mission High junior Brianna Marquez qualified for the Texas High School Women’s Powerlifting Association Region V meet the first two years of her high school powerlifting career. Missing weight and bombing out ended her road at regionals each time.
She broke through Wednesday and punched her ticket to state at the THSWPA Region V Division I meet at Bert Ogden Arena by winning the regional championship in the 148-pound weight class with a 445-pound squat, 225-pound bench press and 340-pound deadlift for a combined total of 1,010 pounds, a personal record.
The THSWPA 2022 state championships will take place March 16-19 at American Bank Center Exhibit Hall in Corpus Christi.
“Now that I finally made it to state, I’m extremely happy,” she said. “I’ve always had the numbers, but I didn’t make weight my freshman year and I bombed (out) on squat my sophomore year, but now I finally made it, so I was like, ‘OMG,’ I’m actually going to go. Finally.”
Bombing out is when a competitor doesn’t successfully lift a given weight in any of the three attempts for that particular lift — bench press, squat or deadlift.
Edcouch-Elsa’s girls powerlifting team edged out Los Fresnos 29-28 to win the regional team title. The Falcons, who won last year’s crown, finished in second ahead of Mission High and Edinburg Economedes, who tied for third with 13 points.
Points are awarded for the top five finishes in this manner — 7, 5, 3, 2 and 1. Each lifter goes through three different sets of lifts — squat, bench press and deadlift. The total weight combined from the three lifts determines the winner.
| Edcouch-Elsa’s Georgina Alaniz, who competes in the 132-pound weight class, attempts a bench press at the Texas High School Women’s Powerlifting Region V Division I Championship at Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg on Wednesday. SIXYUM PICTURES |
Powerlifters qualified for the state meet in three ways: finishing in the top two in their respective weight class at the regional meet, reaching the weight class’ automatic qualifying total at the regional meet, or being one of the top two lifters in their respective UIL classification at the regional meet.
Georgina Alaniz (132 pounds), Aisha Garcia (259+) and Anabel Matinez (97 pounds) won their respective weight classes to help the Yellow Jackets, the defending Division I Class 5A Small School state champions, claim this year’s regional title.
“Everyone was so nervous, but everyone did really good. Everyone showed off how much work we put in and I’m proud of everyone,” Garcia said of the Yellow Jackets, who qualified 23 lifters to this year’s regional meet.
Garcia and Weslaco High’s Leslie Montelongo were the only two competitors in the 259+ weight class to earn their way to the state meet. Garcia lifted 1,230 pounds (570 squat, 265 bench, 395 deadlift) to take first.
| Edcouch-Elsa’s Aisha Garcia, who competes in the 259+pound weight class, completes a dead-lift at the Texas High School Women’s Powerlifting Region V Division I Championship at Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg on Wednesday. SIXYUM PICTURES |
Nine Region V Division I records were broken Wednesday including all four in the 259-pound weight class and three at 198.
Mission High’s Erika Guerrero broke her own regional squat record of 560 pounds with a successful 565-pound lift. She then benched 310 pounds, 5 pounds more than the previous record set by Brownsville Lopez’s Julieann Delgado in 2019.
“I’m a senior; I’m a little bit emotional with my last regional meet. I wanted more on squat, but it’s OK, I broke my record with 565, broke the bench record with 310, and it was a good day overall,” Guerrero said through tears minutes after finishing her final lift of the day.
Brownsville Lopez’s Marleen Salazar set two more records in the 259-pound weight class with a 450-pound deadlift and 1,240 total, which were held by Del Rio’s Dulce Guajardo (440 in 2020) and Donna High’s Roxanne Martinez (1,190 in 2020). Salazar finished first at 259 pounds.
Victoria West’s Alyssa Sauceda broke the squat (515 pounds), bench (320) and total (1,250) records in the 198-pound weight class.
Los Fresnos’ Miranda Escamilla and Hailey Martin finished first in the 123-pound and 114-pound weight classes, respectively. Escamilla’s 405-pound squat topped the previous high set by Port Lavaca Calhoun’s Skyleigh Sears in 2019. Tyler Martin broke the bench press record in the 105-pound weight class with a successful 185-pound lift, besting Edcouch-Elsa’s Genesis Nava’s mark of 180 set in 2020.
“This was the best performance in my three years here. I went 9-for-9 today and it’s a great comeback because I bombed out at state, so now I’m ready to go win state now,” Escamilla said.
First-place finishers include Weslaco East’s Leah Galvan (285 squat, 135 bench, 305 deadlift, 725 total) in the 105-pound weight class, Edinburg Economedes’ Ashley Chavez (430 squat, 270 bench, 365 deadlift, 1,065 total), in the 165-pound weight class, Brownsville Pace’s Kimberly Luna (425 squat, 220 bench, 380 deadlift, 1,025 total) in the 181-pound weight class, Brownsville Porter’s Allyson Gil (415 squat, 235 bench, 355 deadlift, 1,005 total).
| Edinburg Economedes’ Ashley Chavez, who competes in the 165-pound weight class, attempts a dead-lift at the Texas High School Women’s Powerlifting Region V Division I Championship at Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg on Wednesday. SIXYUM PICTURES |
A complete list of state qualifiers from the Rio Grande Valley can be found here.