EDINBURG — Aisha Garcia had a different look about her at the Region V Div. 1 girls Texas High School Women’s Powerlifting Association meet Saturday at Bert Ogden Arena.
Garcia, a junior competing in the 259-plus weight class, set personal bests in the bench press and the squat en route to a three-lift total of 1,035 pounds, securing the individual regional title and a trip to the state meet in that weight class.
Her finish also helped lead Edcouch-Elsa, a Class 5A school, to second place overall in the regional meet with 27 points, only behind perennial power and Class 6A Los Fresnos with 29 points. The two classes compete in the regional meet as one meet but then are separated for the state meet. Class 6A was held in the morning and 5A in the afternoon.
Garcia made what she called “a random decision” earlier in the week, dying her hair bright pink.
“I wanted to ‘Go Pink’ for regionals,” said Garcia, who has qualified now for three years, not being able to attend last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic that shut athletics down quickly in the Rio Grande Valley and around the country last spring. “I think it helped a bit.”
Garcia, who plans to shoot for a 490-pound squat at state, came into the region as the top-ranked lifter in her division, advancing to regionals with a total weight of 1,035 pounds. The total weight comes from a lifter’s best squat, bench press and dead lift. For Garcia, she hit personal bests of 475 pounds in the squat and 230 in the bench press to go with her 330 in the dead lift. Also qualifying for state and finishing second in the weight class was Weslaco’s Leslie Montelongo with a 1,010-pound total.
Edinburg Economedes took third in the combined 5A/6A event with 26 points and the Jaguars Princess Rios qualified for state, winning her 132-pound weight class.
Rounding out the top five in the event, which had 280 lifters competing, was McAllen High (23 points) and McAllen Memorial (15 points). The top two lifters in each weight division, along with those who qualify by surpassing a minimum total weight, advance to the state meet.
McHi’s Alyssa Echazarreta totaled 975 pounds in the 165-pound category, far surpassing her 895 total from the Bulldog Tri-City Meet in February according to the Texas High School Women’s Powerlifting Association website (thwpa.com). Teammate Maggie Cepeda also captured first with 925 pound in the 198 division.
Mission High’s Erika Guerrero totaled the most weight on the day, winning the 259-pound division with a total weight of 1,175 pounds. She squatted 530 pounds, benched 305 and deadlifted 340.
Cassandra Mendiola captured first in the 148-pound division with a total weight of 980 pounds, just shy of her 1,000 pounds she cleared at the Girls 31st District Championship.
Mendiola said she’s using the same pair of shoes now as she did as a freshman and those shoed aren’t going anywhere after the McAllen Memorial junior broke the regional meet record with a 420-pound deadlift, the final lift of the competition.
Now her eyes are set on challenging for a state record, said Mendiola, adding that her routine prior to a match included family prayers the night before and then a dose of the same three heavy metal songs prior to her lifts.
“I feel like I could’ve done better on my squat,” said Mendiola, who qualified for state for the second consecutive year. “Now I have different goals for state, hopefully breaking a couple state records and lifting higher than my personal record.”
The THSWPA girls’ state meet will be held March 18-20 at the American Bank Center Arena in Corpus Christi.