Kaila Gonzalez, Alyssa Echazarreta and Maggie Zepeda each won their weight class, and the McAllen High girls powerlifting team won its first district championship in program history Saturday at DeLeon Middle School in McAllen.
The Bulldogs and McAllen Rowe were tied with 35 points apiece. The tiebreaker was based on the number of individual winners, which McAllen had three and Rowe two. McAllen Memorial took third with 31 points and was followed by Sharyland Pioneer (19) and Valley View (16).
Echazarreta, a senior, set personal records in all three of her lifts in the 165-pound division. She squatted 380, bench pressed 220 and deadlifted 340 for a total lift of 940 pounds.
“She went above and beyond,” McHi head coach Dan Rodriguez said. “She was a strong lifter last year and we were expecting good things from her. She was training quite a bit over the summer to get through COVID and maintain her strength.”
McAllen Memorial also had three winners, led by Kassandra Mendiola. The junior lifter totaled a meet-best 1,000 pounds (410 squat, 410 deadlift, 180 bench). Memorial head coach Joe Guerra said he has five girls who have qualified for regionals, scheduled for March 6 at Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg.
Guerra and his Memorial boys won the boys district title, their second championship. Rowe totaled 47 points and had three winners to outdistance McHi with three winners and 31 points.
Memorial won the 220, 275 and super heavyweight divisions with Damien Barrera, Alex Mendiola and Marcos De Ochoa, respectively. De Ochoa, a junior, had a monster day, lifting a meet-best 1,660 pounds between his three events, with a 725-pound squat, 585 deadlift and 350-pound bench. This is De Ochoa’s first year competing in powerlifting.
“He’s an amazing football player, too,” Guerra said. “We’re lucky enough to get him on our team and happy to have him here.
“This sport is fairly new to McAllen and to the area, but there are a lot of state champion schools down here, more than anywhere else in the state,” Guerra said. “Los Fresnos is one of them; they’re a six-time state champion. There are a lot of amazing powerlifters down here.”
The boys regional meet will be held March 13 at Weslaco East High School.
“This was another stepping stone for the program,” said Henderson, who, like Guerra, has been with the program since its inception six years ago. “They did what they had to do and I’m very proud of them. We all understand that there are individual things and goals, but the goal is winning the district title. There’s been so much going on and I’m very proud of them.”
The girls’ state meet will take place March 20 in Corpus Christi, and the boys state meet will be March 27 in Abilene.