Woodland Track, Football and Weight-Lifting Coach Tim Shea says, “Our goal is always to finish in the top three at the league meet and in the top ten at States.” This is exactly what they did last year, as the Woodland boys placed second in the 2009 NVL Weight Lifting Competition.

This year, the first competition is on February 13th as the boys head to Bridgeport Central. The weight lifters are predominately football players, though the competitions are open to all males.

Some girls lift at NVL schools, but they are not currently included in the competitions. However, Shea says, “Personally, if enough girls showed interest, I wouldn’t mind them participating.”

The training for lifters is intense. Woodland weight lifters have been training year-round and the official lifting season began after Thanksgiving.

There are three lifts that they train for: bench press, squat and power clean. Each school in the NVL  is allowed three lifters per each lift in each weight class. There are five weight classes: 160 and under, 161-180, 181-200, 201-220, and 221 and up. Each lifter then has three attempts to “max out” or beat their personal best in a competition.

The Woodland Weight-Lifting Team will find out just who will “max out” in their coming meets. Each lifter will contribute their best score to the combined score of every team member, resulting in whether or not this year they will again achieve their goals.

Meets:

Bridgeport Central: February 14

JV NVL Competition: March 5

Varsity NVL : March 6

States: 2 weeks later