CHS, PHS girls third in state powerlifting

Apr. 20—RIO RANCHO — Clovis and Portales High's girls placed a combined 16 lifters en route to a third-place team finish last weekend in the large-school divisions of state powerlifting competition at Rio Rancho Events Center, sponsored by the New Mexico Activities Association.

The Lady Rams finished with 34 points in 16-team Class 4A, trailing Lovington (59) and Silver (36). Meantime, the Lady Wildcats finished with 28 points in the 19-school Class 5A division, trailing Rio Rancho (39) and Rio Rancho Cleveland (32).

Portales had 10 placers, led by junior Mariah Velasco with a win in the 105-pound division. Junior Lorena Fernandez at 165 and senior Kaylyn Belew at 198 finished second while seniors Abby Ontiveros at 123, Alondra Acosta at 148 and Elizabeth Castillo at 198 came in third in their weight classes. Seniors Daniela Rivera at 114 and Olivia Lowe at 181 placed fourth, and sophomore Alivia Long was fifth at 132.

Three Clovis lifters won their divisions — sophomore Emylee Vetterly at 148 and seniors Alissa Crosswhite at 198 and Samantha Flores at 259. Other placers were junior Faith Butterfield, second at superheavyweight, senior Rosa Gonzalez, fifth at 97, and sophomore Daelene Ferrer, fifth at 105.

In boys competition, Clovis was 11th of 20 teams in Class 5A with seven points, courtesy of a win in the superheavyweight division by senior Jeremiah Johnson. Portales took seventh of 17 squads in 4A with 11 points, led by a win from senior Lazarus Fitts at 148, while junior Tommy Lopez at 148 and Dallas Lozano at 181 were both fourth.

In Class 1-3A girls competition, Grady tied for fourth with Cobre at 15 points, trailing Legacy Academy (32), Estancia (20) and Logan (17) in the 28-school competition. Texico was finished in a three-way tie for 10th with Des Moines and Hatch Valley, all with 10 points.

Senior December Garza took first place for the Lady Bronchos in the 220-pound division, while senior Adelina Ramirez was second at 97, junior Juanita Ramirez took third at 123 and freshman Lexee Leppke finished fourth at 114. Texico sophomore Mariyah Bachicha claimed first place at 181, while sophomore Kaydence Lucero was fourth at 220.

For the boys, Texico was seventh of 25 teams with 16 points. Oak Grove Classical won it with 24.

The Wolverines got seconds from sophomores Ryan Timberlake at 308 and Brandon Willoughby at superheavyweight, while senior Adi Garcia at 132 and sophomore Daniel Harrison at superheavyweight both posted thirds.