- November 25, 2024
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Devon McIntire, the 118.4-pounder from Flagler Palm Coast High School, can now say he’s the strongest weightlifter in Florida’s Class 2A 119-pound weight class.
He can say that because he lifted a total of 430 pounds on Friday at the Florida High School Athletic Association’s state championships. Many others tried, but no one could match him.
McIntire, a senior, finished seventh at last year’s state championships. The difference between his junior season and his senior season, he said, is that he finally began to use all of his strength.
“This year, I really had some catching up to do if I wanted to be a state champion,” McIntire said Sunday. “And through hard work, great coaching and determination, I knew I could do it. It was just a matter of time.”
McIntire bench-pressed 220 pounds and clean-and-jerked 210 pounds to edge out second-place finisher Tan Nguyen, from Fleming Island, by five points.
FPC coach Duane Hagstrom said McIntire is his own biggest critic, which helped him this season. McIntire experienced defeat all season, which Hagstrom said kept him more focused during the season than if he had been blowing out the competition.
McIntire finished second at this year’s 5-Star Conference meet. He won the conference last season. It was just another example of how he overcame adversity.
McIntire, who has spent the last four years trying to become a state champion, said winning the title taught him a valuable lesson: “I’ve realized anything is possible if you really put your mind to it,” he said. “Reaching a goal that high after putting in all that hard work made me happier than I ever have been in my entire life.”
The joy might be even greater for McIntire’s coach.
“As a competitor myself and as a coach, I have to say that the feeling that I get as a coach is much more exciting and emotional than as a competitor,” Hagstrom said. “I feel like these kids are my own. I spend so much time with them, I experience highs and lows with them, and when they achieve something so big, the emotions are magnified beyond belief.
“When I saw Devon crying tears of joy and jumping up and down when he won, it makes it all worth it. That is why I do what I do.”
Santana finishes second
For the second year in a row, Chris Santana, of Matanzas, finished second in the Class 1A 129-pound weight class.
Santana bench-pressed 245 pounds and clean-and-jerked 245 pounds for a 490-pound total. The state champion compiled a 535-pound total.
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