- November 23, 2024
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On the morning of the state weightlifting meet, senior Kendrick Thomas enjoyed a nice stack of five pancakes and a half chicken. Having moved down from the 139-pound class to 129, Thomas has only healthy foods to lose and keep weight off, but, after his morning weigh-in, fellow lifter Mike Astrologo, a heavyweight, said Thomas ate more than he did.
With a full stomach, the first-place favorite didn’t disappoint. Thomas led from the beginning on the bench press, and he did enough in clean and jerk to win the 129-state title, becoming just the fifth Flagler Palm Coast athlete to win a state weightlifting championship.
“It didn’t sink in at first, because I was just jumping around and celebrating,” he said, “but, when Mike did his thing, that’s when the tears started rolling. It felt good. In my freshman year, all I wanted was my name on the wall for a record. But, once I got that, and coach started talking about being a state champion, I realized that I can have my name among that.”
Subsection: Astrologo doesn’t give up
After his bench press, Astrologo went into the last competition, clean and jerk, down by 20 pounds. So, after opening with 315 pounds, he had two shots at 350 for the win, 20 pounds more than he had ever attempted. On his first attempt, Astrologo dropped the weight and fell to ground, going unconscious.
“It took several minutes after he came to, to get him back in focus,” coach Duane Hagstrom said. “But, when he took a deep breath and finally looked at me, I knew the switch was back on.”
“At first I saw my mom cry (once he got focused),” Astrologo said, “so I thought, ‘I have to do this for my parents, because they’ve been to every meet and bought me everything I needed to be successful.’ And, I was not going out second. I’ve been second to the No. 1 kid every year since I lifted, and I was going to put everything into my last one.”
When he returned for his final attempt, Astrologo completed the lift, and he and all of the FPC supporters began to jump around uncontrollably.
“I cried there and many times since it happened,” coach Hagstrom said. “It’s the ultimate accomplishment that these kids have worked so hard for, and to see how happy they are and the joy it brings to them releases this ball of emotion.”
Although The Bulldogs took five lifters to the state meet, only Thomas and Astrologo scored points, enough to deliver FPC a runner-up place, its best state finish ever. Fourth place was the previous highest finish. Four other state champions.
“I couldn’t be happier than what I am,” Hagstrom said. “We’ve been talking about getting to and battling for a state championship since September. For the kids, it’s been an unrealistic thing, but I knew it was much within our grasp. And, as we got closer, they realized that it was doable. The determination that they showed was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.”
To see Astrologo lift and the team's emotional reaction, visit the FPC Weightlifting page on Facebook.
