- November 1, 2024
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The Lady Pirates have won two straight district champions. Courtesy photos
Bianca Secor, Adriana Brandt and Danielle Thompson
Several months ago, 67 girls sought to become a part of the Matanzas girls weightlifting team, and now many of them are district champions.
I’ve become more interested in winning cultures in the last few months, as I’m trying to establish a successful culture for my youth group. Matanzas head coach Sara Novak has done just that with her weightlifting program; her girls’ results prove it.
Of the 20 Lady Pirates who competed in districts, 19 lifters (one shy of last year) placed in the Top 6 and are moved on to the regional meet. Four won individual championships. Six placed runner-up, and two took third.
Sophomore Chiara Longo won the individual district championship for the unlimited division, and freshman Mary Leonard took runner-up behind her. Both are brand new to the sport.
Lorien Givens, a new team lifter, won the 101-pound division. Veteran team lifters Danielle Thompson (110) and (Kaylee Mandt) also won individual titles.
Freshman Julianna Smith has placed runner-up in the both conference and district meets. At the beginning of the season, she maxed out clean and jerk at 65 pounds. Since then, she’s doubled that weight with a personal best 130 pounds.
Novak’s girls have completely bought into her program. She doesn’t have to use the whistle system with them, micro-managing their practices. She simply lays out the workout plan, and her lifters respond. Even when she offers off days, they refuse.
“We go every day,” Novak said. “When I try to give them optional days, they look at me as if I have two heads.”
Many of them have purchased gym memberships, and some have even built home gyms in their garage. For a coach, this is the greatest form of a compliment — when athletes choose to work on their craft outside of the allotted practice time.
It takes both the coach and the athletes to create this kind of winning culture.
