- March 10, 2025
Father Lopez senior Begyn Baliton won two state weightlifting championships to give her a total of four state titles over her remarkable high school career, and Flagler Palm Coast’s Nya Williams placed second and fourth in the two-day state tournament Feb. 14-15 in Lakeland.
Baliton, who is from Ormond Beach, dominated the 110-pound classification in the Class 1A championships, winning the Olympic competition (snatch and clean and jerk) by 40 pounds with a 280-pound total and the traditional (clean and jerk and bench press) by 35 pounds with a 295-pound total.
Last year, she placed first in Olympic and was runner-up in traditional. In 2023, Baliton won the 101-pound Olympic title and placed third in traditional.
"Bergyn has been a dedicated student athlete over the last four years," Father Lopez weightlifting coach Leroy Fisher said. "She has trusted the process of training; learning to push when she should and to tone back when she needs to. She has a deep faith that has been instilled by her parents. That shows in her support of competitors and teammates."
Seabreeze senior Sofia James also reached the podium with a fourth-place finish in the 169-pound traditional competition in the Class 2A championships. The senior also placed fourth last year. But she lifted 20 more pounds this year with a 370-pound total. James also finished ninth in the Olympic competition this year with a 310-pound total.
Williams, a sophomore, was the lightest lifter in the 119-pound classification in the Class 3A championships, weighing in at 111.6 pounds, so she was guaranteed to win in any tie, and she tied in both competitions, winning the tiebreakers by body weight.
Williams hit on eight of her nine lifts, totaling 320 pounds in Olympic to take the runner-up spot and also reaching the podium with a fourth-place medal in traditional with a 315-pound total. As a freshman last year, Williams placed fifth in Olympic at 110 pounds.
Among other state qualifiers, FPC senior Madeline Brinker placed 11th in Olympic 101 pounds with a 195-pound total in the Class 3A championships, while Matanzas senior Ryann Parkinson placed 19th in the Class 3A 101-pound traditional with a 185-pound total.
Seabreeze’s Madison James was 11th in Olympic at 101 pounds in Class 2A with a 200-pound total. Father Lopez’s Alexa Galvedon placed eighth in Class 1A at 110 pounds traditional with a 280-pound total and 12th in Olympic with a 250-pound total. And Victoria Viera of Father Lopez placed 17th in traditional at 119 pounds (235 pounds total) and 19th in Olympic (235 total).
