By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Kailyn Lomas liked being a state champion so much that she decided to do it again.
The Del Rio High School junior earned her second consecutive state championship in powerlifting, winning the 97-pound weight class at the Texas High School Women’s Powerlifting Association Class 6A State Championship held at the Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg in March.
Lomas, making her third consecutive appearance at the state meet, not only took home a state title, but did so in dominating fashion. She lifted a total of 800 pounds including 350 pounds in the squat, 135 pounds in the bench press and 315 pounds in the deadlift. The 350-pound squat set a new overall state record while the 315-poind deadlift and the 800-pound total were both 6A State records.
Aside from earning the state title, Lomas also took home awards for Best Lightweight Squat and Best Lightweight Deadlift.
She also becomes the first Del Rio powerlifter, male or female, to win back-to-back state titles since Michael Riemann achieved the feat in 2005 and 2006.
But Lomas wasn’t Del Rio’s only state powerlifting champion.
Chloe Juarez, who finished fourth in the 105-pound weight class last year, took home the title this year with a total of 835 pounds lifted, 110 pounds more than her next closest competitor.
Juarez had a 335-pound squat, a 175-pound bench press and a 325-pound deadlift. All three of her totals were the top weights lifted in her weight class. All three were also improvements from her showing at last year’s meet, including improving her deadlift total by 65 pounds.
Three more Del Rio lifters competed at the state meet with two of them earning medals.
“At the State level you do the best you can and live with the results. We had four medalists, one in each grade level. This was an amazing group of ladies with amazing skillsets and an even brighter future,” Del Rio High School head powerlifting coach David Gomez said.
Gabby Diaz finished as the runner-up in the 114-pound weight class, missing out on Del Rio’s third state title by 35 pounds. Diaz posted a 355-pound squat, which was best in her class; a 185-pound bench press, which was second overall; and a 300-pound deadlift for a total weight lifted of 840 pounds.
Lomas, Juarez and Diaz were all regional champions.
Wylie’s Thalia Gonzalez won the title in the 114-pound weight class with a total weight of 875 pounds. Had Diaz and Gonzalez finished tied, Diaz would have won state due to her weighing less than Gonzalez.
Isabella Valdez was fifth in the 181-pound weight class. She posted a 385-pound squat, a 200-pound bench press and a 375-pound deadlift for a total weight lifted of 960 pounds.
Lynette Herrera of Edinburg won the state title with a total weight of 1,125 pounds.
Kaisy Torres rounded out Del Rio’s state qualifiers, finishing sixth in the 195-pound weight class. She had a 390-pound squat, a 210-pound bench press and a 310-pound deadlift for a total weight lifted of 910 pounds.
Areanna Marin of Los Fresnos won the state title with a total weight of 1,100.
As a team, Del Rio finished third out of 55 schools in Class 6A.
“All the girls did amazing. They set goals and reached them. The goal was to get to State and do your best and that goal was achieved. It was a complete team effort,” Gomez said.
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