Jupiter High’s girls weightlifting team won districts on Jan. 10 and will advance to regionals. 

The girls have been working long hours in the gym within the weeks leading up to districts.

“For districts [we] are focused on getting our weight up by five or 10 pounds because it helps a lot and just maintaining our weight,” Ava Cyr, junior, said. 

Ben Kenerson, head coach, said their biggest competitor is Suncoast High School.

“They have a lot more experience than we do in our program and they have been together a lot longer,” Kenerson said. “We had a total of six girls on our team last year. They were very fortunate to keep the Jupiter program together.” 

Jacklyn Biondo, freshman, was surprised by the reaction of her teammates when they took first place.  

“I was pretty excited and everyone just kind of started jumping up and down with happiness,” Biondo said.

Taylor Gale, freshman, enjoyed her first year on the team and likes how the team always encourages each other. 

“[The environment] is very uplifting even if you don’t make your lifts, everyone is still very supportive of each other,” Gale said.

Coach Kenerson likes the simple idea of weightlifting and how there is no competition between teammates.

“I think [weightlifting] is a very black and white sport where there is no real gray area. You either lift more than the other person or you don’t,” Kenerson said.

The girls are excited to compete regionals and will be working to advance to states. 

“We have a good chance this year because we have been beating the other schools in districts so our record is really good,” Cyr said.