The Laker/Lutz News

Antoinette Farmer

Sunlake girls weightlifting state champs — again

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Since taking its first-ever state title last year, Sunlake High School’s varsity girls weightlifting had a newfound target on their back — as hungry competition looked to dethrone the team all season long.

Some opponents went so far to say it to their face.

The Sunlake High School varsity girls weightlifting team are back-to-back state champs. After winning the program’s first state title last year, the Seahawks again took gold at the 2020 FHSAA State Weightlifting Championships in Panama City Beach. (Courtesy of Denise Garcia)

“We knew there were going to be people trying to take the title and trying to overcome us in general,” Sunlake senior Antoinette Farmer said. “We even had people straight up telling us, saying they were going to beat us.”

Apparently, their foes spoke too soon — as Sunlake again won the FHSAA (Florida High School Athletic Association) Class 2A State Weightlifting Championships in Panama City Beach last month.

Along the way, the Sunlake team took district and regional crowns, too.

The Seahawks tallied 28 points to edge second-place finisher Navarre High School (26) and third place Winter Springs High School (24) — to become back-to-back state champions.

The program also experienced another milestone — with two weightlifters earning individual state titles in the same year: Seniors Gianna Levy (139 pounds) and Juliette Pacheco (169 pounds) took first place in their respective weight classes. Pacheco set a state record 225-pound bench press in her weight class.

All told, five of Sunlake’s seven state lifters earned points with top-six finishes in the bench press and clean-and-jerk aggregate lifts.

  • Madison Guincho, junior — second place, 119-pound (180-160 — 340)
  • Gianna Levy, senior — first place, 139-pound (175-180 — 355)
  • Juliette Pacheco, senior—first place, 169-pound (225-185 — 410)
  • Brianna Caban, senior — third place, 183-pound (200-170—370)
  • Antoinette Farmer, senior—second place, 199-pound (210-190 — 400)

“We were ready for the challenge,” Farmer said of winning states again.

She said she and her teammates fed off the “good competition energy” sent their way throughout the 2019-2020 campaign.

Pacheco concurred: “We all just have a really competitive mindset, and when we hear that people are saying they’re going to beat us… it just motivates us more.”

Pacheco also credits the team’s overall success to the myriad multi-sport athletes on the team’s weightlifting roster. Many have participated in cheerleading, softball, swimming, and track and field, among other sports.

There are many “all-around athletes,” Pacheco said, noting “we all have really high goals for every aspect of our lives, and we all just put it together and do what has to be done.”

Pacheco has a lengthy background in gymnastics and cheerleading, both of which she said have helped her build upper body strength over the years.

She also holds the school’s pole vault record in track and field.

“It’s just like every sport that I’ve done has aided me in (weightlifting),” Pacheco said.

Sunlake head coach Denise Garcia acknowledged there was more pressure to win a second state title, but praised her group for maintaining a positive mindset and working hard throughout the journey.

This team embraced challenges
Garcia noted several girls balanced schoolwork, other sports and extracurriculars, and part-time jobs to get their work done in the weight room.

Her message to the team entering the year: “Nothing will work unless you do.”

It’s something the team bought into it from the get-go, she said.

“They came together again, they wanted it again,” said Garcia. “They worked even harder, if that’s even possible. They’re such good workers, their work ethics are amazing.”

She added: “It just warms my heart that they succeeded, that they did what they wanted to, and that they put their heads together themselves and they did it. That’s a big accomplishment for them, individually, as well as a team.”

Garcia has led Sunlake’s weightlifting program for more than a decade. Her specialty and strategy comes in teaching proper bench press technique, trying to maximize the potential from each of her lifters. Pacheco’s state record is a case in point, but Garcia noted she strives to get everyone to bench at least 150 pounds.

“I love the bench,” Garcia said. “They say clean-and jerk-wins everything, but bench is good, too, because it’s the total (score), and if I can get them high in the bench, it puts pressure on the other girls (from opposing teams) to do even more.”

Though Garcia will be without four state-placing seniors, she believes the program is shaped up for another strong showing next season.

The team figures to center around, among others, rising senior Madison Guincho, who placed second at the state meet in the 119-pound division. “She’s one to look out for,” Garcia said. “She’s my future.”

Guincho likewise has high expectations for what’s to come: “I think we still will be good next year, because we have a lot of good up-and-coming girls that nobody really knows about yet. I think overall, we’re still going to be one of the best.”

Elsewhere locally, Zephyrhills High School’s varsity girls weightlifting team finished third at the FHSAA Class 1A State Weightlifting Championships. Bulldogs senior Lakisia Thomas won an individual state title in the 183-pound division, posting a 190-185 — 375. She was one of four Zephyrhills lifters who earned points with top-six finishes at the meet.

Class 2A
Team results
Sunlake — first place (28 points)
Wiregrass Ranch — no placing (0)

Bench press-clean-and-jerk—Total (in pounds)
Individual results

101 pounds
Alexandria Black, junior, Wiregrass Ranch: no placing (scratch)

110 pounds
Gabriella Schwarz, sophomore, Sunlake: 12th place (tie); 125-125 — 250

119 pounds
Madison Guincho, junior, Sunlake: second place; 180-160 — 340

139 pounds
Gianna Levy, senior, Sunlake: first place; 175-180 — 355
Gianina Rios, senior, Wiregrass Ranch: seventh place; 185-140 — 325

169 pounds
Juliette Pacheco, senior, Sunlake: first place; 225-185 — 410
Daniella Vance, junior, Sunlake: 13th place (tie); 145-160 — 305

183 pounds
Brianna Caban, senior, Sunlake: third place; 200-170 — 370

199 pounds
Antionette Farmer, senior, Sunlake: second place; 210-190 — 400

Class 1A
Zephyrhills — third place (18 points)
Bishop McLaughlin — no placing (0)
Cypress Creek — no placing (0)

Bench press-clean-and-jerk—Total (in pounds)
101 pounds
Andje Costa, sophomore, Cypress Creek: seventh place (tie); 95-125 — 220

139 pounds
Kayla Zine, senior, Zephyrhills: 18th place; 125-130 — 255

154 pounds
Sarah Davis, senior, Zephyrhills: third place; 185-160 — 345
Madison Aguillera, junior, Zephyrhills: fourth place; 135-185 — 320

169 pounds
Kayla Robbins, senior, Zephyrhills: second place (tie); 180-170 — 350

183 pounds
Lakisia Thomas, senior, Zephyrhills: first place; 190-185 — 375

199 pounds
Kyleigh Smith, senior, Zephyrhills: seventh place (tie); 160-145 — 305

Unlimited
Adorina Lee, senior, Bishop McLaughlin: seventh place (tie); 210-150 — 360
Diamond Cowart, junior, Zephyrhills, 15th place; 175-165 — 340

Published March 11, 2020

Sunlake girls weightlifting coach earns statewide honor

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In her decade-plus long tenure as the Sunlake High girls weightlifting coach, Denise Garcia has racked up her fair share of achievements.

Some of the biggest came this year alone.

Back in February, Garcia guided the Seahawks to the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) Class 2A state championship — marking the program’s first-ever team weightlifting title.

Sunlake High girls weightlifting head coach Denise Garcia hoists the Class 2A state championship trophy at the 2019 Florida High School Athletic Association state meet in Panama City. Garcia has coached the school’s girls weightlifting program for 11 years. (Courtesy of Denise Garcia)

The veteran coach groomed eight lifters who competed in this year’s state meet. Six earned state medalist honors by placing among the top six individual finishes. The awards came across various weight classifications.

All told, the Seahawks registered 22 points collectively to defeat second-place Vero Beach High, which finished with 19 points.

Sunlake’s title also marked the end of the sport’s longest active streak of consecutive team state championships, which had been held by Navarre High School. Navarre had claimed four titles, from 2015 through 2018. This year, Navarre tied for seventh place.

Garcia’s efforts earned her the distinction of being named Florida Dairy Farmers Girls Weightlifting Coach of the Year. The award was announced last month.

Despite her program’s memorable 2019 campaign, Garcia remains taken aback by the designation as the state’s top girls weightlifting coach.

“As far as me getting this award, it’s a total surprise. It’s amazing, because there’s so many great coaches out there,” said Garcia, who wrapped up her 11th year as Sunlake girls weightlifting coach.

The recognition is always nice, of course.

But, for Garcia, it’s more important to see her high school lifters reach their potential and succeed in competition.

The coach put it this way: “All the awards you get, it all means a lot, (but) you don’t do it for getting an award, you do it for your team and to make them better. You do what you’re supposed to do for the team.”

Garcia praised her athletes — past and present — for being coachable and working hard along the way.

“I’ve just been blessed and I’m lucky enough to have girls with a good work ethic that want to learn, that want to buy into my program, and you see what happens,” Garcia said.

Under head coach Denise Garcia, the Sunlake varsity girls weightlifting team won its first-ever state crown. The Seahawks took eight lifters to the state meet, six of whom earned medalist honors on the way to the Florida High School Athletic Association’s Class 2A state title.

The coach outlined the recipe for success in the sport: “It’s a balance. It’s a balance of good work ethics, your program, being coachable. It’s just an everyday thing. They need to listen. It’s this formula they have to have. It’s got to be the whole, total package.”

Garcia said most of the girls she coaches initially begin with little background in weightlifting. Often, they discover a passion for the sport.

In Florida, high school weightlifters compete in the bench press and clean-and-jerk.

“It’s just teaching from the bottom up, and they absolutely fall in love with weightlifting,” Garcia said. “It’s something about weightlifting, and once they get hooked, that’s it.”

Garcia herself got her first taste of weightlifting as a student at Leto High School in Tampa. A softball and volleyball player, she learned “old-school” weight training techniques from the likes of FHSAA Hall of Fame coach and athletic director Vernon Korhn, and others.

“It’s just old-time coaches that would let me go in the weight room and work out, and I just fell in love with it,” she said.

Garcia figured she could take her knowledge of pumping iron and develop a program for girls when she was hired to work at Sunlake.

“I was like, ‘My god, I can do something with this program.’ I love weightlifting, so I put something together and there it is, it worked out,” said Garcia.

Garcia said she will be coaching the team again next year.

It’s frankly a no-brainer, with a roster that expects to return all but two of its individual state qualifiers from last year.

That includes rising junior Madison Guincho and rising seniors Gianna Levy, Juliette Pacheco, Abigail Schmook, Antoinette Farmer and Brianna Caban.

There’s also other up-and-coming lifters in the program, Garcia said, that could help Sunlake repeat as state champs.

“We have a lot of talent on this team,” the coach said.

And, besides the possibility of securing another state crown, Garcia hopes to witness one of her own lifters be named Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Weightlifting. Vero Beach senior Jayda Jenkins earned that honor this year after claiming the Class 2A individual state title at 119 pounds.

“That would be awesome. Oh my gosh, that would be awesome,” Garcia said.

The Florida Dairy Farmers High School Sports Awards program annually honors the state’s top athletes and coaches in all 30 FHSAA sanctioned and recognized sports. The program is in its 27th year.

Published May 22, 2019

Sunlake girls weightlifting celebrates state title

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The Sunlake High School varsity girls weightlifting team perennially has been among the more dominant programs in the area, wielding multiple conference and district titles over the years.

But, their latest feat places them on an entirely new level.

The Seahawks claimed the 2019 FHSAA (Florida High School Athletic Association) Class 2A girls weightlifting state championship, on Feb. 8 in Panama City Beach.

The Sunlake High School varsity girls weightlifting team claimed the Class 2A state championship earlier this month. They join competitive cheerleading as the Sunlake’s only boys or girls sports program to win a state title since the school opened in 2007. (Courtesy of Sunlake High girls weightlifting)

The Seahawks tallied 22 points as a team, besting the second-place finisher, Vero Beach High School (19 points) by 3 points.

The title marked the end of the sport’s longest active streak of consecutive team championships held by Navarre High School — four titles won between 2015 through 2018 — who tied for seventh place with 11 points.

It also marks Sunlake’s second state championship among all boys or girls sports; the school’s competitive cheerleading won a state title back in 2014.

Sunlake’s girls weightlifting program has endured solid finishes in previous years in the state meet — including an eighth-place tie in 2018.

This year’s group, however, featured more than a handful of top-flight performances across multiple weight classes.

Six of Sunlake’s eight state lifters earned points with top-six finishes in the bench press and clean-and-jerk aggregate lifts:

  • Madison Guincho, sophomore—fourth place, 119-pound (170-155—325)
  • Loah Castro, senior—third place, 129-pound (165-160—325)
  • Gianna Levy, junior—fifth place, 139-pound (170-170—340)
  • Juliette Pacheco, junior—second place, 154-pound (205-170—375)
  • Abigail Schmook, junior—fourth place, 183-pound (170-170—340)
  • Antoinette Farmer, junior—second place, 199-pound (195-170—365)

Sunlake’s other two individual state qualifiers, senior Valerie Busot (129-pound) and junior Brianna Caban (169-pound) tied for seventh and ninth place, in their respective weight classes.

Hoisting the state championship trophy still leaves longtime Sunlake head coach Denise Garcia speechless at times.

“I’m overwhelmed,” said Garcia, who’s in her 11th season coaching. “I’m so happy. I sit there sometimes and am like, ‘Holy crap, we just did that with six girls. That’s amazing.’”

Absent of any individual state champions this year, Garcia noted the team’s strategy was to “nickel and dime” its way to the 2A crown.

And that they did.

“It’s about placing. If you have enough girls where you can accumulate points, then you’re going to win. And, we won by three,” Garcia explained.

Entering the 2018-2019 season, the coach had an inkling she had a special group on her hands.

Garcia saw the team had the drive, attitude and work ethic required to contend for a state title, alongside natural ability, and mastering the sport’s techniques and fundamentals.

“They wanted it so bad,” Garcia said. “The key is being coachable and accepting everything I give them, and all of them did it. …I’ve always said we’re the hardest working team.”

The coach credited the leadership of the team’s two captains — senior Loah Castro and junior Antoinette Farmer.

Garcia noted both helped keep the team’s entire roster of 32 girls in check through encouragement and positivity.

“You’ve got to have leaders,” Garcia said. “The captains, I think, really made a difference. They help their teammates. It’s like having another coach there.”

Castro joined the weightlifting team her sophomore year.

While many of her high school peers opted for traditional sports like softball or volleyball, she wanted to try something different.

Said Castro: “When I first started I didn’t go in thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going to win a state title.’ I genuinely wanted to try it because I had never really done a sport before, so I was like, ‘Maybe this is something I could be good at.’”

She surely did — placing at states her junior and senior years.

“It was a lot of hard work,” Castro said. “It’s really a mindset type of thing. Like, this whole sport is a mind game.”

Castro first noticed the team’s potential for a state title at the end of last year’s state meet, realizing there’d be many returning lifters poised to make improvements.

Then, by the time this year’s Sunshine Athletic Conference meet came around — which Sunlake also won — Castro was convinced the team had enough to become state’s top 2A program.

Castro put it like this: “I was like, ‘There’s no way we’re not winning states. We’re going to work way too hard and everything, and, there’s no way we’re not taking the title.’”

Just like her coach, Castro is in awe being able to say she’s a member of a state championship program.

“It’s so surreal, especially because it’s my senior year,” Castro said. “I call us the dream team.”

Weightlifting was a relatively new venture for the team’s other captain, too.

Farmer’s sights were originally set on playing basketball in high school.

However, she was encouraged to give lifting a try by Sunlake graduate and family friend Brianna Anderson, who won the 183-pound state weightlifting title as a senior year back in 2016.

Farmer was hooked almost instantly when she tried out as a freshman.

“I didn’t even know that you could do that,” Farmer said of weightlifting. “After my first summer conditioning with coach, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I love this.’”

Farmer’s performance this season is arguably the most splendid, among her other teammates who placed at states.

That’s because she had surgery on a torn meniscus back in late September, right before the season started.

She methodically worked her way back to full health, to finish state runner-up in the 199-pound division, and set a county record for her weight class with a 180-pound clean.

Farmer remains unsatisfied, though.

The junior is gunning for an individual state title next year — motivated to unseat Niceville High sophomore Melaina Bryant, who edged her by 15 pounds in the bench and 10 pounds in the clean, respectively.

“I’m just a stepping-stone away from that first place,” Farmer said. “I want it.”

Her coach has little doubt it will happen

“She’s going to win next year,” Garcia said, confidently. “She’s closing the gap.”

Sunlake’s Juliette Pacheco is yet another that has a shot to claim an individual title next year. The junior finished state runner-up in the 154-pound division, just five pounds shy of top finisher, Oakleaf High senior Lexi Perez.

“They’re going to both be No. 1,” Garcia proudly said, of Farmer and Pacheco.

In the meantime, Sunlake’s prospect for winning another state crown next year also seems well within grasp.

The Seahawks expect to return every lifter that placed at states, aside from the graduating Castro; several others are projected to step up as well, Garcia said.

“Every year we get better and better,” the coach said. “Next year, it’s going to be even more.”

State results from area weightlifters and teams

Class 2A
Team results
Sunlake High—First place (22 points)
Land O’ Lakes High—10th place (tie) (seven points)
Wiregrass Ranch High—No placing (0 points)

119 pounds
Madison Guincho, sophomore, Sunlake: fourth place; 170-155—325

129 pounds
Loah Castro, senior, Sunlake: third place; 165-160—325
Valerie Busot, senior, Sunlake: seventh place (tie); 155-160—315
Gianina Rios, junior, Wiregrass Ranch: 17th place; 170-0—170

139 pounds
Gianna Levy, junior, Sunlake: fifth place; 170-170—340

154 pounds
Juliette Pacheco, junior, Sunlake: second place; 205-170—375

169 pounds
Veronica Salazar, senior, Land O’ Lakes: first place; 200-185—385
Alyssa Kremer, junior, Land O’ Lakes: seventh place; 200-160—360
Brianna Caban, junior, Sunlake: ninth place (tie); 180-170—350

183 pounds
Abigail Schmook, junior, Sunlake: fourth place; 170-170—340

199 pounds
Antionette Farmer, junior, Sunlake: second place; 195-170—365

Class 1A finals
Team results
Pasco High—14th place (tie) (five points)
Zephyrhills High—14th place (tie) (five points)
Wesley Chapel—No placing (zero points)

Bench press-clean-and-jerk—Total (in pounds)
101 pounds
Prestine Carter, senior, Pasco: second place; 115-135—250

139 pounds
Sarah Davis, junior, Zephyrhills: sixth place; 160-150—310

154 pounds
Kayla Robbins, junior, Zephyrhills: eighth place; 160-150—310

169 pounds
Lakisia Thomas, junior, Zephyrhills: sixth place; 160-165—325
Dinah Harden, senior, Wesley Chapel: 13th place; 145-145—290

199 pound
Cynthia Wilkes, senior, Zephyrhills: 14th place; 155-145—300

Unlimited
Abby Shaffer, senior, Zephyrhills: fourth place; 230-220—450

Published February 20, 2019

Sunlake girls weightlifting well-represented on SAC awards

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The dominance of the Sunlake girls weightlifting program remained apparent at the annual Sunshine Athletic Conference (East) Awards.

The Sunlake girls weightlifting team was well-represented in the SAC East Awards. Denise Garcia won SAC East Coach of the Year honors, and 10 lifters were selected to the SAC East All-Conference teams.
(Courtesy of Denise Garcia)

Seahawks coach Denise Garcia won her second consecutive SAC East Girls’ Weightlifting Coach of the Year Award, and 10 of her lifters were named to the 2016-2017 SAC East All-Conference team, announced on March 6.

A mix of youth and experience, Sunlake won all of their Eastside Conference meets, placed second at the Class 2A Regionals and had three top-10 finishers at the state finals.

The season also saw a few milestones for the girls’ program, including its first 400-pound lifter.

Senior Micaiah Long set that mark at the 2017 Class 2A state meet, with a 215-pound bench press and a 185-pound clean-and-jerk, placing third in the unlimited division.

The previous school record was a 385-pound total, set in the 2015-2016 season by Brianna Anderson, who won a state title in the 183-pound division.

Senior Micaiah Long became Sunlake’s first 400-pound lifter during the Class 2A state meet. The mark was good enough to place third in the unlimited division.

Long, a first-year lifter in the Sunlake program, added a combined 65 pounds to her lifts since the first meet of the season.

Her strategy? More lifting.

“I just worked hard,” Long said. “I went in and worked out more, got extra reps in.”

“She started at 335 (pounds), and she improved with her work ethic,” Garcia said. “She put so much into it. She had the passion to do it, she had a goal she set for herself, and she was going to do it.”

Garcia, too, credits Long for being coachable throughout the season.

“She listens and takes everything I tell her,” the coach said. “She’s like a sponge.”

In the meantime, Long won’t soon forget the weightlifting experience.

“It was exciting. I accomplished my goals,” said Long, who’s also on the Sunlake track and field team.

“I was shy, and I think it brought my personality out.”

The 400-pound feat wasn’t the only Sunlake record shattered during the season, however.

Denise Garcia, right, won her second consecutive SAC East Girls’ Weightlifting Coach of the Year award. Senior Micaiah Long was selected First-Team All-Conference.
(Kevin Weiss)

In the 101-pound class, senior Shelby Lewis set a school and conference record with a 130-pound clean-and-jerk; she later finished ninth in the state meet.

Without Lewis and Long, Garcia’s 10th season could prove more challenging, as the Seahawks also lose two other state qualifiers in seniors Hailey Parks (sixth place in 183-pound division) and Caroline Winstead (19th in 139-pound division.)

For Garcia, it’s no matter.

With five non-seniors representing Sunlake on the All-Conference list, the Seahawks coach isn’t concerned about a possible rebuilding-type year for the 2017-2018 season.

Instead, she relishes the task.

“I coach who’s in front of me,” Garcia said. “My job is to give them the confidence, to show them the skills, and then we go from there.”

“I have confidence in my girls,” she added.

One lifter to watch out for next season, Garcia said, is freshman Antoinette Farmer.

Competing in the 183-pound division, Farmer increased her lifting totals from 195 pounds to 285 pounds over the course of the season.

Garcia heaped high praise on Farmer, noting she could one day surpass Brianna Anderson’s totals.

“She’s hungry,” Garcia said. “To have somebody like that—the whole package—it’s rare to find that.”

2016-2017 SAC East All-Conference Girls’ Weightlifting
Coach of the Year: Denise Garcia, Sunlake High
Athlete of the Year: Jessica Guadarrama, Zephyrhills High, junior

First-Team All-Conference
101-pound: Shelby Lewis, Sunlake High, senior
110-pound: Savannah Sutton, Zephyrhills High, sophomore
119-pound: Lizbeth Estrada, Zephyrhills High, senior
129-pound: Loah Castro, Sunlake High, sophomore
139-pound: Caroline Winstead, Sunlake High, sophomore
154-pound: Tricia Clifton, Wiregrass Ranch High, senior
169-pound: Alysa Kremer, Land O’ Lakes High, freshman
183-pound: Jessica Guadarrama, Zephyrhills High, junior
199-pound: Yarixa Casasnovas, Sunlake High, junior
Unlimited: Micaiah Long, Sunlake High, senior

Second-Team All-Conference
101-pound: Sara First, Zephyrhills High, senior
110-pound: Maria Espinal, Sunlake High, sophomore
119-pound: Caitlyn Elling, Pasco High, sophomore
129-pound: Mariah Melendez, Sunlake High, sophomore
139-pound: Isabella Garcia, Sunlake High, freshman
154-pound: Katelyn Ortiz, Sunlake High, senior
169-pound: Veronica Salazar, Land O’ Lakes High, sophomore
183-pound: Hailey Parks, Sunlake High, senior
199-pound: Tatyana Cole, Zephyrhills High, junior
Unlimited: Abby Shaffer, Zephyrhills High School, sophomore
Honorable Mention: Abigail Monticco, Wesley Chapel, junior

Published March 15, 2017