Place in States & Nationals, want to go to Worlds
A couple of weeks ago, the Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery Central School District posted a shout out to a handful of O’Neill High School students who had just been named as state and national champions in powerlifting.
Not too many knew O’Neill had a power lifting sport; in fact, it’s a club sport that doesn’t fall under the Athletic Department. It’s led by Dr. Jill Neziri, an English teacher at the high school.
The students in the club like to call themselves the “JIO Wrecking Crew”… yet, when several of them appeared before the Board of Education last week they were anything but what that nickname implies.
Five of the team members — Brennan Pearson, Isabella Smith, Kathryn Laird, Alijah Rubang and John Novoselich — were on hand to ask the board for some help in funding a November trip to Virginia Beach. They want to go to the 2022 World Championships — in Powerlifting, Bench Press, Deadlift, Push/Pull and Strict Curl — as sponsored by the 100% Raw Powerlifting Federation.
Neziri, who was at the meeting virtually, explained that the word ‘Raw’ means that the sport is completely drug free — participants can use no strength-inducing chemicals (anabolic steroids, growth hormones, etc.).
“This keeps the integrity in the sport,” Neziri said.
She told the board about how the team was created at the high school in February 2020, just before the school shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But even though they could not work out together for almost exactly a year, they did virtual and socially distanced workouts together.
They recently attended state and national competitions, raising their own funds via car washes, working concession stands and selling things like candy. The students meet in the school’s weight room at 6 a.m. four days a week with Neziri.
“We have had great success competing,” she said.
At the meeting she asked them to talk about what the club has meant to them.
Most spoke about the confidence the sport has instilled in them, with Novoselich saying that it has helped him do well in his other sports.
Smith spoke about her “great teammates”, and Rubang said that his workouts with his team have helped him manage his stress during and after the pandemic.
Pearson made the plea for some funding help for the worlds, saying “it would mean so much to us … it’s an opportunity of a lifetime”. He said the team “has affected every aspect of my life”.
“I’m stronger, I’m more confident,” he said. “This has been a blessing to me.”
The trip will cost money for a bus, hotel rooms and tournament entry fees, but the students are very willing to fund raise (maybe even a push up contest!) as they have in the past. They just don’t think they can raise all the money needed by November (for instance, a planned car wash had to be cancelled due to the current drought).
The board members talked through several options with them, and said they’d do some research themselves and vote on the matter at their September 1 meeting.
It was noted that if community members wish to make donations toward the trip or program, they can do so via the school district’s business office (845-446-4738).
Back to those champions that were mentioned on the school website. They were:
– Kathryn Laird: 1st place, National Champion in the 132 16-17 Division, NY State Record for the Squat
– Alysia Peters: 1st Place, National Champion in the 148 18-19 Division
– Emily Faint: 2nd Place in the 148 18-19 Division
– Isabella Smith: 1st Place in the 165 16-17 Division, 4 NY State Records (Squat, Bench, Deadlift and Powerlifting Total)
– Tykhon Rudenok: 1st Place, National Champion in the 181 18-19 Division, State Record for Strict Curl
– Brennan Pearson: 1st Place, National Champion in the 220 16-17 Division
– Alijah Rubang: 2nd Place, 132 16-17 Division, State Record in the Strict Curl
