This year’s powerlifting season is a little different from the previous seasons because the team’s season was put on hold at the end of last year. Due to COVID-19, the 2019-2020 state meet was canceled and powerlifters Aaliyah Terrazas, Khali Key, Arci Lopez were left in hopes to finish out the season once everything slowed down. With COVID-19 still around and numbers rising around the winter season, the powerlifting team is taking all of the necessary precautions such as wearing masks, social distancing, and wiping down the weights after every use to ensure that they will have a full season this year.

“With the state meet being canceled last year, I feel like my work here is unfinished,” Terrazas said. “Since it is my last year as a powerlifter, I hope to do great things and put in the work to advance to state again. I am excited for the season and I hope COVID-19 does not ruin it like it did last year.”

With a strong group of fresh-
men trying out new things in high school, many of them have been
encouraged to join powerlifting.

“A few weeks ago I had a senior powerlifter Khali Key come up to me and encourage me to join powerlifting. She said I had the body for it and that she believed that I could be very successful if I just put in the work,” freshmen Alanna Monreal said. “It has been such a great opportunity to join powerlifting considering it was not a sport offered to us in middle school. I did not know that athletics was such a big thing here in high school. Once Arabians win ‘Devine Creek’ I got here and joined basketball and powerlifting I knew it would make high school much more memorable.”

Returning powerlifters are beginning after school practice and slowly getting back into the swing of things to prepare for their upcoming season. In hopes to have a season, each lifter works their hardest to get mentally and physically stronger. By setting a few goals prior to the first meet, it helps the lifters focus on where they want to be by the end of the season.

“I hope to lift a lot more than I did last year. I have been working this past summer to become stronger and better at the lifts I compete in,” junior Cecilia Martinez said. “My goal is to get three plates on deadlift