On Thursday, March 10, Tiger Powerlifting traveled to Whitehouse High School and competed in the Region 3 Division 1 Powerlifting meet.

Junior Micah Shepherd (2nd year) was the lone Tiger to medal on the night and his medal also brought him a berth in the State meet! Shepherd started the night in 2nd place in the 242 class, but would end the night in 1st place, while also lifting a state qualifying total of 1530 lbs. Shepherd PR’d in squat (615 lbs) as well as bench (410 lbs). He is the first Tiger lifter to reach the state meet since 2017 graduate Andrew Turner.

In the 132 class, Senior David Chavez (3rd year) put up an amazing fight all night long. Setting new personal records in bench and dead lift, Chavez set a new season total as well as a new career total by finishing the night lifting 890 lbs! Tied with another lifter, the tie-breaker was determined by lifter weight, and Chavez missed out on a 5th place medal by 2/10 of a lb. Chavez has had an incredible season and a great career with the Tigers.

In the 242 class, the Tigers had two of the other qualifiers:

Sophomore Clayton Miller (2nd year) PR’d in squats and deadlift, and set a personal season record as well as a career record by lifting 1290 lbs! Miller finished 7th in the region, but as a sophomore, look for this young man to continue to improve and make some noise next season.

Senior Astin Ledbetter (4th year) saw his career come to a close with a less than stellar performance in his eyes. His total would only reach 1245 lbs for the night, 3rd best on his season, but he remarkably gained a PR on bench, and all of this after coming back from being sick. Although Ledbetter did not reach his goal of medaling at the regional meet, his work ethic and determination will help him to continue to grow and be successful as he prepares himself to graduate.

The Boys State meet will be held in Abilene this week on March 25-26.