Thirteen individual Lady Tiger Powerlifters arrived at the Regional meet with a singular goal of making it to State. On the way, they would set multiple records, the first being a school record of five advancing to the State Meet.

Qualifying for the Texas High School Women’s Powerlifting Association State meet are:

Senior and 2022 5A State Champion Nayeli Jaimes. In her weight class, Jaimes broke the record for bench (285 lbs.), deadlift (385 lbs.), and overall total (1105 lbs.) to claim the Regional Championship. She is currently ranked #1 in all divisions and will be making her fourth trip to the state meet.

Senior and 2022 State Finalist Alexandra Martinez. In her weight class, Martinez broke the bench record (210 lbs.) and placed 2nd in her weight class. This will be her second trip to the state meet.

Junior McKinsee Oviedo who qualified for state by reaching the automatic qualifying total. Oviedo placed 4th in her weight class at Regionals and will be making her first trip to the state meet.

Junior Araceli Landaverde who placed 2nd in her weight class. This will be her first trip to State.

Sophomore Jasmine Landaverde who placed 2nd in her weight class. This will be Landaverde’s first trip to State and will be extra special as she is making the trip with her sister, Araceli.

Four other Lady Tigers placed in the top 10 in their weight classes including junior Saniya Milton in 6th place, just 10 pounds away from qualifying for state, sophomores Karen Hernandez and Xitlaly Sanchez, each placing 9th in their respective weight classes, and senior Jenna Cook in 10th place. Senior Audrie Mendoza placed 12th, juniors Zoe Zittel and Jordan West were both 13th, and sophomore Dori Macedo placed 11th.

“In all my years coaching powerlifting, I have never had a group of young ladies work as hard as my team this year,” said Lady Tiger Powerlifting Coach, Don Woods. “Not to say my past teams didn’t work hard, but as a whole, this team has been extraordinarily special. They have shown up to practice without fail and striven to hone their craft to be the best at what they do. I am so proud to be able to say I get to coach these tremendous young ladies.”

The Girls Powerlifting State Meet is March 15-18 at the Comerica Center in Frisco. MPHS Powerlifting is coached by Woods and Drew Barnard.

Photo L to R

MPHS Lady Tiger Powerlifting State qualifiers (L to R) Alexandra Martinez, Araceli Landaverde, Nayeli Jaimes, Jasmine Landaverde, McKinsee Oviedo