Bolstered by continued growth, the Cardinals powerlifting team is looking to add new state banners by trusting the process and holding each other accountable.
As the team continues to grow, early morning training has expanded into the hallway outside the weight room so everyone can participate. After starting with around 15 lifters, the team now boasts a roster of 60 and sent 22 people to state last season.
“We have a really big group this year,” senior Reese Pattison said. “It’s the biggest we’ve had by far and there’s a lot of new faces and a lot of good kids in there. It should be fun.”
Those new faces are helping encourage the team to keep improving, no matter their beginning level.
“It’s so exciting to see all these new lifters here, because a lot of these people I’ve known for a while and I’ve been encouraging them to join this program,” junior Ethan Winton said. “Everybody that’s here is trying to get better, and it’s just, I love, like, the family aspect of that.”
After last year’s graduating class saw the departure of those who helped start the program, head coach Scott Russell said he’s seen a new group of leaders step up and carry the program forward.
“The boys program, as well as the girls, want to continue to hang banners,” Russell said. “So, you continue to try to build on traditions. But the current group’s great. They’ve bought in early to what we do. They’ve seen the results of being consistent in the training and the program.”
That team environment helps everyone lift more by helping hold everyone accountable. Winton said it is much easier to get up early to workout with a team supporting you than by yourself.
“The fact that we have a team here encouraging us, the loud music, the very encouraging atmosphere, that totally, I think, helps,” Winton said. “It’s an individual thing that you’re doing, but it’s a team sport.”
Pattison agreed continuing to bond as a team and pushing each other will be key as the season gets underway.
“I can hold myself and other people accountable because we all want to get better,” Pattison said.
Reach reporter Cuyler Dunn at [email protected]
