WEST NASSAU —The smallest athlete on the team, the third smallest athlete in the building and the one athlete that only joined the team her senior year will be getting a ticket to the FHSAA Girls Weightlifting State Championships on Feb. 14 in Lakeland.

"I just like to work out and was kind of thinking about joining the wrestling team," said Keystone Heights 101 region Traditional champion Kylie Scott, a senior. "This is only my second year at the school and I really wasn't interested in doing sports. I just like working out, so I decided to join the weightlifting team."

On the upper end of the weight classes, Keystone Heights state qualifier Chloe Still earned her region title in Traditional at 139 with a 30-pound gap (310-280) over Union County's Alexia Cyr. Still also finished fourth in Olympics.
For Keystone Heights coach Todd Gillenwaters, an expected repeat run for a region team title in both disciplines to add to their district double—Olympics and Traditional—was in the books until disaster struck in the Olympic Snatch with state qualifier Ashlyn Brown missing her three lifts at 169.

Despite the setback, Keystone Heights was able to finish second by seven points behind University Christian, 37-30.

"It's just one of those things that happens in championship meets," Gillenwaters said. "I told her to forget it and do what a champion does. And she did."

Keystone Heights, with Brown back in the arena, dominated the Traditional scoring with a 49-29 win over West Nassau, who impressed with their effort by just seven lifters. Brown would regroup and circle back to finish second in Traditional for key team points for her team.

"I was just not locked in and failed on all three," said Brown, after getting her second-place ribbon in Traditional. "I knew I had to do what's best for the team and that was to move on and go after the Traditional score."

For Scott, her win for the region 3-1A Traditional title came off a tiebreaker with Andrew Jackson's Danielle Hagans as both totaled 185 pounds for their combined weight on Clean and Jerk and Bench Press. Hagans had a 15 pound edge on Scott after the Clean and Jerk (95-80) to set up a bench press finish. Scott dominated the field in the bench press with a 105 third lift that was the only bench press over 100 pounds.

"I had to learn the clean and jerk and Olympic Snatch this season, but the bench press I do all the time when I work out," Scott said.

Scott's 105 finish was 15 pounds up on Hagans' 90 to set up the body weight tiebreaker with the diminutive Scott in at 96.80 pounds and Hagans in at 97.80 pounds.

"I had her in a weightlifting class of mine and she kept talking about the wrestling," said Gillenwaters, who is in his fifth season. "I just kept asking her to try it out and she eventually did."

In the Olympics scoring, Olympic Snatch and Clean and Jerk, Hagans finished first at 170 with Keystone Heights London Williams second at 155 and Scott fourth at 135.
Also in the region 3-1A championship was St. Johns Country Day School girls weightlifting coach Rodney Keller of Clay High state title fame, who was on the floor with his four lifters: Sarah Mejias (110), Xiaoxing Troxell (119), Emery Schneider (139) and Addison Kipnis (154). Kipnis would earn a sixth place ribbon in Traditional.

"This is like our state meet," said Keller, no stranger to state titles. "We are getting more and more interest in the school and, for me, the test is to, first, get kids in the room; second, make one of the toughest sports for girls fun; and third, test the things that I have had success with and see if it really works. I had a good thing going at Clay year after year and this process of starting at ground zero will let me know if I was really a good coach."

For Keystone Heights, Alyssa Sanford, at 119, got third in Traditional and Olympics; Kaylee Park, at 129, got a second in Olympics and Traditional with Natalie Layfield not far off the pace with a fourth in Traditional and Olympics; Tatum Hall and Makenzi Brinson, both at 154, were fourth and sixth, respectively, in Olympics, and third and fourth in Traditional; Morgan Wilson, at 169, was fourth in Traditional and sixth in Olympics; and, finally, at unlimited, Ava Herman was second in Traditional and fifth in Olympics.

Park's two second-place finish comes less than a week after she scored the overtime game winner for the Keystone Heights High girls soccer team for a 3-2 district title over Interlachen on Monday. Park and a few of the weightlifters opened their region playoffs on Monday, Feb. 2 against top seed South Walton at Keystone Heights High.