Topic: News: Strong Palatka HS Presence At National Juniors/PAQs

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

Strong Palatka HS Presence At National Juniors/PAQs
By Andy Hall

Only two days removed from a 1-2 finish in their weight class at the Putnam County Meet, two Palatka High weightlifters are headed to the Orlando area to lift on a much bigger stage along with one of the more accomplished competitors in the Panthers’ proud weightlifting history.

Junior Jonathan Garcia and sophomore Nick Albert are in the USA Weightlifting Junior National Championships at the Altamonte Springs Hilton, where 1993 PHS grad Shelton Gilyard seeks a spot on the U.S. team for the Pan-American Games. Another ex-Panther, Sean Hutchinson, was to lift in the Junior Nationals but had to withdraw because of a broken hand, Gilyard said.

All are lightweights, competing in the 56-kilogram (123-pound weight class). Gilyard originally expected Albert to lift in the 62-kilo class, but told that Albert lifted along with Garcia in the 119-pound class Wednesday at Interlachen, Gilyard said “he’s probably going 56 then.”

A two-time state champion for the Panthers — whose records have since been broken by Garcia — Gilyard, 31, has won at least eight U.S. Weightlifting Federation national championships since high school and set national records in the snatch and total lift at the 2003 USWF American Open in Atlanta.

Competing in the Pan-Am Games would be a first for Gilyard, however, and to make the U.S. team, he must place among the top eight out of 18 lifters in a variety of weight classes. The places are determined by a formula based on Olympic qualifying standards. Gilyard must total at least 216 kilos (475 pounds) between the snatch and clean and jerk to have a shot — not unrealistic, inasmuch as he totaled 220.5 kilos in Atlanta in 2003.

“Most guys are in the heavyweight and light heavyweight classes,” said Gilyard, a Tampa resident who works in the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities at the University of South Florida.

As much as he looks forward to a chance to lift in the Pan-Am Games, Gilyard is intrigued by the opportunity facing Garcia and Albert. Among their biggest challenges this weekend is executing the snatch — lifting the weight over one’s head in a single swift motion — in place of the bench press, a standard lift in high school competition.

“They’ll be competing against some of the best junior athletes in the country (and) the snatch is a challenging lift,” Gilyard said. “It was difficult for me when I started doing it and I was already 19 when I started.

“That’s why I wanted to connect with these guys now. There are weightlifting scholarships out there now, things that weren’t available in the past.”

Garcia totaled 480 pounds — 255 on the bench, 225 on the clean — while winning the 119-pound class at Wednesday’s county meet. No one better that total until the 154-pound class. Albert was second in the 119 class, 100 pounds behind Garcia but 55 ahead of the third-place finisher.