Topic: News & Video: Cannon Falls Teen Lifting Big Success

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Cannon Falls Teen Lifting Big Success

Cannon Falls, Minn. Cannon Falls, Minn. has experienced a surprisingly strong showing in high school sports this year. In the case of Alecia Emory, strong is the key word.

The sophomore at Cannon Falls High School began training in Olympic-style weightlifting three years ago. Now she holds Minnesota school age records in two Olympic lifts, the snatch and the clean and jerk, at 165 lbs.

“I just know I can just do so much more. My coaches have been telling me, ‘you have so much power’,” Emory said. “I went to state and this year, I was just like breaking records. It was just so cool.”

Weightlifting coach Scott Safe has been in Cannon Falls for 20 years and now has a daughter who also competes. Safe said he and other coaches work with students as young as 5th grade – and girls are into the sport as much as the guys.

“We have a history here of kids taking weightlifting and doing something with it, and Alecia’s definitely heading in that direction,” Safe said.

Cannon Falls has become a Mecca of sorts for weightlifting in Minnesota. In addition to Alecia, two other individual state champions in weightlifting have won state titles.

“We had seven (female) athletes that competed on a regular basis. That’s phenomenal,” said Todd Ulrich, another weightlifting coach at the school.

Emory isn’t the only athlete experiencing success at Cannon Falls – its dance team and girls basketball team also won state titles this year.

Emory is now ready to make her mark on a national scene. She said she feels she has the support, the desire, and gaining the experience.

“I'm just gonna keep going with it and see where it takes me. Maybe even the Olympics someday … “ she said.

Emory will get a shot this June at a national competition in Detroit.