Topic: News:Sam Kaufman&Gena Jasinski Excel@Schoolage Nationals

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Sam Kaufman and Gena Jasinski Excel at National Schoolage Championships
By Rob Shore

Summer is usually a time for vacations, where young women see the sights, go shopping -- or in the case of Sam Kaufman or Geena Jasinski, pump some iron.

Kaufman and Jasinksi -- both weightlifters at Port Charlotte High School -- competed last month at the School Age Nationals meet in Detroit and came away with top-six finishes.

Kaufman took fourth in the 152-pound weight class of the 16-17 division, achieving a personal-best clean-and-jerk with a lift of 53 kilograms.

"I wasn't expecting to do as good as I did," Kaufman said. "I was expecting to get last or close to it."

Jasinski took sixth in the 169-pound class of the 16-17 division, beating her best clean-and-jerk with a lift of 78 kilograms. She also fared well in the snatch event, hoisting 48 kilograms.

"It's pretty much what I thought I would do," said Jasinski, a senior-to-be. "It was a PR (personal record) -- I had no idea what to expect going into nationals."

The national meet was a culmination of sorts to the weightlifting season, which had continued after the scholastic season at Port Charlotte had ended. The duo had competed at the Sunshine State Games the week before nationals and a meet in Altamont Springs before that.

But nationals is a different breed of cat -- especially with 100 people watching while you lift.

"There wasn't a spotlight," Jasinski said. "But there could have been."

Kaufman felt the same pressure.

"It was a little nervewracking," she said. "You go to so many meets, you kind of get used to it, but you know everybody is looking at you."

Equally as intimidating was the competition, as Jasinksi, a Sun all-area selection and third at state last year, found out.

"Some of them were pretty scary," Jasinski admitted. "I'm not going to lie, they were intimidating."

But in the end, it was a kind of vacation after all, as the girls took in the sights, such as the Ford Museum, while staying with Kaufman's uncle and family. The junior-to-be's exploits pumping iron even impressed her little cousins.

"He's at an age where he doesn't like girls," she said. "So he was surprised to watch girls lifting weights. He saw how much they do -- now he wants to lift weights, too."