Topic: News: Roberts and Garcia Earn Coach and Lifter Awards

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Roberts, Garcia Earn Coach and Lifter Awards from Florida Dairy Farmers
By Mark Blumenthal

Gordon Roberts admitted that in previous years, he walked into the state weightlifting championships with more competitors than he did on April 20 in Daytona Beach with his Palatka High quintet.

“The year we won the state title in Crescent City (1995), I had 10 lifters,” Roberts said. “We scored 35 points and amazingly, all 10 of our lifters scored at least one point that day. If one our Palatka kids had bombed and didn’t have a good day, it could have been trouble. But four of our kids scored and two of them won state titles.

“Historically for the sport over the years, if you get 20-plus points, you have a good shot at winning a state title.”

And that’s what Roberts and the Panthers did, bringing Palatka High’s eighth state boys weightlifting title home with 22 points in the 2A championship.

On Friday, Roberts and two-time Palatka High state weightlifting champion Jonathan Garcia were the recipients of the Florida Dairy Farmers’ Boys Weighlifting Coach and Lifter of the Year, respectively.

“It’s great to win this honor,” said Roberts, the longtime Crescent City Junior-Senior High boys weightlifting and football coach who finished his second season as the Panthers’ mentor. “Anytime you win the state in something, especially weightlifting in a competitive state of Florida, you’ve done something.”

Leading the charge to the Panthers’ championship was Garcia, who moved up to the 129-pound weight class despite weighing in for meets far less than the 129-pound requirement. A state champion at 119 last year, the Panther senior won at 129 pounds with a combined lift of 560 pounds, winning the state title by 90 pounds over his nearest competitor.

Garcia is a member of the U.S.A. Weighlifting Junior National squad.

Also winning the state title was 119-pounder Nick Albert. Chris Luther took second at 199 pounds and Seth Atkinson was fourth at 238 pounds.

“I thought we had a legitimate shot to win a state title,” Roberts said. “We had a state champion back in Jonathan and a kid who has competed at a pretty high level like Nick had. Chris had a legitimate shot at getting a medal and he did and Seth did well in placing fourth. When the (Port Orange) Spruce Creek coach (the team tied for second) pulls you over and congratulates you, I knew it was a done deal for us."