Palatka Junior-Senior High girls weightlifting team picked up where they left off last season with a dominating 65-25 traditional win Thursday over host Keystone Heights.
In a rare outdoor meet held next door to the gymnasium, the outside conditions were no match for the Panthers lifters.
“It was kind of hot to me,” Palatka coach Katelynn Smith said about the outdoor conditions. “But my girls are used to it since the air conditioner goes off at 4 p.m. everyday. If it was colder, it would have been harder to adjust to.”
Despite missing a handful of starters, the Panthers were still able to dominate the meet.
Ymira Passmore (101-pound weight class), Avre’Yana Rodgers (110), Al’Lyssa Ford (169) and Chloe Dasher (199) were the big winners sweeping titles in both traditional and Olympic competitions.
Passmore, who competed in the Region 1-2A cross country meet in Lake City in the morning, won both the Olympic snatch with a 185-pound total and the traditional class with a 215 total. Rodgers claimed titles with a 155 snatch and a 170 total in tradition, Ford lifted 240 in snatch and 275 in tradition, while Dasher finished with a 215 snatch and 265 total in tradition.
Other winners were 119-pounder Skylar Hall with a 215 lift total, 129-pounder Emma Hansford with a 205 total, Mar’Kia Purifoy at 154 with 260 total, Hallie Duncan at 183 pounds with 230 total and J’La Roberts at the unlimited division with a 280 total.
Finishing second were 101-pounder Kenna Cone with a 155 total, 110-pounder Kyndal Lewis with 165, Emma Knighten at 129 pounds with 200, Abigail Lambert at 139 with 220, Autumn Blount at 199 with 245 total and Summer Sullivan at unlimited with 255 total.
Keystone Heights edged Palatka 47-38 in the Olympic competition. Besides Passmore, Rodgers, Ford and Dasher, other winners were Abigail Huerta at 139 pounds with 175 and Brianna Griffin in unlimited with 220 total.
Haleigh Faulkner (169) placed third with a 145, Purifoy finished third in 154 with a 205, Duncan was second in 183 with 205 total, Perla Lopez-Martinez finished third in 183 with a 175, Blount placed second in 199 with a 210 and Sullivan finished third in unlimited with a 190.
Palatka (2-0) will host the Feast Mode Invitational at 4:30 p.m. Friday at the Commons, where the Panthers will compete against Crescent City, Keystone Heights, Jacksonville University Christian, Jacksonville Andrew Jackson, Pierson Taylor and Jacksonville Episcopal.
- A more experienced and polished Pierson Taylor High team easily handled a young and inexperienced Interlachen Junior-Senior High club, 45-19, in a traditional meet Thursday in Interlachen.
The Wildcats swept all 10 classes and went one-two in four of the classes.
Finishing second for the Rams were 101-pounder Rebecca Ellis with a 95-pound total, Brianna Webber and Jenee Wright finished second and third in 129, respectively, with 200 and 115 totals,139-pounder Dixie Degeyter finished with 150, Alaina Liuzzo (154 pounds) with 155, Mikayla Golden at 199 with 245, and Mya Creel at 183 with 200.
“Taylor is always good and their coaches and girls are really awesome,” first-year coach Katie Hess said about going up against the Wildcats.
The Rams (0-2) will travel to Gainesville Eastside at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday for their next meet.
Girls soccer
- Paislee Guessford scored off an assist by her sister, Madisynn, and Interlachen finished in a 1-1 tie at home against Gainesville Oak Hall in the opening game of the Rams' season.
Oak Hall scored with 12:25 left in the match to tie it up. Rams goalie Pagie McCollum stopped eight shots.
- Visiting St. Augustine scored with 18 seconds left in regulation time to score a 1-0 victory over Crescent City at Wisnoski Field at Wiltcher Stadium.
Goalie Alaina Vaillancourt stopped four shots for the 0-2 Raiders.
Boys soccer
- Two second-half goals broke a 1-0 lead open and host Jacksonville Wolfson scored a 3-1 victory over Crescent City.
Jaasiel Benitez scored late in the match to break the shutout attempt up for the 0-2 Raiders. Adam Gonzalez assisted on the goal. Josiah Washington (two goals allowed) had six saves, while backup goalie Eduardo Martinez (one goal) had two saves for Crescent City.
- Visiting Gainesville Oak Hall scored three second-half goals to open a 4-2 game up and score a 7-2 win over Interlachen, playing its first match of the year.
Fabio Ramos-Vega scored both goals for the Rams as Tyler Price assisted on both scores. Landon McCollum stopped 12 shots in the loss.
- Seven first-half goals set the tone and visiting St. Augustine defeated Palatka, 8-0.
Luis Ayala had no saves after allowing five goals. Backup Jack Wilkinson stopped seven shots and gave up the other three goals for the Panthers (0-2).