Regardless of what sport they play, the girls of Pace High School are actively preparing for the upcoming school year through weightlifting.
CLICK HERE: To view photos of Pace High School girls training in the school's weight room
Holly Peacher, the PHS girls weightlifting coach, said many of the school’s female student athletes endure weight training during the summer months at least two to three times a week.
While both the junior and varsity cheerleading squads are training for next season, the same group is also preparing for the school’s girls weightlifting team.
“We just worked it out like that,” Peacher said. “There is 56 cheerleaders and they are all on the (weightlifting) roster.”
In her fourth year as the weightlifting coach, Peacher said the girls have represented the school well when making it to state and regional meets in previous seasons.
“I have been to state twice with two of them, one basketball player and one cheerleader,” she said. “We have made it as far as regional’s every time.”
Peacher said this upcoming season looks promising with several veterans returning. The season officially begins in November, she said.
“As they move up in age, they start wanting it more,” she said. “Mature athletes want to win it.”
Tailer Preston, 17, is one of those returning veterans approaching her senior year at PHS. Preston, who is also active in the school’s basketball and track teams, has been weightlifting since her freshmen year.
“I’m starting to train harder in order to compete this fall,” she said. “So, it’s going to get pretty intense.”
Preston said the intense portion comes from the upcoming weightlifting season.
“It gets really intense, because you want to better yourself and push yourself to your limit,” she said.
Not only is Preston working to returning to the regional competitions, she is also looking to surpass her personal best records.
“I would like to at least get a 135 (lbs) on bench and at least 150 on clean and jerk,” she said. “I definitely think I will be able to do it by the end of the year.”
In approaching her sophomore year at PHS, Natalie Leanza, is expecting to contribute on the school’s varsity cheerleading squad.
In addition to weightlifting and cheerleading practice at least twice a week at the school, Leanza said she has also worked out with her father at a local gym and running in her neighborhood.
Leanza, 15, said she and the other sophomore girls on the varsity squad are receiving a lot of support from fellow cheerleaders.
“They want us to give a 110 percent every single time we do something and represent our squad,” she said.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Weightlifting: Pace girls prepare for upcoming school year (PHOTOS)