Out of the 28 members of the Milton High School girls weightlifting team, nearly 20 are first year members.
Weightlifting Coach Chafan Marsh said the team is doing well this season.
“The team is doing fine, we have a relatively young team,” Marsh said. “They work hard and they are getting better each week.”
Marsh said the team is expected to take the experience they gain from this season and apply towards next year.
“The key thing about it is that they are young and they are gaining experience each week and they are getting more confident about themselves,” Marsh said.
Savannah Matherly, 15, is enjoying her first year on the squad. The sophomore is working towards enhancing her weight class.
“I am reaching for up to a hundred,” she said. “When I first started, I could barely do 65 (pounds) on the bar, I can do 85 now.”
In her first year, Matherly said she has learned different techniques in approaching weightlifting.
Matherly said she has learned how to perfect her squat stance when handling weights and how to properly stretch before weight lifting.
In addition to working towards her weightlifting goal, Matherly said the team relies upon each other whether during practice or heading towards a weightlifting meet.
“Whenever you are on the bench press or doing a clean, (members) will give you encouragement,” Matherly said. “They will yell at you, but the good kind of yelling…its good encouragement and I like it.”
In her sophomore year, Monique Bradley is considered one of the veteran members on the squad. Bradley said the team is continuing to garner experience for next year.
“When we are benching and the girls are struggling and they feel like they can’t do it anymore,” Bradley said. “We just like to motivate them. We tell them to keep going and to keep pushing it and pushing it until they end up getting it.”
Bradley has set a personal goal of getting her name posted on the wall in the weightlifting room.
“Me and Coach Marsh made an agreement that if I can clean 225 that he would put me on the board with the football players,” Bradley said. “That is my goal for the senior year.”
Bradley said she can currently clean 125 pounds.
The team will travel to Washington High School on Tuesday for their next weightlifting meet at 3:30 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: MHS: Girls weightlifting team gaining experience