Lira Bordoley wins state title in first year of competing
Just over a year ago, Lira Bordoley didn’t have the slightest inclination that she would find herself as a state champion.
Yet, just a year into competing into powerlifting, the Birmingham Seaholm senior won the Michigan High School Powerlifting Association state championship in the 123-pound weight class earlier this month.
“I was just elated that all my hard work paid off. I give a lot of credit to my coach. I was really excited,” Bordoley said of the championship.
Bordoley’s path to a state championship began when she took an interest in CrossFit. She joined Champions Club in Madison Heights, which was her first introduction to powerlifting.
It was early in 2020 that Bordoley would be asked to help work a scorers table at a lifting event at Henry Ford II High School. Her coach at the time asked if she wanted to participate, so she gave it a try and came out with a victory.
“It was pretty surprising,” Bordoley said of winning her first event. “It never really crossed my mind that I would be competing, let alone win.”
Once she had a taste for competition, Bordoley got the bug and decided to put her focus into powerlifting.
“What I enjoy the most is the feeling that it gives me,” Bordoley said. “I really feel fulfilled when I’m training. Once you hit those lifts in the meet, it’s a total release of energy. It just makes me feel really good about myself.”
Training over the last year in COVID times has been challenging, but Bordoley stayed focused on her goals and trying to improve as much as she could.
Coached by Frankie Ruffini while training at New Species CrossFit in Royal Oak, Bordoley went into the state meet at Adrian High School on March 13 feeling good about her chances.
“I felt pretty confident going in. I knew I just had to trust my training and trust myself,” she said. “I knew I had the ability to perform at a high level, it was just about maintaining that
trust in myself.”
In the MHSPLA, competitors record their best weight in three different lifts — deadlift, back squat and bench press. The combined total of the heaviest weights lifted determines the winner.
For Bordoley, she put up a 265-pound squat, a 245-pound deadlift, and a 120-pound bench press.
Bordoley’s total of 630 pounds bested the field in her weight class by 50 pounds.
Bordoley recently committed to attending the University of Michigan in the School of Kinesiology to study Exercise Science. As she looks toward college, she is also turning her attention to qualifying for the powerlifting national championships.
She will compete in a national qualifier in Pennsylvania on April 24, hoping to qualify for the national championships in Colorado at the end of May.