3 girls qualify for national championships
Three local girls aren’t just breaking weightlifting records for their age groups, they’re shattering stereotypes as well.
While their friends were likely engaged in other activities Saturday morning, Amelie Romero, 13, Mairen Hoch, 12, and Zavia Burton, 11, were participating in the fourth annual John Davis Memorial Meet at Miller’s Gym in Santa Fe. And they weren’t just there to compete. Together, the trio set multiple state marks and each qualified for June’s Youth National Championships in Grand Rapids, Mich.
With each new record, their coach, Shane Miller, beamed proudly.
“We’ve always had really strong women weightlifters as part of our program,” said Miller, who has been coaching weightlifters since the early 1990s and whose father, Carl Miller, served as coaching coordinator for the 1976 U.S. Olympic weightlifting team.
“There has often been a lot of stigma against teenage girls participating in the sport. But weightlifting is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States. It’s an older sport, but it’s enjoying a resurgence. Girls today are really interested in getting strong. The movements they are doing are fairly complex and athletic.”
Romero, who started weightlifting about 18 months ago, established state records for her age group in the snatch (26 kg) and clean and jerk (40 kg), while Hoch for 12-year old girls in the clean and jerk (30 kg) and a new personal best in the snatch (20 kg).
“Amelie was sort of the pioneer of the group since she was the first one,” Miller said. “She began weightlifting when she was 12, which is a great age to get started. Most Olympic sports, and all sports generally like basketball and tennis, there is no problem training people when they’re young. If you train them properly, there are very few injuries and people can have long and satisfying careers.”
Saturday’s meet marked Romero’s seventh competition.
“I like weightlifting because it makes me really strong,” Romero said. “It helps with my balance and other things I do. I find it empowering.”
Hoch said one of her major goals going into Saturday’s meet was qualifying for nationals, and now she accomplished that.
Burton, who turned 11 in November, began weightlifting about eight months ago, yet is quickly emerging as a prodigy. She set a new state record in all six of her lifts, ultimately wrapping up her eventful day with new marks in the snatch (26 kg) and clean and jerk (31 kg).
“She’s got a lot of natural ability,” Miller said. “For her age, she is extremely focused. We’re lucky Zavia decided to try this. She has the potential to get on the podium at youth nationals. If not this year, then next year.”
Burton said she has found her calling through weightlifting.
“I like everything about it,” Burton said. “I like the trainers a lot. I think I’m pretty good at it, and I like that. I like to move the bar. It’s cool.”
The meet, which included lifters from as far away as Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Durango, Colo., was designed to honor the memory of Davis (1921-84), who won two Olympic weightlifting gold medals in 1948 and 1952 and is buried at the Santa Fe National Cemetery.
If somebody can be a one-man dynasty in weightlifting, Davis was it. He was a 16-time world champion until his retirement in 1956. He won his first world championship in 1938 as a 17-year old when he captured the world light-heavyweight title in Vienna, Austria. From then until 1953, he never lost a weightlifting competition.
It helps with my balance and other things I do. I find it empowering.” Amelie Romero