Mustangs advance to state

Jen Blanco

Sports editor

J

amie Jeffcoat has already fulfilled his goal this season. 

It’s one he’s been working toward for the past four years: Jeffcoat won the 169-pound weight class at the Class 2A-District 7 meet March 31 to earn a berth in the Class 2A FHSAA Boys Weightlifting Championships April 17, in Kissimmee. 

This season marks the first time Jeffcoat, who also won an individual Manatee County championship earlier this year, has qualified for the state championships. 

“It’s an accomplishment because of all the time I’ve put in working toward this one thing and now it’s finally here,” Jeffcoat says. “I’ve been working really hard to get to this point, so just being there is the accomplishment.” 

Jeffcoat is one of three Lakewood lifters who qualified for the state championships. Joining Jeffcoat on the platform will be juniors Daron Lowery (199 pounds) and Gabriel Overmyer (heavyweight). 

Lowery and Overmyer both started lifting last season, but it wasn’t until this season that the two realized the amount of time and effort they needed to put into the sport to reach the next threshold. 

“It made me more determined to make it to states,” Lowery says. 

Like Jeffcoat, Lowery won the district title and automatically qualified for the state championships. Trailing his opponent by 20 pounds, Lowery cleared a personal best 275 pounds in the clean and jerk to win the title. 

Meanwhile, Overmyer finished third and was put into a pool along with all of the second- and third-place finishers across the remaining districts. 

It wasn’t until three days later that Overmyer learned he had qualified. He was the last person to make it into the championships.

“It’s an honor to go to states,” Overmyer says. “I didn’t really think I would make it because we have a strong county, and I just assumed the other counties would be as high as us, but several of the counties were nowhere near as strong.” 

The three Lakewood lifters each have specific goal weights they hope to achieve at the state championships. Jeffcoat, Lowery and Overmyer aren’t planning to hold anything back in the hopes of making the podium. 

“You just have to go for it all and not settle for things you’ve done in the past,” Jeffcoat says. “You have to use every opportunity to win. You can’t just settle for placing. You have to settle for winning.” 

Overmyer agrees. 

“You just have to keep thinking, ‘Why not?’” Overmyer says. 

“You just have to keep thinking, ‘Why not?’”

– Gabriel Overmyer,
Lakewood Ranch High School wrestler

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].