Thanks to a trio of record-breaking performances, along with three individual championships, White River High was once again in the spotlight at this year’s state powerlifting meet.

Under the direction of coach Juan Garibay, White River’s girls placed second at state while the Hornet boys claimed third-place honors.

The state powerlifting meet brought competitors from 20 Washington schools and took place May 3 at Olympia High School.

Setting new state records were Madeline Cameron who competed in the 123-pound class and deadlifted 285 pounds; Lilly Hyatt in the 181-pound class who deadlifted 375 pounds; and Rylan Heifner in the 198-pound class who squatted 515 pounds. Additionally, Hyatt established a new state mark with an overall total of 800 pounds in her lifts.

Cameron and Hyatt earned individual championships in Olympia, as did Hunter Dahlstrom. Taking runner-up honors were Kaden Pierce and Sydney Smith.

Other individual placers for White River were Heifner, Darbie Pearson and Zoey Vitalich, third place; Jack Robbins, fourth place; Carson Kruger, Claire Holm, Logan Macias, Archer Bresnan and Elisabeth Friis, fifth place; Mason Brame, Blake Russell and Riley Perkins, sixth place; Katherine Marek, eighth place; and Wiatt Brame, 10th place.

A year ago, White River’s girls placed fourth at the state meet while the Hornet boys took eighth-place honors

At White River, powerlifting is a club sport, rather than a varsity sport operating under the umbrella of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.

Garibay, a Spanish instructor at the school, coaches the successful program. He notes that most of the funds used in support of the club come from the group’s powerlifting meets and lift-a-thons put on by the team.

He has been the coach since Day 1 and seen the program grow and mature. Things started in 2006 with a team of three boys who began attending powerlifting meets. A year later, the first WR girls came on board.