Amanda Friar won the individual championship in the 110-pound weight class, and the Navarre High girls weightlifting team took home the school's first-ever state title on Saturday.
The victory has been a long time coming for the Raiders, who finished second to Columbia (2010) and Spruce Creek (2011, '12) at state the past three years.
"This means a lot," Navarre coach Garrett Bagley said after the championship meet in Kissimmee. "I'm just so happy for the girls finally being rewarded after coming in as the state runner-up for so long. They've worked so hard and just stay at it. In my opinion, they finally got what they deserved."
The Raiders barely edged Spruce Creek for the title, 24-23.
Navarre was led by Friar, a senior who tied the state record in the bench press with 160 pounds and lifted 145 in the clean and jerk for a 305 total. She beat the second-place finisher by 20 pounds.
Fellow Raiders Skye Barberi (119 pounds) and Praise Pettus (139 pounds) each finished second in their classes to help get the Raiders to the championship. Barberi lifted a total of 320 pounds, while Pettus lifted 355.
"This is the first state championship for our school, so hopefully this one will break the ice for other programs," Bagley said. "Athletics at Navarre have come a long way, and we just hope to keep doing great things and keep the ball moving in a good direction."
Pine Forest senior Lamia Miller also had a second-place finish in the 199-pound class with a 195-pound lift in the bench press and a lift of 185 pounds in the clean and jerk to total 380. The Eagles took seven lifters to the state meet -- the most in school history.
The Raiders, though, took 11. And out of those 11, six athletes finished in the top six in their class to medal at state. Bagley -- who took over the Navarre girls weightlifting team this season -- gives credit to former coach Aaron Daniel for the state championship.
"Aaron Daniel started the program and put in a lot of work with these girls," Bagley said. "He built the program up to where it is today. All I've done is taken the reigns and kept steering it in the right direction. He really cares about these girls."
Follow Jamie Secola at twitter.com/JamieSecolaPNJ
