Christian Peterson
reporter.riverbendnews@gmail.com “
This was by far the most competitive meet I've ever seen,” Dan Marsee said when talking about Suwannee High School's (SHS) annual Power of Christmas weightlifting event. Twenty-four teams made a trip to SHS for the annual event. Not only is the event one of the most popular for weightlifters across the state, it is also important because the money raised from the event is donated to Bosom Buddies of Live Oak in effort to combat breast cancer. Navarre, Blountstown, Leesburg, Sunlake, River Ridge, Ridgeview, Lake Wales, Baker County, Fleming Island, Wewahitchka, Lecanto, Suwannee, Clay, Oakleaf, Columbia, Flagler Palm Coast, Gainesville, West Nassau, Old Plank Christian, Maclay, Coffee County, Buchholz, Branford and Bolles were all in attendance at the event. “The quality of lifters was off the chart,” Marsee said. “Ninety percent of the top schools from around the whole state were here, regardless of classification.” In the traditional events, the results were Navarre with 36 points; Blountstown with 23 points; Leesburg with 18 points; Sunlake with 17 points; River Ridge with 15 points; Ridgeview with 14 points; Lake Wales with 14 points; Baker County with 14 points; Fleming Island with 13 points; Wewahitchka with 12 points; Lecanto with 11 points; Suwannee with nine points; Clay with seven points; Oakleaf with five points; Columbia with five points; Flagler Palm Coast with four points; and Gainesville with three points. Unfortunately, the other schools were unable to earn any points. In the olympic events, the results were Navarre with 24 points; River Ridge with 23 points; Wewahitchka with 22 points; Fleming Island with 22 points; Ridgeview with 17 points; Leesburg with 17 points; Sunlake with 13 points; Lake Wales with 12 points; Blountstown with 10 points; Gainesville with nine points; Clay with nine points; Baker County with nine points; Lecanto with seven points; Suwannee with six points; Flagler Palm Coast with five points; Coffee County with five points; Buchholz with four points; West Nassau with one point and Oakleaf with one point. The rest of the teams participating were unable to score any points. “We were able to make a sizable donation from the proceeds to Bosom Buddies of Live Oak to help those fighting breast cancer. I feel it was a huge success,” Marsee said.