Ethel finished second at the 1A South State powerlifting and qualified five lifters for the state meet. McAdams qualified one lifter.
“I was very proud of our performances,” said Ethel coach Corey Parish. “I actually felt like we overachieved a little bit. We did not scratch on a single squat. Out of 11 lifters, we were 33 for 33, which is hard to do. Our technique was very good.”
The top three lifters in each weight class from South State and North State qualify for the state meet.
For Ethel, Kentrell Dotson, a seventh grader, won at 123 pounds with lifts for the squat, bench press and dead lift totaling 715 pounds.
Sophomore Luther Clark was also first at 198, totaling 1,275. “He's a very stout kid,” Parish said.
Other qualifiers were senior Kendal Dotson, second at 148; junior Lanarkes Davis, second at 242; and senior Akeem Erving, third at 220. Kendal Dotson is the defending 148 state champion.
Parish said the goal is for all five qualifiers to win a medal by finishing in the top three at state.
Other lifters for Ethel were eighth grader Hunter Hutchison, fourth at 114; eighth grader Noah Hill, sixth at 123; senior Austin McDaniel, fourth at 148; senior Seth Keller, fifth at 165; freshman Devin Granger, fourth at 198; senior D'Vontrae Felton, fourth at 220.
Sophomore Lewis Latiker of McAdams qualified for the state meet with a second place finish at 308, totaling 980 pounds. “The skies the limit for him,” said coach Jim Risen.
McAdams had one other participant, freshman Maleek Greer, who was sixth at 275.
Sacred Heart, with four individual champions, won South State with 45 points and is the favorite to win state, according to Parish. Ethel was second with 36 points, followed by Leake County 30, Noxapater 20, Sebastopol 15, Stringer 14, East Marion and Lumberton 12 each and McAdams and Nanih Waiya 5 each.
Ethel hosted South State last Saturday. The state meet will be April 13 at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.
