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Suwannee’s Marquavious Owens is the LCR’s Boys Weightlifter of the Year. (FILE)
LIVE OAK — When Marquavious Owens first entered the Suwannee High weight room three years ago, Dan Marsee knew.
The SHS weightlifting coach looked at Owens, a small freshman, and saw immense potential, the potential to one day become a state champion.
“I remember the first day we talked cleans, I looked at him and said, ‘You’re going to be a state champion,’” Marsee said. “There’s only a few of those that cross your paths. I told him Day 1 that ‘If you stick to the plan, you will be a state champion.’”
Three years later, Owens fulfilled that prophecy, totaling 560 pounds in the traditional event at the Class 1A state meet and 485 pounds in the Olympic event to sweep the state titles at 154 pounds. Those twin titles also netted Owens the title of Lake City Reporter Boys Weightlifter of the Year.
At the state meet in Lakeland, as Owens was battling South Sumter’s Bobby Hill for those titles, Marsee’s words from years before were still present, still remembered and still providing inspiration.
Owens, who also was named the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 1A Lifter of the Year, said Marsee’s confidence and belief in him as a freshman, way before he believed in himself as a lifter, was carried with him into the state meet.
In fact, Owens said toward the end of his freshman year when he began putting up “good” numbers, Marsee again provided a lift.
“He told me I was going to be great one day,” Owens said. “I don’t know why but I vividly remember that now.”
He achieved that greatness April 15, even if it came in unexpected fashion.
While Hill was the defending state champion, there was little separating him and Owens heading into the state meet. Both Owens and Marsee said they knew the state title rested on which one of the lifters hit more of their lifts that day.
But they also knew that Owens’ best chance to provide distance between himself and Hill came in the snatch. That, too, would allow Owens to push for a personal record in the clean and jerk in an effort to secure the traditional title (bench and clean and jerk) as well, knowing Hill had the better bench.
“We felt we were going to have to go big there,” Marsee said, adding the snatch provided a safety net for the Olympic event. “We knew we had to try to get a lead going into the traditional on a big clean and jerk.”
That plan, though, had a problem.
While Owens did win the Olympic event, it came by just five pounds. The pair was even in the snatch with 215 pounds, which set a new SHS school record for the weight class, and Owens barely edged Hill in the clean and jerk with a 270-pound lift to Hill’s 265.
At that point, there was concern.
“We were like, ‘Uh oh,’” Marsee said.
Owens, too, didn’t expect much from his bench.
“I had been having bad benches that past week,” he said.
Those bad benches, though, were gone. Instead Owens hit all three of his attempts, including a 290-pound lift that Hill couldn’t match to secure the traditional title by 15 pounds.
Marsee said it was the best day Owens ever had on the bench.
Owens labeled it “insane,” noting it “came out of nowhere.”
So how did he overcome his foe’s strength to secure the title?
“That just goes back to being a competitor,” Marsee said.
Owens agreed.
“I really wanted to win,” he said.
That desire to win had been percolating inside Owens for a full year.
At the state meet in 2022, Owens finished third at 139 pounds in the snatch event, but didn’t place at all in traditional after not completing a lift in the clean and jerk. That failure provided some extra motivation.
“I just wanted to prove myself to coach Marsee and the team,” said Owens, who also set school records this year in the clean and jerk as well as the Olympic event. “I had to come back and be better.”
Marsee, though, had little doubts. In addition to the natural athleticism that Owens possesses along with flexibility and “incredible leg strength,” he also is hard worker, showing up day in and day out to put in the work to be great.
“That’s a kid that wants to be successful in everything he does,” Marsee said. “It’s that mentality. He’s like a sponge. He takes up everything we say because he really wants to be good.
“He’s one of those guys that just has it all: natural talent and the ability to be coachable.”
ALL-AREA TEAM
119: Chris Gonzalez
Suwannee, sophomore
Won the Class 1A state title in Olympic by 25 pounds with a 350 total after winning Region 2-1A and District 5-1A titles with totals of 345 and 335. He was also the state runner-up in traditional with a 375 total — five pounds behind the champion — after winning a regional title (385) and finishing second at districts (355).
119: Randy Garcia
Suwannee, sophomore
Placed third in Olympic in Class 1A with a 310 total following runner-up finishes at regionals (310) and districts (305) behind teammate Chris Gonzalez. Also qualified for state in traditional, placing eighth with a 350 total after a fourth-place finish at regionals (355) and a third-place finish at districts (330).
129: William Garcia
Suwannee, junior
Totaled 430 pounds to reach the medal stand at the Class 1A state meet with a fifth-place finish in traditional after placing fourth at regionals and winning the District 5-1A title with 420 totals. He also won a district title in Olympic (345) and was fourth at regionals (355) to advance to state, where he placed ninth with a 340 total.
139: Demontay Brown
Suwannee, junior
Reached the medal stand at the Class 1A state meet with a pair of sixth-place finishes in traditional and Olympic with totals of 450 and 375 pounds. He placed fourth in traditional at regionals (465) after winning a district title (445), and he finished fifth at regionals in Olympic (380) after winning a district title (355).
154: Marquavious Owens
Suwannee, junior
The LCR’s Boys Weightlifter of the Year swept Class 1A state titles in traditional and Olympic with totals of 560 and 485 pounds, numbers that also earned him the Class 1A Dairy Farmer’s Boys Weightlifter of the Year. It was a steady improvement throughout the postseason for Owens, who also won district and regional titles in both events with total lifts in traditional of 530 and 545, coupled with total lifts of 470 and 475 in Olympic.
154: Kaderian Ivey
Suwannee, senior
Placed fourth in traditional at the Class 1A state meet with a total of 520 pounds after placing fourth at regionals (510) and second at districts (480). Also finished third in Olympic with a 435-pound total following a pair of runner-up finishes at regionals (430) and district (400).
169: Isiah Love
Suwannee, junior
Totaled 425 pounds to place fifth in Olympic and reach the medal stand at the Class 1A state meet. He won the District 5-1A title then finished runner-up at regionals with a pair of 420 totals.
183: Sam Wainwright
Suwannee, junior
Took home a pair of Class 1A state titles with a 630 total in traditional and 575 total in Olympic to sweep postseason gold medals. He won the District 5-1A and Region 2-1A titles in traditional with totals of 635 and 640, while also winning district and regional titles in Olympic with 575 and 555 totals.
199: Will Wainwright
Suwannee, junior
Won the Class 1A state title in Olympic with a 590 total and was 20 pounds away from a title in traditional, placing second with 565 pounds. He won District 5-1A and Region 2-1A titles in traditional with totals of 675 and 635 in addition to winning district and regional titles in Olympic with 550 and 545 totals.
199: Tony Fulton
Columbia, senior
Placed third at the Class 2A state meet in traditional with a 630 total to reach the medal stand following a third-place finish at regionals (605) and a second-place finish at districts (605). He also qualified for state in Olympic, finishing seventh with a 510 total after placing fifth at regionals (475) and second at districts (490).
199: Zaher Darwiche
Columbia, senior
Placed third at the Class 2A state meet in Olympic with a 525 total to reach the medal stand. That came after he finished fourth at regionals (495) and third at districts (480).
219: Brandon Robinson
Suwannee, senior
Nabbed two runner-up finishes at the Class 1A state meet, totaling 630 pounds in traditional (15 off a title) and 540 pounds in Olympic (15 off a title). He swept District 5-1A titles in both events, posting 605 and 480 totals, before going on to win the Region 2-1A title in Olympic with a 540 total while placing second in traditional with a 640 total.
238: Alex Mabey
Suwannee, junior
Reached the medal stand at the Class 1A state meet with a third-place finish in Olympic with a total lift of 485 pounds after he placed second at regionals (465) and won the District 5-1A title (460). Also qualified for state in traditional, placing seventh with a 580 total after finishing fourth at regionals (570) and second at districts (555).
COACH OF THE YEAR
Dan Marsee, Suwannee
Marsee is the LCR’s Coach of the Year for the third straight season after leading the Bulldogs to the Class 1A state title in Olympic, which they won by 20 points. Suwannee nearly took home another but settled for a state runner-up finish in traditional, placing second behind Keystone Heights by just six points. Eleven Bulldogs reached the medal stand across both events, bringing home a total of 18 medals. It capped off a postseason where Suwannee swept District 5-1A titles before winning the Region 2-1A title in Olympic and finishing runner-up in traditional to Keystone Heights by only three points.