FORT WHITE — Lecosta Byrd entered his senior season at Fort White with one goal — a state title.
He accomplished that, and then some.
Byrd won the Class 1A Olympic state title with a 560 total and placed third in traditional with a 605 tally in the 219 class, becoming the first Fort White male lifter to win a state championship since Chris Griffith did so in 2010. On top of that, Byrd was also the driving force behind the Indians’ historic sweep of team state titles, which were both firsts in program history.
It capped off a postseason where Byrd swept District 6 titles before finishing first in Olympic at the Region 2 meet where he also placed second in traditional. Byrd adds one more honor as well — the LCR’s Boys Weightlifter of the Year.
“It was surreal,” Byrd said of winning the state title. “It was a coming-together moment for me and my team. To lead us to our first team state championship, it was the best moment of my high school career.”
Byrd, who is signed to play college football at Sussex, also set two new school records this season in the 219 class, breaking his own mark in the snatch with a 265-pound lift while posting a program-best 320 pounds in the clean and jerk. While Byrd was unable to hit 320 in the clean and jerk during the postseason, he did lift 265 in the snatch at regionals to help him finish with a 570 total and 30 pounds ahead of runner-up Macaiden Weise from Episcopal, who only registered a 215 snatch.
That big difference stuck in the back of Byrd’s mind heading into state as the two entered with the two highest totals. After hitting lifts of 225 and 245 in the snatch, he was already 30 pounds ahead of Weise heading into the clean and jerk, prompting Byrd to try and break the Class 1A snatch record of 265 for the 219 class with an attempt of 275.
It would’ve virtually wrapped up the Olympic event before the clean and jerk ever began. But Byrd came up short.
“I wanted it for myself really,” Byrd said. “The 1A record was 265. I could’ve gone for 270, but I went for 275. I wanted to hit that landmark. I came up a little short, but I’m not mad at it.”
Byrd admits it made him a bit uneasy though because he was 20 pounds behind Weise in the clean and jerk at regionals. But once Byrd hit his first attempt of 275, his nerves calmed. He followed with lifts of 300 and 315, while Weise only finished with a 310 on his final attempt.
“I was kind of a little bit nervous going into clean and jerk, but I opened at 275 and once I got my first lift under me, I was fully confident,” Byrd said. “It was just a wrap from there.”
It was the culmination of a plan coach Jonathan Dupree had put Byrd on once football season ended. Byrd slowly increased his workload to have him ready for the postseason, where he shattered his totals of 220 in the snatch and 265 in the clean and jerk from a year ago when he placed sixth in Olympic at state and 95 pounds short of first place.
“We kind of held him back all year,” Dupree said. “We knew some of the numbers he could hit in practice and I just told him, ‘man, there’s no sense in just going out there in the first couple of meets and just hitting these big numbers. Let’s kind of creep up to it all the way to state.’
“We had him penciled in to win Olympic and to win it big, and that’s what he did.”
Byrd’s sixth-place finish at state as a junior fueled his success during his senior season. Once football season ended in November, Byrd and teammate Hayden McCrory, who failed to place at state in 2024, made it a goal to win state titles in April.
That meant on top of practice four days a week, Byrd and McCory were hitting the gym afterwards. And not just on those four days but all seven. It paid off with Byrd winning it all, McCrory placing second, and the Indians winning team championships.
“Last year when I got sixth place at state, I didn’t like the feeling of losing so bad,” Byrd said. “After football season, I had one goal. Me and Hayden McCrory would go to the gym every night, seven days a week, no days off. We’d practice four days a week during the season and still go after our team practice and go lift on our own. We wanted it that bad.”
Byrd’s offseason grind not only paid off in Olympic but in traditional as well, an event he failed to qualify in for state as a junior. While Byrd admits the bench press was his weakest of the three events, especially after recovering from a torn labrum in his junior year, he made big enough strides this season to boost his state bench from around 265 in December to over 300 by the end of the season.
It was a key improvement that helped him also reach the podium in traditional.
“I really didn’t start benching a lot until this year,” Byrd said. “At the beginning of the year, I wasn’t even expecting to medal in traditional because in December of 2024 my max bench was like 265 and I got it to 310 by the end of the season. I was happy with the improvement in myself.”
Not bad for a guy who only started weightlifting to stay in shape for football, a sport he’ll continue playing collegiately this fall at Sussex.
“It turned from just doing it for football to, ‘dang, I’m pretty good at this,’” Dupree said. “And I was trying to prepare him for the next level because he signed his letter of intent to play football. That’s really what it turned into and the next thing you know, here we were at state with 11 guys and he’s the top dog.”
ALL-AREA TEAM
119: Randy Garcia
Suwannee, senior
Placed fourth in Olympic (365 total) and fifth in traditional (395 total) at the Class 2A state meet; swept District 3 titles (370 total in Olympic) before a pair of runner-up finishes in Region 1.
129: Chris Gonzalez
Suwannee, senior
Placed sixth in Olympic (405 total) and seventh in traditional (420 total) at the Class 2A state meet; swept District 3 titles before a pair of runner-up finishes in Region 1 (440 total in traditional and 430 total in Olympic).
139: Kamden Lang
Suwannee, junior
Swept District 3-2A titles with postseason-bests total of 455 in traditional and 415 in Olympic; won the Region 1 title in Olympic and placed fourth in Olympic to qualify for state, where he finished seventh in Olympic and 17th in traditional.
154: Jonathan Ulsch
Fort White, sophomore
Placed second in traditional (525 total) and fifth in Olympic (410 total) at the Class 1A state meet; swept District 6 titles (530 total in traditional) before finishing second in traditional and third in Olympic at the Region 2 meet.
169: Marshall White
Suwannee, senior
Placed sixth in traditional (545 total) and seventh in Olympic (455 total) at the Class 2A state meet; won District 3 title in Olympic and was runner-up in traditional before posting a pair of third-place finishes at the Region 1 meet.
183: Hayden McCrory
Fort White, senior
Placed second in Olympic (515 total) and third in traditional (550 total) at the Class 1A state meet; swept District 6 and Region 1 titles (555 total in traditional at regionals).
199: Garret Shipley
Columbia, junior
Placed second in traditional (640 total) at the Class 2A state meet following District 3 and Region 1 titles, with a postseason-best total of 665 at regionals.
219: Lecosta Byrd
Fort White, senior
The LCR’s Boys Weightlifter of the Year won the Class 1A state title in Olympic (560 total) and also placed third in traditional (605 total); swept District 6 titles and won the Region 2 title in Olympic (570 total) while also finishing runner-up in traditional.
238: James Dimauro
Fort White, senior
Placed second in Olympic (505 total) and third in traditional (615 total) at the Class 1A state meet; swept District 6 titles and won the Region 2 title in traditional while also finishing runner-up in Olympic.
Unlimited: Chase Johnson
Columbia, senior
Swept District 3 and Region 1 titles in traditional with totals of 720 and 740 — winning by 90 and 70 pounds — to enter the Class 2A state meet with the highest numbers.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Jonathan Dupree, Fort White
Led the Indians to the Class 1A state titles in traditional and Olympic, which were both firsts in program history. Leading that charge was Lecosta Byrd, who won the team’s lone individual title. In total, 11 of Dupree’s lifters qualified for the state meet, with the Indians taking home 13 combined medals in the two events.