Pitts won state titles in the traditional and snatch
BRANFORD — It was something Evie Pitts never could have imagined.
When Branford added a girls weightlifting team four years ago and Pitts joined in, she couldn’t envision two traditional state titles or a snatch title. She also couldn’t foresee being named the Lake City Reporter’s Lifter of the Year.
So how did Pitts go from having no form in the clean and jerk to the back-to-back state titles and the accolades that go with it?
Good old-fashioned hard work.
“I definitely think that it’s been a lot of hard work,” she said, adding her parents have pushed her to be the best she can be. “It’s kind of one of those things where you don’t have much to say because you want to be humble about it. But then again you know that my hard work has earned that spot.”
Pitts certainly did earn the recognition.
After becoming Branford’s first state champion a year ago when she totaled 355 points to edge Suwannee’s Tyra Kalandyk in a tiebreaker, Pitts dominated on her way to a repeat title in the Class 1A state meet.
At the district meet, Pitts totaled 375 pounds to win the 139-pound class by a mere 165 pounds ahead of Bell’s Charlotte Sayas.
She benched 175. So her clean and jerk would have put her in the running for the title by itself.
She followed that up with a total of 395 at the regional meet to top runner-up Julia Weiser of Fernandina Beach by 115 pounds. And then at state her total of 385 pounds was 65 pounds better than second-place finisher Natalee Brown of Lemon Bay.
Pitts didn’t just win. She was obliterating opponents.
She was fulfilling what BHS coach Misty Ward saw that first year, even when Pitts was in her own words, “terrible.”
“You could just see that she wanted it,” Ward said.
That meant identifying where there were flaws in her form and asking how she could fix it. It meant looking for other ways she could improve.
“You could tell she wanted it and she saw there was a possibility of ‘I could be that person, I could qualify for state,’” Ward said.
Which Pitts did as a sophomore, becoming one of the first Buccaneers to reach that level.
But to get to the next level, to become the state champion, there was still work to do. Like finding form in the clean and jerk.
“I started off my freshman year with no form at all,” Pitts said drawing a laugh from Ward.
That first year Pitts had a problem of starfishing in the event to get under the catch, spreading her feet out wide to get low rather than squatting.
At first, Ward said they tried a split clean with Pitts to prevent the starfish. Pitts, though, was determined to perform the clean and jerk like other lifters.
That determination coupled with extra time during the covid-19 pandemic meant a chance to focus on learning exactly what she needed to do.
“I actually worked on it and I finally got like the perfect form for it,” Pitts said, adding she learned exactly how much time to go down with the weight to the time needed for the pull. “Once I learned how to do that, it became my favorite movement because I learned I could load weight and do a whole lot of weight with it.”
Ward added: “She perfected the art of that and she looks great doing it.”
After hitting 155 pounds in the district meet as a sophomore in the clean and jerk, Pitts and her new form jumped to 195 at state last year.
That big jump led to a new goal for Pitts: 200 pounds.
When she hit that early during his past season, a new goal formed.
“What really drove me was I set a goal to go for the state (record),” she said of the 215 pounds cleaned by Spruce Creek’s Kiara Akuna in 2019 in the 139 division. “That’s one thing that drove me.”
At district, Pitts hit 200 again but missed on 210 and 215. At the regional meet, she cleared 200 and 210 but couldn’t hit 215. In the state meet, she lifted 205 and then twice missed on the 215 target.
“I didn’t get it, but I was right there at it,” she said as her personal best is 210.
She may not have hit a state record but she will definitely have made her mark at Branford.
Her weightlifting success also carried over to other sports as she has signed to play softball at Valdosta State. Then comes those state titles she was able to lift and the hard work it took to get there.
“I want to be something for other kids to shoot for because that’s what I wanted,” she said about leaving a legacy at Branford. “There were people in front of me that graduated, there are ones maybe a year or so ahead of me that are a legacy at this school, and my goal was to build to that legacy, to be that legacy or more.”
ALL-AREA TEAM
101: Katie Griffith
Fort White, junior
Repeated as the Class 1A state champion in the traditional by benching 155 with a 125 clean and jerk for a 280 total to win gold by 30 pounds, and she also placed fourth at state in the snatch with a lift of 85 pounds. Her traditional total was even better at the Region 2-1A meet, posting a 285 to win the title after also winning the District 5-1A title (280). She added regional and district titles in the snatch as well to her stellar season.
119: Nathalia Veal
Branford, senior
Won the Class 1A state title in the snatch with a lift of 110 after also winning Region 2-1A and District 7-1A titles in the event. She placed fifth at state in the traditional (275 total) after finishing runner-up at both regionals and districts.
119: Halleigh-Ray Harris
Branford, senior
Finished runner-up in the traditional at the Class 1A state by five pounds with a 285 total, and placed seventh in the snatch with a lift of 95 pounds. She won Region 2-1A and District 7-1A titles in the traditional, and she was runner-up in the snatch at districts and third at regionals.
119: Matti Marsee
Suwannee, senior
Repeated as the Class 1A state champion in the traditional, benching 145 with a 150 clean and jerk for a 295 total to win gold by 10 pounds. That came after winning first place at the Region 1-1A meet and District 4-1A meet as well. She didn’t compete in the snatch due to an injury.
129: Amaya Johnson
Suwannee, senior
Placed third at the Class 1A state meet with a 310 total while also placing seventh in the snatch with a lift of 100 pounds. She won District 4-1A titles in the traditional and snatch, and went on to win the Region 1-1A title in the snatch while finishing runner-up in traditional.
129: Hannah Terry
Branford, senior
Was the runner-up at the Class 1A state meet in the traditional with a 315 total and third in the snatch with a lift of 105 pounds. She swept District 7-1A titles in the traditional and snatch, and also won the Region 2-1A in the traditional while placing third in the snatch.
139: Evie Pitts
Branford, senior
The LCR’s Girls Weightlifter of the Year swept Class 1A state titles in the traditional and snatch. She benched 180 pounds with a 205 clean and jerk to win one gold medal with a 385 total — 65 pounds more than second place — and then lifted 135 to win another in the snatch by 10 pounds. She also swept District 7-1A and Region 2-1A titles in both events, even topping her state total in the traditional at regionals with a 395 total.
139: Sophia Baldwin
Suwannee, junior
Finished third at the Class 1A state meet in the traditional with a 310 total and also placed third in the snatch with a lift of 115 pounds. She swept District 4-1A and Region 1-1A titles in both events.
154: Tyra Kalandyk
Suwannee, senior
Won the Class 1A state title in the snatch by 15 pounds with a lift of 140 pounds, and also placed second in the traditional with a 365 total. She swept District 4-1A and Region 1-1A titles in both events.
183: Maddie Carte
Suwannee, junior
Placed fourth at the Class 1A state meet in the traditional with a 345 total, and also placed third in the snatch with a lift of 130 pounds. She swept District 4-1A and Region 1-1A titles in both events.
199: Brooke Hanusek
Suwannee, senior
Placed fifth at the Class 1A state meet in the traditional with a 315 total and third in the snatch with a lift of 125 pounds. She was runner-up in both events at the District 4-1A meet before finishing runner-up in the snatch and fourth in traditional at the Region 1-1A meet.
199: Kaly Cuffy
Suwannee, sophomore
Won the Class 1A state title in the snatch by five pounds with a lift of 135 pounds after winning both District 4-1A and Region 1-1A titles in the event. She also won district and regional titles in traditional to qualify for state.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Brittney Shearer, Suwannee
Shearer’s Bulldogs won the inaugural snatch state title in Class 1A after repeating as district and regional champions. Her team qualified an area-best 20 combined lifters for the state meet across the traditional and snatch, with Matti Marsee, Tyra Kalandyk and Kaly Cuffy all winning state titles. Suwannee went home with 16 individual state medals.