Chad Conine
Waco Tribune Herald
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Angel Tusa has a hard time convincing people that she’s a championship powerlifter.
It’s easy to understand why.
On Tuesday, I went to Reicher High School to interview a trio of girls’ powerlifters who had claimed state championships last weekend at the Texas High School Women’s Powerlifting Association state meet.
Reicher’s Lea Carmody, Meagan Hurtado and Tusa, along with Jasmine Montgomery of Bosqueville, claimed individual titles at the meet last weekend.
The Reicher girls came one point away from winning a team state championship — Thrall edged them, 22-21. So I headed to the Reicher field house to talk to them. Only I thought I’d been duped. I was waiting in Reicher AD Mark Waggoner’s office, expecting three Rosie O’Donnell-sized girls, who would probably be too shy to speak in complete sentences, to walk through the door. When Tusa, Carmody and Hurtado came in, I asked them to wait a moment while I went to find Waggoner.
“Coach,” I said, “I asked for powerlifters, and you sent me cheerleaders.” He squinted at me and calmly replied, “Chad, those are the powerlifters.” I admit, I’ve always had an incorrect mental picture of female powerlifters. The Reicher girls were bubbly and fun and didn’t mind my stupid questions about powerlifting stereotypes. They’ve heard them all before.
Unbelievable athletes
Tusa, a senior who hoisted a total of 700 pounds to win the 132-pound weight class last weekend, has put up with jealous peers accusing her of using steroids, and complete strangers who doubt that she could be a serious weightlifter.
“When I tell people, they’re like, ‘No. You’re too pretty, you’re too beautiful to powerlift,’ ” Tusa said. “They can’t really believe it.” Carmody and Hurtado get the same reactions. “People base their stereotypes on those bodybuilders that look manly,” Carmody said.
Carmody, a sophomore who lifted 770 pounds to claim the 198-pound weight class title, confesses that, initially, she wasn’t all that fired up about powerlifting.
Reicher coaches tried to get her into the sport as a freshman, and she reluctantly agreed just prior to the regional meet. “I was kind of ‘eh’ about it,” she said. “But it was probably one of the best decisions I made.”
Carmody said her victory at the state meet last week was one of the happiest moments of her life — the first time she can remember shedding tears of joy.
Hurtado, another Reicher sophomore who lifted 590 pounds to win the 105-pound weight class, was proud to be the second girls’ powerlifter in her family to win a state title.
A true mighty mite, Hurtado deadlifted almost three times her body weight — 275 pounds — on the way to her championship. As sweet as these girls are on the exterior, they’re tougher than nails inside.
Doing what it takes
Not only do they train year round and play just about every sport you can name — between the three Reicher girls, they play volleyball, soccer, basketball, track, softball and cheerleading — they’ll go to extremes to compete in powerlifting.
Powerlifters, male and female, wrap up their knees excruciatingly tight to keep them from locking up under huge amounts of weight. The wraps alone are enough to make many girls cry and eventually leave powerlifting. Then, at weigh-in time, things get especially weird.
“We had a girl a couple of years ago cut her hair off so she could make weight,” Tusa said. “People stand on their heads, they’ll run, we’ll get on the bus spitting. It’s disgusting, but if that’s what you have to do, that’s what you have to do.”
On days like last Friday, all the pain, suffering and nastiness pay off. Tusa was still choking back tears of joy as she, Hurtado, Carmody and Montgomery enjoyed a champions’ dinner. “I play other sports, but powerlifting is the one I’m really dedicated to,” Tusa said. “To finish my senior year with my first state championship was unbelievable.”
cconine@wacotrib.com
