Marble Falls powerlifter Fregoso is state qualifier
CAPTION: Marble Falls sophomore Montserrat Fregoso earns a silver medal at the Region 2, Division 2 Meet to advance to the Class 4A state meet. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Marble Falls High School powerlifting team has one Class 4A state tournament qualifier – sophomore Montserrat Fregoso.
She earned the silver medal in the 220-pound weight division at the Region 2, Division 2 Meet March 1 thanks to lifting a total of 740 pounds to set a new personal best.
Head coach Richard Scales said Fregoso’s approach and natural demeanor make her hard to beat.
“Montserrat is calm by nature,” he said. “She’s always happy. She’s one of those people who doesn’t care what everybody does. She has the ability to put blinders on. It’s her first year to lift. She wasn’t worried about what the other girls are doing. She was worried about what she was doing. That makes it a whole lot easier to take care of your job.”
Though others didn’t advance, Scales noted they competed well.
Junior Cheyenne Blair lifted 65 more pounds to set a new personal best.
Two other Marble Falls lifters bombed out, which means a judge didn’t award them a lift at one of the platforms. Powerlifting adds the weight from the squat, bench press and deadlift to get a cumulative total during meets. Judges watch a lifter by studying how the athlete performs the lift. If the judge is unsatisfied with a technical portion of the lift, the lift won’t count toward the cumulative total.
“You have to rise to the occasion,” Scales said. “It was a very competitive region. Only two girls improved their total. The rest struggled because of the competitiveness of the judging. Ninety-five percent of the time when a kid bombs out it’s because they didn’t meet the technical. Regionals is an all-or-nothing meet. What you did before regionals doesn’t matter; that meet is the only thing that matters. Understand everything you did before that was to get to that point.”
Even then, the two Lady Mustangs who didn’t advance didn’t wallow. They encouraged their teammates and helped when they could, Scales said.
He noted the regional meet for newcomers is unlike any meet they’ve competed in before because of the number of lifters, teams, judges and platforms.
“It adds a lot of pressure,” the coach said. “That’s why it’s called The Show. Some freak out because it’s judges they haven’t seen before. You’re going against schools that are not in your area. Everything is on you.”
Though the season ended for many, the coach commended the lifters for their competitive spirit, adding they gave it everything they had.
“I was proud of all the girls even though we had a couple of bombouts,” he said. “It was an emotional day for them and for me. As a girl’s dad, it just hit home a little harder. I’m proud of this team. They really are family. It’s a special group.”
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RESULTS
Girls Region 2, Division 2 Meet
Dublin High School, March 1 (squat-bench-deadlift–total)
114 – 10, Makenzie Long 155-85-240–415; 132 – 5, Cheyenne Blair, 260-145-220–625; 165 – 5, Bethany Fry, 265-130-305–700; 198 – 7, Sophia Pedraza, 215-115-230–560; 220 – 2, Montserrat Fregoso, 300-140-300–740
