New Prague's inaugural weightlifting team has 2 qualifiers

In its first season, New Prague will send two freshman athletes, Lander Wells and Brent Kubes, to the Minnesota State Olympic-Style Weightlifting Meet this Saturday, March 11, at Lakeville South High School.

Athletes compete in one of two divisions based on age: Varsity (17-18) and Junior Varsity (12-16). Both athletes qualified in the Junior Varsity 77 kg / 170 lb weight class, with Wells ranking third (181 kg / 398 lb total) and Kubes fifth (158 kg / 347 lb). Their session will start around 1:15 p.m.

For those who are not familiar with Olympic-style weightlifting, there are two lifts performed; the Snatch (bring the weight from the ground to overhead in one motion) and the Clean & Jerk (bring the weight from the ground to the shoulders, then overhead). Each competitor gets 3 attempts in each lift, and the best successful lift in each category are added together for a lift total. Athletes compete in weight classes, and their places are determined by the highest lift total.

With a small but stout squad of nine athletes, New Prague competed well during the regular season. At Armstrong High School in December, Yvette Hansen (103 kg / 226 lb) and Wells (171 kg / 376 lb) took first place in their respective weight classes. The success continued into the new year, with...

To see more on this story pick up the March 9, 2017 print edition of The New Prague Times.