By Glen Rosales
Special to the SUN

RIO RANCHO — A state record and a near-miss marked the efforts of the Española Valley athletes competing in the high school state power lifting championships at the Rio Rancho Event Center this past weekend.

While senior Olivia Suazo came up five pounds short in her quest for consecutive individual state championships, McCurdy junior Lucas Martinez, who competes for the Sundevils because the Bobcats do not have a power lifting program, set a record in the bench press, pushing up 265 lbs.

“I’m very happy,” Española coach Rudy Martinez said. “I was taken off guard at how big the other schools have gotten and how much weight was being thrown around, both boys and girls. All kinds of state records fell. The kids that we took, were a little bit surprised, too, but I thought they were ready for it and competed well.”

Lucas Martinez ended up fourth in the Class 4A 148 lb. weight class after lifting a total of 985 lbs. across three disciplines, while teammate Zoe Bendijo was just behind in fifth with 980 lbs.

Those were the only points the boys collected for Española.

“We were all pretty much amazed,” Rudy Martinez said. “Just four years ago, at our state meet, there were two kids benching 300 (in the state) and now four kids went over 400. A 300-pound squat was pretty good. Now we had a kid hit 705. It’s amazing how the totals have gone up and how competitive it’s gotten. And I’m very proud to say that we were in there and competing with anybody in the state.”

Seeing Lucas Martinez achieve a goal was a big achievement, Rudy Martinez said, adding he bettered the old mark by 30 lbs.

“Lucas is one of those kids, he goes hard, and when he goes hard, he really goes hard,” Rudy Martinez said. “He doesn’t know how to take a break. But that (the record) was one of our goals from the outset.”

Bendijo making a large leap was also a big move, but the Sundevils have a way to go to get back to where the program was.

“Right now, I think the kids who are in the program, we are very satisfied with,” Rudy Martinez said. “Power lifting does nothing but good things. My biggest problem is recruitment of new competitors. If I’m not on campus, I can’t recruit, so what I really need to do is get some help from the administration to let all sports know what it does for them.”

Suazo is prime example of that, as she’s been a member of the weight lifting team for four years, getting a third place finish, two runner-ups and a championship as a junior. She also is a top performer on the Sundevils tennis team, as well as the volleyball team.

“I thought Olivia performed well,” Rudy Martinez said. “Losing by five pounds is no crime by any stretch of the imagination. Olivia, from the time she was freshman to a senior, was on the podium four times. We need more of that Olivia Suazo attitude in Española. She can overcome the odds.”

What she couldn’t quite overcome in her 105 lb. weight class was being a little too aggressive on her second deadlift, going for 225 lbs. instead of a safer, lighter weight.

“I think I just went too high for my second lift, and, especially knowing not the judges were being kind of picky all day. So it’s my fault,” Suazo said. “It’s just my fault. I shouldn’t have gone so high on my second lift because I could have done 200 and still had it in the bag.”

While disappointed with the end result, Suazo said there was plenty to gain from the experience, as well.

“If there’s anything I learned this year, it’s I have the grit and dedication to do anything that I want to,” she said. “It helped me see that I can push through the challenges in life and that, yeah, some things are going to be challenging, and yes, you won’t always have the outcome, no matter how hard you work out. But that’s okay because you can always learn something along the way.”

And that’s most important thing, said Suazo, who will be attending Louisiana State in the fall.

“For me, that’s the biggest thing for me, is just learning and experiencing and making memories and learning lessons that will last my whole life and help me grow as a person and individually,” she said.