Hawks lift off!

When it comes to Thompson Falls weightlifting, there is only one Sarah Detlaff, the legendary Hawk lifter who graduated just last year, completing her time in the sport with two individual state titles and four records to her name.

But it turns out that there is another rising star in the world of Blue Hawk weightlifting, and her name is Chesney Lowe, a TFHS sophomore who broke one of Detlaff's state records on her way to second place in the 132-pound division in Helena Saturday.

Competing along with several classmates from Thompson Falls at the Montana Powerlifting Championships at Capitol High, Lowe powered up 130 pounds on a bench press to shatter Detlaff's old record in that category. Put together with her squat, deadlift and final total and Lowe had totaled enough weight to claim second in her weight class.

Pushing up some impressive heavy metal in Helena in their own fights for lifting honors, freshman Nathan Cottingham won second place overall in the Men's 123-pound division, and senior Jody Detlaff, Sarah's younger sister, claimed second place in the Women's 165 class.

Also competing for coach Jared Koskela (who was assisted by the record-holding Sarah Detlaff in Helena) were seniors Josey Neesvig, Dane Chojnacky and Nathan Ostwald, junior Owen Cottingham and freshmen Blakely Lakko and Hayden Hanks.

Koskela said technique counts a lot in weightlifting. "Our kids performed well but a few of them became casualties of the strict demands of commands and technique that this meet has," he said. "But lessons were learned and we all had fun.

"Weightlifting helps athletes in all their other sports so we had a wide range and variety of kids interested and wanting to compete this time," he added. "I hope to keep this culture going."

Koskela said Sarah Detlaff, who still holds the 132-pound squat, deadlift and overall records, became nervous when an athlete from another part of Montana looked like she may break her existing squat record.

"I joked that we needed a blood pressure cuff on her because Sarah's blood pressure is probably going through the roof right now," he said. "But the girl failed on her second attempt and Sarah's record stays put for at least one more year!"

Koskela obviously has ulterior motives when it comes to coaching weightlifting, as he feels it helps athletes excel in their "other" sports as well, and he is the head coach of the football and softball teams at TFHS.