Remembering Russell Reeves: Local remembered for strong work ethic, love for family
January 20, 2015Sorry, the Pro Bowl stinks!
January 20, 2015
Ellender Memorial High School better clear out some room in its athletic trophy cases, because it sure looks like the school is about to win some hardware this spring.
In boys’ basketball, the Patriots are a force. With a 15-6 record, Ellender is widely regarded as the favorite to win a district championship – if not more in Class 4A.
On the girls’ hardwood, the story is the same, and first-year coach Adrian Blake has put the Lady Patriots in the driver’s seat to reach the playoffs and possibly make some noise once there.
Peak across the hall from the school’s gymnasium and into its weight room and the story is the same – athletic success. Ellender’s powerlifting teams have eyes on the biggest prize of all – the state championship.
In existence since 2003-04, the Patriots are chugging along in the weight room – one of many teams now taking part in this swiftly growing sport that’s gaining participants around Louisiana.
The Lady Patriots finished fourth last season in the Division II State Meet, while the boys finished fifth.
This year, the goal is to improve – so much so that when it’s all said and done, Ellender is hoisting the biggest trophy there is to hold.
“We want to win state,” Patriots’ powerlifting coach Corey Bourg said. “We don’t shy away from that goal. To get there, we have to lift hard. And that’s what we’re going to do. In between now and then, we’re going to lift hard.”
For prep powerlifting, the current resurgence in the sport marks a change in the dynamics of the competitors involved.
Bourg said the sport started in Louisiana in 1983 with a pretty clear focus.
“One of the coaches who actually coached me was a man named Randy Johnson,” Bourg said. “He was influential in getting it started. At first, the sport was designed as a way to give kids in football a way to have something to shoot for in the offseason – it was a competition for them to get stronger. But all of a sudden, it grew into a sport all unto its own, which is where we are now. There’s so many people interested in this, and at the South Regional meet, they are expecting to have over 300 lifters.”
At Ellender, that interest is at an all-time high, as the Patriots have close to 30 kids combined in its two programs. Bourg said he has 16 participants on the girls’ team and “about” 12 boys.
Bourg said both teams have lots of talent and will enter the Regional Meet with high hopes. That meet will take place in late-February at Pope John Paul High School.
It all culminates into the 2015 State Powerlifting Meet, which is at West Monroe High School from March 19-21.
“Right now, we’re just working hard and doing everything we can to put ourselves in a position to contend,” Bourg said. “Both of our teams have a lot of talent. It’s up to us to do the work necessary to allow us to chase our goals.”
On the girls’ team, Bourg said Ellender is enjoying a real depth of talent.
“With them, we feel like we’re loaded full – from top to bottom,” Bourg said.
Names like Taylor Holliday, Sarah Dorsey, Melanie Wilson and Hillary Scott are among many that Bourg mentioned when asked about his top performers.
On the boys’ side, the Patriots return defending state champion Kiharia Harris and also Tyler Ledet, Jordan Gauthreaux and Jace Ordoyne, among others.
Bourg said meets are separated into several different weight classes with the champion in each class crowned by the participant who can lift the most total weight among three events – squat, bench press and dead lift.
When asked what it takes to be a good powerlifter, Bourg said the obvious – strength. He then added that it takes a certain fortitude and desire to be successful.
The coach said the Patriots compete in one invitational meet in each season, as well as Regionals and State. Bourg touted that every kid in the program gets his/her regimen personalized to their size, skill and ability so that everyone can be in the best possible position to succeed and compete at a high level.
“It just takes dedication, man. It’s all pure dedication. You have to just be willing to put hours and hours into the weight room,” Bourg said. “You’ve got to suck up the pain, be dedicated and just be willing to be strong-minded so that you can get better. We have a lot of kids with that mentality, which is great, because you have to be really tough to excel at this sport.”
But at the end of the day, there’s a bit of fate and chance involved, as well. Bourg said one of the most nerve-wracking things about powerlifting is the fact that there is so much practice time, but so few competitions.
He said it’s hard for a coach to sleep at night knowing that if a kid does something correctly 100 times in a row at practice, but then struggles to do it in the one meet, then that’s the only thing both he/she and also the team will be judged by.
“We don’t have a large number of games like football and basketball or whatever else,” Bourg said. “Our opportunities to compete are limited, so that definitely is something that plays into it.”
But when it’s all said and done, the Patriots’ coach said his team will continue to clang and bang the weights in the locker room so that they can be in the best-possible position to conquer their goals and take home the biggest trophy in the state of Louisiana.
“I think we’re going to be ready,” Bourg said. “We’re working hard, and we’re eager to chase down our goals.”
After finishing near the top of the pack at last season’s LHSAA State Powerlifting Meet, the Ellender boys’ and girls’ teams have high hopes they’d like to clear in the 2015 season. Led by a slew of championship-level performers, both the Patriots and Lady Patriots enter the stretch run of the season among those favored to contend at the state meet.
