When Española Valley’s Rudy Martinez started a weightlifting program at the behest of a number of his football players, the Sundevils quickly emerged as a force in the New Mexico Activities Association’s new sport of powerlifting.
But those players have moved on, leaving an up-and-coming generation of lifters looking to find their own place pumping iron.
“It’s a real interesting group,” Martinez said. “It’s a smaller guys team. All of our guys that have been with the program since the start have graduated.”
But the coach has high hopes for this group.
“The thing about our program is we try to let all the kids who want to work out try it,” he said. “They don’t have to compete. We also try to work out kids in the other sports. We have 10 going pretty regularly but they are not all going to compete. That’s not bad numbers. I think the numbers are good. The kids are real interested in seeing it and learning.”
Martinez is looking for big guys, senior Dominic Velasquez at the 275-pound weight class and junior Aiden Guinn at 308, as team leaders.
“They’ve been in the program two years and they actually should do OK,” he said. “They’re hitting their personal bests right now and they’re going to be fine.”
But the top candidate to have an impact on the state level, Martinez said, should be junior Lucas Martinez at 165, who attends McCurdy.
“He should be right there in state contention,” the coach said, noting Lucas Martinez was sixth last season in his first season in the sport.
“He’s actually got a real good work ethic and he does a lot of stuff on his own,” Rudy Martinez said. “When he came to us, he had a little bit of experience lifting on his own. With the other guys we had last year, they taught him a lot. He listened and he learned and he just got better and better. He did a lot of work over the past 13-14 months.”
A main goal is setting the Class 4A bench record, which currently sits at 270 and in preseason he was already pushing 265, Rudy Martinez said.
“Hopefully I can break it and make it unreachable for a couple of years,” Lucas Martinez said.
One of his friends from Española Valley encouraged him to try it out and it went really well.
“He told me to come on down and I liked it,” Lucas Martinez said. “I started coming regularly and became a part of the team.”
Working alongside the more experienced lifters last year was a big boon, he said.
“I learned a lot,” Lucas Martinez said. “I learned from a couple of lifters, who had been lifting for a while. Technique and strength.”
Lifting as competition, however, took a bit of getting used to.
“The thing is, it’s a whole different experience,” he said. “It felt bigger. It felt like more pressure, but was also extremely fun and gave me the opportunity to connect with my teammates, as well.”
Power lifting, while a team sport, also is very much an individual pursuit, Lucas Martinez added
“To push myself, to test myself to see how far I can go without breaking,” he said of its appeal. “I have to be willing to get crushed by the weight to even attempt it. I started for health reasons. I just went to the gym. I like being strong and getting big. I always used to be the skinny kid. But this skinny kid can lift a lot of weight.”
Rudy Martinez also is looking for a podium finish from freshman Zoe Benoni at 148. He was lifting last year as an eighth-grader but most meets did not include eighth graders, so he couldn’t go to state.
Sophomore Santiago Trujillo also is making a big push.
“He didn’t get to go state last year, but his numbers have come way up,” Rudy Martinez said. “He worked out all summer and since, he’s just gotten stronger and stronger.”
Senior Adrian Fuentes has been to state twice already and also is expected to make a run for the podium, although his weight class is still being determined.
And newcomer senior Michael Maestas, who was a running back on the Sundevils football team, has turned to powerlifting after several years as a basketball player.
“He’s a strong kid but he’s brand new to the sport,” Rudy Martinez said.
So the bottom line is the coach is looking for another strong season.
“Same as they are every year, my expectations are to be very competitive in every meet we go to,” he said. “I think we have the kids. They don’t have as much experience but they have big hearts and I think they’re going to be all right.”
By Glen Rosales
Special to the SUN
The Española Valley girls powerlifters team has not enjoyed the overall team success of the boys, but it is a program on the rise.
“I’m really happy about the girls side,” coach Rudy Martinez said. “This year we have 10 girls, the most we’ve ever had and three or four of the new ones are already starting to show real promise.”
Heading things for the Sundevils, senior Olivia Suazo is looking to add another championship medal to her trophy case.
“She’s really dedicated,” Martinez said. “She should repeat.”
Junior Nikita Martinez also has a chance at a championship after coming in second a year ago at 198.
“She’s looking stronger this year so I’m expecting big things out of her,” Rudy Martinez said.
Senior Anna Lee Trujillo is looking to take a step up to the podium after finishing fourth at state at 198 and fellow senior Michelle Herrera is looking for a big finish to her career.
As an eighth-grader, Taylyne Aragon took fourth in state and, “I think she has a real good shot at the top of podium,” Rudy Martinez said.
Sarayah Martinez has been showing vast improvement as she strives to qualify for state.
Two newcomers who also are on the spirit squad, Jordan Martinez and Kiara Salinas, could have an impact as they gain experience, Rudy Martinez said.
Herrera, who was fifth last year, is looking to take a big next step after stumbling onto the sport as an eighth grader.
“I walked into the field house leaving another sport that I didn’t care for and I saw all these huge dudes working out,” she recalled. “Coach Rudy approached me and asked me if I wanted to lift. He said, ‘You’re a powerlifter,’ and that’s how I became part of the team.”
Herrera was breaking ground as one of the first female weightlifters in the program.
“Coach Rudy was very welcoming and the team was so warm and energetic,” she said. “It was a different atmosphere from any other sport I’ve ever done. I enjoy the independence and the reward you get independently achieving a goal. It’s so rewarding like no other sport. The adrenaline rush you get when you set a personal record is just amazing.”
At state last year, she hit all of her lifts, giving her confidence going into her final season.
“It was just such an accomplishment to make it to state,” Herrera said. “Only the top 10 get to go, so just to get there is a huge accomplishment itself. Now I’m working to gain new weight and work toward new personal records. I’m attempting to take the state title. I’ve gone through two knee surgeries. I’ve been up and down on my own personal self. But I continue to grind and work on new things.”
Herrera plans to attend Northern Arizona University after graduation and looks to join the powerlifting club there.
“I’m constantly telling people how amazing the sport is,” she said. “It doesn’t need to be your life, it just needs to be part of your lifestyle. When I find a girl who wants to do a sport but doesn’t want to be there every breathing moment, I tell her about powerlifting.”
It’s attitudes like that, Rudy Martinez said, that is helping grow the girls program.
“More and more people are finding out about it,” he said. “We’re working out a lot more girls who aren’t going to compete. Basketball players and track girls and some softball players. The enthusiasm these kids have, I can’t even tell you about it. It’s off the charts.”