BAKER — Mary Oglesby and Mykala McCranie don’t lack strength.
That never was an issue for them in the weight room.
The Baker seniors can bench press at least 190 pounds with ease. They can handle the pressure of a state meet and the butterflies associated.
But the challenge for them — for most weightlifters, really — is form, specifically on the clean and jerk.
“In the power clean and jerk,” Baker coach David Oglesby said, “you really have to learn that technique to master it.”
Mastering takes time. Mary Oglesby, the coach’s daughter, started competitive weightlifting in sixth grade. McCranie began in eighth grade.
Not until junior year did they finally “get it.” Not until senior year did “getting it” mean “winning it.”
LIFELONG DREAM
“I told them both,” coach Oglesby said, “if they kept working, they’d be state champions.”
The two — Oglesby in the 183-pound weight class and McCranie in the unlimited class — captured individual Class 1A state championships this season. That means All-Area Girls Weightlifters of the Year honors comes, joining Navarre’s trio of state champions with the honors.
“I’ve been doing this for so long,” Oglesby said. “It was the thing I always wanted.”
They didn’t have much competition, even in the biggest competition.
Oglesby finished the bench press with 190 pounds and 175 for the clean and jerk, giving her a 365-pound total and 15-pound win.
McCranie walked up to her first clean and jerk try needing only 175 points. Her coach described that as a “warm-up.” She got all the way to 205, adding to her 210-pound lift on the bench press to win the championship by 45 pounds.
“She’s country strong,” coach Oglesby said. “She hunts and moves hay. When she came in here, she just had to learn technique.”
DEVELOPING TECHNIQUE
Technique is what separates a state qualifier from a state placer, and then a state placer from a state winner.
On the clean and jerk, a lot depends on the lifter’s “squat style.” If the lifter is using all arms, it’s tougher. If she is squatting to get the bar and plates to her chest, and then rising up as she lifts above her head, the potential is there to lift more weight.
“First, I was doing it my way,” McCranie said. “When I went to state, I saw people doing it a different way.”
That was her freshman year. So it took that long to re-teach herself proper mechanics.
“Even with it being five years,” McCranie said, “I have to watch it with my heels.”
They earned the opportunity to relax a bit on mechanics once they clinched the championships. Then again, this pair never wanted to relax.
Even with two gold medals all but around their necks, they kept going for more.
Like said before, there is no lack of strength in these Gators.
“It was nice to have that comfort,” Mary Oglesby said, “but you can never let your guard down. The adrenaline and drive is still there.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Baker duo masters art of lift in state title quest