Sports: Hurricanes pass test at county meet

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Hurricanes pass test at county meet

Justin Cretty and five others win to lead Citrus to second straight title.

By KEITH NIEBUHR, Times Staff Writer

CRYSTAL RIVER -- Justin Cretty sat on the bench as his Citrus teammates won the county title in 2002.

He didn't like the feeling.

So during the offseason, he played football, added muscle and improved his technique. Wednesday, Cretty not only competed at the county meet but won. Five other Hurricanes took first and Citrus won the championship with 60 points, 32 ahead of Crystal River and 39 more than Lecanto.

"I'm surprised," Cretty said. "I didn't think I'd go this far."

Cretty, a sophomore and state qualifier at 119 pounds, bench pressed 180 pounds and lifted the same amount in the clean and jerk to tie his personal-best total.

His teammates also shined.

Of Citrus' 19 lifters, 15 had career days.

And of the seven Hurricanes who have qualified for next week's Class A state meet, five -- T.C. Arnold (199), Cretty, Rob Holdaway (139), Dan Marinelli (HVY) and Mike Maxwell (219) -- were first in their weight class. Jason Liptrap (154) also won.

"We're just trying to get everybody to max out to their potential," Citrus coach Jonny Bishop said. "I needed to find out what some guys' ceilings are. We were using this as a test."

And did the Hurricanes pass?

"Yes," he said. "Overall, I'm very pleased. This was a good measuring tool."

Crystal River's wins came from Ben Gagne (129) and Scott Guastella (169). Guastella, a junior, has won all but one meet this season. He was second at sectionals, which qualified him for state. He tied his personal-best total (535) Wednesday.

"I put it all on the line," Guastella said. "Every time I come to a meet I try to beat my personal best, no matter what meet it is."

Tyler Boyd (238), a state qualifier, and Phil Reed (183) earned Lecanto's wins. Boyd also was the county champion last year. He said he used the meet as a warmup for state.

"I wanted to do just as much as I needed to win," Boyd said. "At state I'll try to set my personal best."