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River Ridge girls get pumped up for weightlifting

The Royal Knights add 11 more lifters.

By FRANK PASTOR
Published December 11, 2005

NEW PORT RICHEY - Try getting a teenage girl to sacrifice her social life for months to lift weights after school. Hand her a singlet and tell her it's her required uniform.

Convince her to step on a scale and have her weight revealed to all. Ask her for a $50 entry fee, then tell her she might only compete in three meets all season.

When you're done, find another girl and make the same pitch all over again.

This is what River Ridge coach Mike DeGennaro is up against as he puts together a girls weightlifting team.

"It's hard to get a girl to do it," DeGennaro said.

And yet, year after year, he creates one of the county's strongest squads.

River Ridge hasn't placed lower than third in the Sunshine Athletic Conference in any season under DeGennaro since the mid 1990s. During that span, the Royal Knights have won one conference championship and placed second in all but two seasons.

This year should be no exception. Armed with 11 more lifters than it had for last season's SAC meet, where it placed second, River Ridge expects to challenge defending champion Zephyrhills for county supremacy again. "We're close to a full team this year; I think that'll help us," DeGennaro said. "We got second last year with only seven girls lifting. (Wednesday), at our first meet, we had 18 girls. If we can go to conference with 18 to the full 20 which are allowed, I think we'll be able to compete with Zephyrhills."

After defeating Mitchell and Gulf in a tri-meet on Wednesday, River Ridge appears well on its way.

The Royal Knights are led by two-time state qualifiers Michelle Miller (199 pounds or unlimited) and Jessica Baxter (154). All-conference lifters Kayla McDonald (139) and Brittany Castelamare (154 or 169) are back, supported by newcomers Brianna Hooker (101 or 110) and Mary Coursen (119).

"The girls have been lifting really hard," DeGennaro said. "As a group, this is probably the most intense group I've had. They're here after school every day working hard. In the past, I couldn't get a lot of them to do that."

DeGennaro says there's no secret to River Ridge's success.

He seeks out the stronger, more athletic girls in school and asks them to encourage their friends to join them in the weight room. It helps, too, when coaches of other sports such as Ernie Beck (softball), Heidi Castelamare (volleyball) and Dave Heywood (track) push their athletes toward weightlifting.

Hooker and Coursen have been involved in gymnastics, where they are forced to lift their body weight every day in practice. Castelamare plays volleyball, Miller softball. Freshman Jami Glowatsky's background includes diving and gymnastics.

DeGennaro has coached wrestling and football at River Ridge but will have more time for weightlifting after stepping down as football coach last month. Unlike past seasons, when he was tied up until November, he can start working with his lifters as early as September or October next year.

"I feel I'm spending more time with the girls on their workouts," DeGennaro said. "I'm not in (the weight room) concerned that everybody's lifting weights. I open the weight room and I told the kids I will open it until they hire a football coach so they have a place to lift, but I'm not as focused on them as on helping the girls."

Then, he's back in the hallways, looking for more.

[Last modified December 11, 2005, 02:15:36]