Sunlake High School’s annual Beauty and The Beast tournaments feature the Girl’s Weightlifting and Boy’s Wrestling team both separately competing against a multitude of different schools. In the large gymnasium filled with student athletes competing in Wrestling and Weightlifting personal records, the intense energy coming from each competitor crowded the room.
Naomi Quick, the current captain of the Girl’s Weightlifting team, says, “It was intense but so much fun. There was a ton of adrenaline running through my head but at the same time so much excitement in the lively gym.” Joining the weightlifting team during freshman year and now moving into her junior year, she truly felt the energy from this year’s Beauty and The Beast event, which also served as Senior Night for the athletes who were commemorating their last year in Weightlifting or Wrestling.
This year, the Girl’s Weightlifting team scored some amazing achievements to be proud of. Naomi says, “Our team got first place in Olympic and Traditional for this year’s meet!” She also got a personal record on snatch, a weightlifting movement, which she was proud of. She notes, “I feel like I did a very good performance at this meet.” By far, it has been one of her favorite meets of the year. Another female athlete in the Weightlifting team, Ruby Rowe, says “I placed third on Olympic and Traditional,” highlighting the team’s efforts and courage for this meet.
The gymnasium was shared by two separate sports teams: Girl’s Weightlifting and the Boy’s Wrestling teams. These teams from all over the district were brought together for one special occasion. Turning her head to see different sports with athletes on separate teams gave this meet a different feel to Naomi, saying “It was pretty cool to look over and see the other sport, with half of the gym being weightlifting and the other being people wrestling.” The shared environment made the energy in the room even more lively and exciting, marking a memorable moment for everyone. Ruby says, “The atmosphere in the room was extremely intense and exciting for all of us there,” Especially as the senior weightlifters were preparing to perform at their best level and give it their all, everyone was amped and ready to go all out. The event not only reflected the intense competition but truly showed the dedication and unity of the team athletes, even in individual sports. The huge Beauty and the Beast meet gave every athlete in the room the power and determination achieved through effort and teamwork.
