Germantown junior MacKenzie Wells is a world champion.
"At State, I did really well," Wells says. "And then Nationals, I also did really well. And then (head coach Scott) Schubert talked to me and he was like hey you might have a shot of going to Worlds and I was like oh, ok!"
The teen took two golds and two silvers in Romania at the International Powerlifting Federation World Championships.
"That was my first time traveling out of the U.S.," Wells says. "So I was a little stressed about traveling and stuff. And I don't really like long airplane rides, so that was something I wasn't super excited for. But actually, it was really nice. Getting there went really smoothly. I don't know. Packing was, I packed last minute. That wasn't really good."
Rio Sanyaolu also won silver in squat and deadlift.
"Honestly I was aiming for the podium as best as I could. I mean, things don't go our way. But I was happy with how I did," Sanyaolu says. "Leading up to it? I had the strength and conditioning. Oooh, well that felt easy."
Both representing the USA meant a lot.
"It was a big honor in my opinion. I mean I had friends from home congratulating me. And I didn't, I was just, it hit me when I got back that oh, I just represented my whole country," Sanyaolu says.
"Ten months ago? If you told me I'd be representing Team USA at the international level? I would have been like, that's not happening. You're lying to me," Wells says.
And since both are high schoolers, you'll likely hear from them again.
"Coming from soccer, to football, to powerlifting, and then to track? It's more or less keeping myself fit," Sanyaolu says. "As best fit as possible. It also helped with powerlifting. And how I'm conditioned with my body kept me in weight check. And I can, the sky's the limit honestly. Whew, that felt nice."
Powerlifting as a sport continues to grow. And getting to see the world as a high school student, is priceless.
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