BISHOP SHOWS STRENGTH AT POWERLIFTING MEETS — The town of Bishop has plenty to boast about with three of their powerlifters recently pacing in the top five during national events. Travis Charles (center) won the 123 pound division and Nocky Garza (left) placed second in the 165 pound division of the USAPL Men’s Nationals Power Lifting Championships held in Palm Springs, Calif., in June. Gizel Morales (right) took third in the 198-plus pound division at the USAPL Women’s Nationals meet held in Cleveland, Ohio in May. (Photo by Rey Sifuentes Jr.) Three Bishop High School powerlifters finished amongst the top of their respective divisions at recent national events.

At competitions, powerlifters are given three attempts to raise as much weight as possible in the bench press, squat and dead-lift maneuvers. The highest total in all three maneuvers is then tabulated and competitors are placed accordingly. Noe Barrera coached all three of the competitors.

TRAVIS CHARLES

Travis Charles won the 123 pound division at the USAPL Men’s Nationals meet held in Palm Springs, Calif., on June 19-20.

He dead-lifted 410, squatted 390 and bench pressed 205; for a total of 1,005.

“It was really exciting winning nationals during my first time,” Charles said. “There were 18 competitors against me and all of them were very good. The competition was hard.”

Charles had to perform with plenty of eyes and cameras watching.

“I was really nervous because they had cameras and stuff there,” Charles said. “I had to perform there in the middle of it all with everyone there which was kind of nerve-racking.”

A high school junior this upcoming year, Charles wants to continue his flourishing career with a run at state.

“I am really looking forward to it and am already training for it right now,” Charles said. “We have been working out every week Monday through Friday with Wednesday as our break. That has helped our totals go up.”

NOCKY GARZA

Nocky Garza finished second in the 165 pound division of the USAPL Men’s Nationals meet held in Palm Springs, Calif., on June 19-20.

“Competing there was excellent, I really liked it,” Garza, who recently graduated from BHS, said. “There were about 30 people in my weight class and about 12 in my actual age division.”

Garza dead-lifted 465, squatted 460 and bench pressed 265 for a final of 1,190. Placing near the top was no walk in the park, Garza mentioned, as his division was loaded with several worthy opponents.

“They were all really good, there were guys who I looked at and did not think they were in my weight class but they were so the competition was pretty intense,” Garza said. “This was way different than state, this was a huge event. But once I got up on stage, all of my experience from previous high school meets came into play and I felt the pressure just go away.”

GIZEL MORALES

Gizel Morales finished third in the 198-plus pound division of the USAPL Women’s Nationals meet held in Cleveland, Ohio on May 22.

Morales squatted 448, dead-lifted 336 and benched 242.5; for a final tally of 1,026.5.

“There were 19 girls in my division and then we were divided up into age groups where we ended up with nine,” Morales said. “It was really intense competing against other girls whom I had never seen.”

A senior next year, Morales is ready to again take on the competition at both state and national competitions.

“It was great being the first athlete from Bishop to compete at this event,” Morales said. “Now as an upcoming senior, I am hoping to win state and break the squat records for both state and nationals.”