GO MO

By Millie Diaz

Managing Editor

When Alexis Mojica lifted 370 pounds in her third round of the deadlift, she smiled when she threw her shoulders back.

Her smile was huge because Mojica knew she’d just won the gold medal at the State powerlifting meet. After the final lift she ran to hug her coach, Johny Lesak and she said, “I did it.”

Coach Lesak responded: “Finally, you deserve this so much.”

The Ganado senior has been through some physical struggles over her high school career, and in more sports than just powerlifting. As a freshman she injured herself lifting, and continued to have little problems over the years, but still won the bronze medal as a junior at the 2017 state powerlifting meet.

Just this year, Mojica suffered through a concussion at the beginning of volleyball season and was afraid she wasn’t going to be able to lift at all this year, but she did what she does best: push through.

Lesak said Mojica never said no when it came to pushing herself or trying new things. “She does everything she’s supposed to do, she never missed workouts and she ate what she was supposed to.”

Mojica experienced her first cryotherapy session before the regional powerlifting meet, and said it worked wonders for her muscles. “Cryotherapy is like an ice bath times ten, but without getting wet. The temperature goes to negative 100 degrees, so it’s really, really cold, but SO worth it,” she said. “I felt rejuvenated after cryotherapy, so I wanted to do it again before the state meet, especially because I’d been working extra hard and my muscles were sore.”

*For the full article, buy a Jackson County Herald Tribune newspaper or purchase an online subscription.