At six o’clock in the morning many of us are asleep.  However, amid clouds of chalk and plates of iron in the Pine Crest weight room, a handful of girls are preparing for the weightlifting season under the guidance of Coach Blair.  High School Weightlifting is rather simple in nature.  In competition two lifts are contested: the clean and jerk and the bench-press.  The lifter with the highest total between the two lifts wins, and in the case of a tie, the lifter with a lower bodyweight wins.  What few people understand, however, is the amount of training, time, and dedication put in by these athletes to build up the necessary strength, balance, flexibility, and technique required to execute these movements.  Strength is only one aspect out of many that must be developed to mold a great weightlifter.  Between sets at an afternoon practice session, I had the privilege of speaking to seniors Ravila Bhimani and Emily Blumberg about the weightlifting squad.  Both expressed confidence in their team and the desire to build a strong team not only for this year but for years to come.  To girls at the Pine considering joining this dedicated group of student-athletes they said, “join weightlifting, it will help you in upcoming seasons for other sports.  You’ll get stronger, not bulkier, and although you might be a little sore…it’s worth it.”  The team’s new coach Christina Blair expressed her excitement for the upcoming season stating that she looks forward to making our Lady Panthers stronger.