PV sophomore repeats as state champ

By Quentin Jodie | Apr 10, 2025 | Sports |

RIO RANCHO, N.M. – The New Mexico State Powerlifting Championships crowned a plethora of winners.

In the Class 5A girls championship, Piedra Vista senior Haleigh Doyle eked out her second consecutive state crown at 97 pounds.

“I was the state champion last year, so I’m a two-timer now,” Doyle said. “I’m so excited because I really had a pretty rough start. I honestly almost bombed out and I wasn’t expecting to get first this year, but I’m just super thankful that I was able to pull myself together.”

The PV sophomore finished with a weight total of 475 pounds, which included 145-pound effort for squat, 105 for bench press and 225 for deadlift.

But in the last event, she struggled. Things didn’t go so well in her first two attempts in the deadlift competition as she was red-lighted on that platform.

“I got them up, but they just didn’t count,” Doyle said of her first two attempts.

Of the three disciplines, Doyle says deadlift is her strongest.

“I like to bench, but my deadlift is like my strongest,” she said. “I honestly probably hate deadlift after what just happened, but usually that’s my favorite.”

As for why her first two deadlift attempts didn’t count, Doyle was told that she was hitching, which is an infraction when the lifter “jerks” the bar either in a downward or upward motion.

“For my last lift, I pulled it together and I got it up,” Doyle said. “I was so scared that I wasn’t gonna make it.”

With two more years before she graduates, Doyle is looking to close out her prep career with a bang.

“Honestly, my goal is to be a four-timer,” the PV powerlifter said. “That would be amazing.”