Noxapater’s Raleigh Grace Parker entered her senior year thinking she might go to college at the University of West Alabama.
But an encounter with Noxapater powerlifting coach Jon Cates changed all of that.
Cates encouraged Parker to join the powerlifting team to “help her in softball.”
Parker eventually qualified for the state powerlifting meet in the 97-pound weight class, where she finished second in her class with a total of 455 pounds. During that meet, a recruiter from Blue Mountain College spotted Parker and liked what he saw, offering Parker a scholarship on the spot.
“The guy saw her at the state meet and actually offered her after she did her bench press,” Cates said. “He didn’t even see her do deadlift. He went and talked with her parents. It’s their first year to do powerlifting and the 97-pound class is such a hard one because most of them growing out of it. But she’s the size she’s going to be.”
Cates said Parker has made leaps in her lifts since starting in January.
“This was her first year to ever lift and she has made some impressive jumps since January when she started lifting,” Cates said. “She has a lot of drive and determination. She’s the kind of kid that you put the workout on the board and she’s going to do it and then some. She was worried about getting big and bulky but she’s not going to do that. It’s just not in her frame. After that first meet, she just fell in love with it and has worked really hard.”
Parker, who is class president and one of the top graduates in her class, already had her college plans made..
“She was going to UWA but came and told me that she had forgotten to go pay for her room and board next year,” Cates said. “Then the Blue Mountain thing came along. She went up for a visit and signed right after the tour. She said she didn’t have to think about it at all, that it was a perfect fit for her. She was ecstatic when they offered. She had no idea that there were scholarships available. She jumped all over it.”
Parker is the first-ever girl to sign a powerlifting scholarship from Noxapater and Cates hopes she won’t be the first.
“Her signing has helped us recruit some more girls,” Cates said. “We had some girls that were on the fence but after hearing what these girls did this year and Raleigh Grace getting a scholarship, we’ve got a lot more girls interested. If we can dress a full tea, I feel like this is something that Noxapater can be really successful in. I think we have a chance to be really good in this sport. And even though we only had seven girls this year, I think we competed really well against schools that were a lot bigger.”
