VOORHEESVILLE — They have been doing some heavy lifting in Voorheesville.

A group of athletes — mostly football players and wrestlers — competed in the Schuylerville Invitational Weightlifting Championship on June 10.
"I take a group of kids that have been weight training and take them to a couple of competitions a year," said Joseph Sapienza, Voorheesville’s athletic director and football coach. "The competition at Schuylerville had six other Class C football schools."

Dan Flynn was the big winner for Voorheesville at the Schuylerville competition. The 16-year-old swept the Super-Heavyweight Class, winning first-place medals in all the events.

Flynn bench-pressed 310 pounds, squatted 425 pounds, and lifted 225 in the power clean. He also received a first-place trophy for the highest overall ratio of lifted weight to body weight.
"He trained nine months of the year for the event," said Flynn’s father, Tom. "We lifted three days a week, doing power lifting."

Dan Whiteley, who is just 14, won a first-place medal in the squat with a lift of 350 pounds. He finished second in the bench press with 210 pounds in the 175-pound weight class.

Adam Duncan, 16, received a second-place medal for squat, lifting 355 pounds in the 195-pound weight class.

Sean Fitzmaurice, Alex Zvinovski, and Charlie McGrail also competed.
"It’s primarly a football thing," Sapienza said. "It’s done with the football kids. I take a certain number of kids that just play football and lift year-round. It keeps them interested in lifting and to see how they match up with other kids."

Flynn and Whiteley also train at No Limits Fitness in Voorheesville with the owner, Mike Braet, Sapienza said.

A group of lifters also compete at a meet in the winter that is put on by Top Form Strength Training and Physical Therapy group.

The competition on Saturday was sponsored by the Schuylerville Football Booster Club.
"Last year was the first year we did it," Sapienza said. "Last year, we didn’t have the success. This year, we had a significant group of kids that were interested in it. It is an outlet for the kids and they saw what it was all about. They saw the type of numbers that were there and how much they have to lift to have success at the meet."

And it has attracted a small group of athletes who use the training as preparation for football.
"The biggest thing this time of year is that we have guys that do it," Sapienza said of weight lifting. "We have guys in the gym this week. The kids have a lot of other things going on but they are very committed to it."