Story by Hershey Powerlifting
Hershey 8th grader, Jaxon Parker, competed at the USAPL High School Nationals Powerlifting tournament over the past week. In just his second powerlifting tournament, Parker set state records in the squat, bench, and deadlift, for his age group, and brought home the silver medal.
His coach, who is also his father, talked about Jaxon's accomplishment. "This is the first year that junior high athletes have been invited to compete, so this was a big deal. Jaxon competed at the Cornhusker State Games this summer, and when we found out that he had lifted enough weight to qualify for Nationals, Jaxon accepted the challenge, and really went to work in our garage, where we lift." Parker went on to talk about Jaxon's performance. "He had to really push to get that silver medal. In fact, it came down to the last deadlift attempt to see if he got the silver or the bronze. It was really tough competition; the kid who got first has set over a hundred records and won multiple state and national titles already, at just fourteen years old. But, Jaxon showed a lot of composure, especially in just his second powerlifting meet ever, to hang in there and just keep competing. I'm just very proud of him, both as his coach and as his Dad. It was a lot of fun to get to see your own kid out there competing like that."
Jaxon will now turn his attention to track and field at Hershey, where he is a shot putter and discus thrower. As to his son's future in powerlifting? "We'll have to see. He wants to go back to Cornhusker State Games this summer, but it depends on his football practice schedule and things like that. Going in as a freshman next year would create an entirely different set of qualifying totals and a whole new group of competitors. We'll just see what happens."