FREER, Texas — A young high schooler from Freer has a lot of people sitting up and taking notice.
With a dead lift of 390 pounds, Freer High Schools' Daphnie Laymon became the class 2A State champion in powerlifting.
"I knew that if I didn’t get that lift that I wasn’t going to win State, but I knew if I got that lift I was going to be a state champion," Laymon said. "So when I went up there I just kind of cleared my head and told myself I can do it, and when I was picking up, I felt the struggle. I just let out a scream and came right up.”
Laymon adds that she also played basketball and volleyball, but powerlifting is her favorite.
"I wasn’t very fond of it at first," Laymon said. "But once I really got into it and started putting dedication into lifting and working hard in the weight room it just started coming to me, and I started enjoying it a lot.”
Freer HS Coach Raul Villarreal III has coached powerlifters for some 25 years and even a few State champions. He believes Laymon has the heart of a champion.
"Daphnie is all about goals," Villarreal said. "Daphnie is all about breaking records and she’s all about doing the impossible.”
There's a possibility that the young powerlifter could repeat as state champion next year since she’s only a junior.
"I definitely can’t relax, I got to prepare myself for next year, because next year I’m gonna win again," Layman said.
All of Layman's hard work in the weight room could pay off soon. The junior now has scholarship offers from a number of colleges.
Laymon's mother, Jessica Garcia, is proud of her and hopes she repeats as state champion. However, she’s not too thrilled about the idea of her taking a college scholarship and moving far away from home.
"She wants to go far away from me, but I want her to be close to me," Garcia said.
As for now, while mom and daughter try to pick the right college, the weight room is where the young champion knows she’s got to hit hard knowing she has a tittle to defend.
More from 3News on KIIITV.com:
- Celebrating a Tejano music legend, 'Selena' returns to theaters for quarter-century anniversary
- Woman arrested after giving her newborn to stranger on the street, Corpus Christi police say
- Spring Break shooting injures three on Corpus Christi beach
- Survivor's powerful story of recovery & strength becomes focus of new documentary
- Spring Breaker billed almost $3K for water rescue after video shows he intentionally jumped off Cole Park Pier
- New federal grant will aid in the crackdown of drug trafficking in Bishop
Want to send us a news tip?
Put your name and contact information below so we can get in touch with you about your story should we have questions or need more information. We realize some stories are sensitive in nature. Let us know if you'd like to remain anonymous.
If you do not have a photo/video to submit, just click "OK" to skip that prompt.