Central's Jaylen DeHoyos shatters records to claim class 6A state powerlifting title
At first glance, San Angelo Central senior Jaylen DeHoyos looks like an average 19-year-old student with curly brown hair. Underneath her initial appearance, though, is the 2024 Class 6A state champion powerlifter in the 123-pound weight class.
DeHoyos became the state champion after lifting a total of 965 pounds across three lifts — bench press, deadlift and squat. Her 410-pound squat put her overall weight score 100 pounds clear of the second-place finisher, shattering the previous squat record.
“It’s intimidating,” Central powerlifting coach Billy Rogers said. “She’s a 123-pound girl and she lifts heavier weights than I ever lifted.”
The journey to champion
DeHoyos started powerlifting as a freshman after her mom introduced her to the sport, who was also a powerlifter in high school.
HS TRACK: Track Honor Roll: Who has the best marks in West Texas this season?
CENTRAL GOLF: Central's Vaughn, Leonard lead golf to third place finish at 2024 San Angelo Boys Classic
“After my freshman year, I was like, ‘I think I can actually be good at this,’” DeHoyos said. “And so after my sophomore year I started getting better and improving in each of my skills.”
As a sophomore, DeHoyos placed first in Region 1 and made her first trip to state where she finished 10th. The next year, she also finished with top marks in the region and took home the bronze medal at the state championship.
This year, she aimed for more.
“(DeHoyos) had said at the beginning of the year, ‘I think I can be a state champion.’” Rogers said.
Her first test this year was at the regional meet in Big Spring where she again took home first place breaking the regional records for all three lifts and overall weight. She finished with an overall weight of 965 pounds, with 185 pounds in the bench press, 375 pounds on the deadlift and 405 pounds on the squat in the 123-pound weight class.
After setting the record for every lift at regionals, Rogers said DeHoyos started to believe she could become a state champion.
“When you look at Jaylan, she didn’t win a state championship overnight,” Rogers said. “That was four years of hard work that she had to put in. There is a lifting season, but if you’re going to be good at it, there’s really no offseason. You’ve got to be lifting all throughout the year and getting bigger and stronger, which she has done.”
Motivation through lifting
For DeHoyos, powerlifting was always about the journey. She said she found motivation through reaching milestones, and going to the gym and lifting eventually became a part of her everyday life — another opportunity to hit a lifting goal.
Beyond her own intrinsic motivation, she said she always felt inspiration from the cheers of her family and friends, but also from the competition.
“At regionals, I really saw that people were still cheering for me no matter if I was beating them or not,” DeHoyos said. “I just think it’s like really cool to have people support me even though I’m going against them.”
DeHoyos plans to continue powerlifting past high school and plans to accept an offer from Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska — one of the top powerlifting programs in the country. While DeHoyos said she had other offers closer to home, she appreciated the support system the college offered and the positivity of the program.
“She’s a straight-A student,” Rogers said. “I barely even checked her grades because I knew they were going to be good… which doesn’t really mesh with the kind of jock weightlifter routine.”
Paul Witwer covers high school sports and Angelo State University sports for The San Angelo Standard-Times. Reach him at sports@gosanangelo.com. Follow him on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, @Paul_Witwer.
ALL-WEST TEXAS: Central's Nevaeh Hearne, Robert Lee's Kailey Freeman named the All-West Texas Co-MVP's
ALL-WEST TEXAS: Reagan County's Kason Brown highlights the 2024 All-West Texas boys basketball teams
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Central's Jaylen DeHoyos shatters records to claim state powerlifting title
