Senior Miles Nigh scrolls through social media, he stops, and zones in. He presses on a high school powerlifting ad, posted by powerlifting coach and theology teacher Alex Hall. The post sparks a big picture in Nigh’s head. “Why not,” he thinks to himself, as the idea of creating a powerlifting club at De Smet grows into his imagination.
“Why not have fun doing it, and have something where I can challenge myself,” Nigh said.
Will Timmons ‘24 and Nigh became members of the first powerlifting club in the MCC
this past year. The club competes in different training blocks once every 6 months against other local St. Louis area high schools. Hall will be running the show, with his pro powerlifting experience.
“It means helping people grow and trying to inspire people because powerlifting can be tough,” Hall said. “I think a big part of being in charge of the powerlifting club is getting people to realize, no matter if you’re super big or not, that there is a path towards progress for anybody.”
Nigh’s lifting journey started when he set the goal of getting stronger, and he hasn’t stopped since. He raises the bar every time he steps foot in the gym, and he used that as encouragement to start the club.
“Competition was a way for me to have a goal and then set PRs that I wanted to hit and try to beat,” Nigh said. “It’s a way to challenge myself.”
The club opened new doors for the school and will see more competitors filling in the shoes Nigh and Timmons will leave behind this summer, after graduation.
“When the younger guys see the older kids and how much we have in the gym, it’s like a different experience,” Nigh said. “It doesn’t matter how much you can lift, I think it’s for anyone.”
Powerlifting has been recently gaining popularity in high schools across the United States, particularly as more schools recognize its benefits for student-athletes.
“I can see it becoming a big thing in people’s offseasons for their sports,” Nigh said. “It impacts the other sports they play.”
When Timmons and Nigh go out and compete, they represent the school, but their scores stay individual.
“One thing that I love to emphasize is gravity doesn’t care, it still pulls the bar down,” Hall said. “And in some ways, that’s really what life is about, sometimes life doesn’t care and you have to push through it or you got to try everything that you can.”
