Addie Paris might not be the best thrower in Missouri, but she might be the strongest. The Kearney senior is a national champion power lifter and recently set the hang-clean record for her weight class in Oklahoma City.
“At nationals you get three attempts and the first attempt is just to make you get a weight in and you go up from that. I got all my first lifts and then I started jumping up from there and then all my lifts except for bench press I went for records. I got a fourth attempt to break the American or world record that has already been set. I broke the hang clean record and I broke the dead lift and squat record but then they were re-broken by someone else.”
Paris started the sport after her watching her older sister while she was in the eighth and ninth grade. She wanted to follow in her footsteps and make it on that national stage.
“I thought it looked really fun and like a really competitive atmosphere and it was something I liked. When I got to high school and started lifting weights it just started pushing me and I just kept doing it.”
Her power lifting coach Greg Jones explains the difference between weightlifting and power lifting is in the weight and the reps. In weightlifting, you do multiple reps but don’t max out, while in power lifting you do one or two reps of heavy weights. He says only a select few go onto nationals and push the boundaries of physical strength.
“We have a lot of female athletes and our classes have multi-sport athletes in them. We train like normal athletes working out but the ones who want to go to nationals we do one rep max to get them used to lifting heavy weights one time and power lifting.”
Through all the success in power lifting, Paris says that track is her first love. She has been competing in track & field since she was in the 7th grade and believes her strength from lifting helps out in the throws.
“It makes you more explosive and powerful so that you can push it out there further. It helps to be strong whenever you are throwing and to have upper body strength, but if you don’t have technique it won’t get anywhere. It’s just making sure you put it together and everything clicks at the same time. You have to be fast through the ring, being strong helps, but it’s not everything.”
An all-state selection in the shot put her junior year, her goal is to launch the implement at least 40 feet and to make it back to the state tournament. Paris will throw next year for Murray State in Kentucky and plans on majoring in biomedical engineering. She believes she can be an asset to the Murray State program that she feels is on the rise.
“I went down on my official visit and met with the coaches and the girls on the team and it was just a lot of fun and they all seem to really like it. They have done a whole of recruiting and they are building up their track program, and I want to be a part of it. I love the area and everything.”
Paris is looking forward to the wide array of throwing choices at the next level and feels one might suit her better than the rest.
“I want to learn more of the throws. In Missouri, you can only do shot and disc. I want to learn javelin and I want to throw the hammer. The coaches think I’ll be really good in that because it’s more of a power throw.”
Power is Paris’s middle name; so does the lifting champion have plans to still go for national titles?
“I’m going to keep lifting and not going to get away from it. I don’t know if I’m going to be as competitive but I’m going to stay in the weight room. I just want to keep getting better.”
Coach Jones thinks the hard work over the last four years has paid off.
“She has had a great high school career and now it’s just time to take it to the next level.”