In the athletic weight room, you can find the Girl’s Weightlifting team practicing, and within that team, you can find Senior Clara Cannaday, an icon on the team. Cannaday has been on the team all the years she’s been at Oviedo High School; and has had many accomplishments in that time.
In an interview with Coach Daniel Evans, Evans described his time with Clara: “Coaching Clara is always a fun and interesting experience,” said Evans.
Cannaday, commonly found in the weight room after school practicing, is dedicated to the sport. This dedication is interesting given her background in the sport, and the story of how she got into weightlifting.
“I originally started out wanting to get better at softball, but then I fell in love with it and quit softball for it,” Cannaday said.
After discovering weightlifting and the Joy it brought her, Cannaday proceeded to put her all into it. In her final year of the sport, Cannady has excelled, ending her high school career with weightlifting in a positive light.
In November, the girl’s weightlifting team went to the Bloodhound Invitational and secured third overall. On January 3rd, 2025, Oviedo High School competed in the SAC Conference Meet. They placed 2nd in the traditional lift, the Traditional Conference Champions being Calista Sonner, Clara Cannaday, and Marnee McCue. They also placed 2nd overall in the Olympic lifts with the same champions in this meet as well as Anna Ferrell.
With this impressive accomplishment, securing Conference Champions in both Traditional and Olympic lifts, Cannaday has more feats under her belt. In July of 2024, Cannaday competed in the USAPL (USA Powerlifting) Sunshine State Showdown, a meet that was open to all registered USAPL lifters, with a cap of 120 lifters.
Cannaday placed 82nd, with a squat lift of 253.5 lbs, a bench of 159.8 lbs, and a deadlift of 270 lbs, all of which were official personal bests. In practice, Cannaday has benched 185. As of 2022, there were over 27,000 registered lifters in USAPL.
Daniel Evans is very proud of Cannaday and her season, “She is very driven and has worked hard over the last 3 and a half years to become a strong lifter in our sport and as well as a leader for the team and younger girls around her,” said Coach Evans.
Cannaday is not only an impressive weightlifter, but she also represents Oviedo High School as the girl’s weightlifting team with Calista Sonner. And according to her teammates, she’s an excellent leader.
“[Clara]’s really encouraging. She’s super supportive with…all the girls and she really helps the girls out.” Sonner, a senior, said.
As one of the captains of the team, Cannaday has many responsibilities, responsibilities that she doesn’t fall short of. She is known for being very helpful to the team and also being very supportive of members who are having difficulties.
“She’s always one to make someone laugh…and pushes you to be the best you can.” Marnee McCue, a junior, said.
