Winning a state championship for anyone is a crowning achievement, but for Wylie’s Avery Quiroga, it was reaching a goal years in the making.

Quiroga had been one of the top powerlifters in the area for several years, dating back to her freshman season when she placed fifth at the regional meet and qualified for state. Unfortunately, she was unable to compete that season as COVID-19 canceled the state championships.

The following year, she earned her first-ever state medal as a sophomore, placing fifth at the state championship with the return of sports that season. This propelled her into a standout junior season, where she looked poised to take home her first-ever state title last year. She won the regional meet at the 6A level, dominating with a total lifting weight of 65 pounds heavier than the next-best qualifier in the 114-pound weight class. But as she was preparing for the state meet, disaster struck with her equipment before the meet.

“For whatever reason, this time my equipment didn’t fit at the state meet,” Quiroga said. “Part of the job for meets is weight cutting, and my normal weight is around 120 pounds so it’s hard to cut eight pounds. But before the state meets, I practiced in my suit and it fit fine, but the day of it just wasn’t fitting. We tried so hard to make it work, with everyone pulling this uniform on me until my legs were bleeding. Eventually, we had to try and cut it.”

Cutting the uniform was illegal at the state meet, forcing Quiroga to bomb out of her chance at a state championship. The disqualification took away her chance at winning the state championship in her junior year, and for head coach Katie Hathaway, was tough to watch one of her students work so hard for something to go wrong on the biggest stage.

“It was heartbreaking to watch because she worked so hard for this moment,” Hathaway said. “She worked so hard that entire season to get to that point and didn’t do anything wrong, it was just unfortunate to see.”

While it would’ve been easy to see that moment and get frustrated or want to quit, Quiroga didn’t hesitate as she worked to get back and earn her state title. Working hard throughout the offseason, she continued to improve her lifts and prepare for the new year, before another hurdle came in her path at the start of the year.

“I tweaked my back at the beginning of December, but didn’t think anything of it at the time,” Quiroga said. “With the start of the season coming up at around January, I tried lifting 315 [pounds] and did it twice, but my back just collapsed on me.”

Quiroga had three ribs out of place which caused her back pain, and the first orthopedic doctor she went to told her she wouldn’t be able to lift the rest of the season.

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