SportSTARS of the Week From Alhambra HS

SportStars of the week is Selina Kaefk from Alhambra High School.

After one of Haefke’s track and field coaches — Sam Viglienzone, also the Alhambra wrestling coach — suggested the shot and discus thrower try weightlifting, something clicked. It turns out, she was a natural. And after summer of rigorous two-a-day training workouts, Haefke attended the International Powerlifting League World Championships in Las Vegas from Nov. 6-10 and promptly set a Junior World Record for the Women’s Under-17 division. Haefke set the record in the deadlift, a lift requiring the athlete to pick the weight straight up off the ground and bring it against his or her body until hips and knees lock. Her record lift was 330 pounds. She’d lifted that much weight one other time, but it was not a perfectly clean lift. 

   IN HER OWN WORDS: “I did my warmup and got up there and didn't think about it. I just lifted the weight. ... It dIdn't really hit me that I had actually broken a record for a week or two.”

   WHAT YOU DIDN’T KNOW: Haefke sleeps with a stuffed duck named Stanley. She admitted to even asking for footsie pajamas that have ducks on them so Stanley wouldn’t be lonely. “I’m not weird, I swear,” she laughed.