- April 24, 2024
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Annie Buchanan would have won the unlimited class with her lifts. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC medalists: Aun'yale Howard, Annie Buchanan, Aryannah Rosa and Kelsey Gocking. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Aryannah Rosa took home two medals. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Sophomore Aun'yale Howard placed third in the traditional lifts and fourth in snatch. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Kelsey Gocking won a medal in her final trip to state. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Annie Buchanan holds the trophy at the Five Star Conference meet earlier this season. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Annie Buchanan completes her clean and jerk at the Five Star meet earlier this season. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Annie Buchanan had little competition, but she stayed focused. Photo by Brent Woronoff
In past years, Annie Buchanan’s mother was always in attendance at her daughter’s weightlifting events, just as she had been for Annie’s three older siblings.
“She cooked breakfast for us a couple of times at state,” said Flagler Palm Coast weightlifting coach Duane Hagstrom. “Even when she was using a walker, she still came.”
Buchanan’s mother lost her battles with cancer in September, but when Annie won two state championships on Feb. 10 to add to the title she won last year, she knew her mom was watching.
“This means more to me this year, because I did it for my mom,” Buchanan said during her first day back to school after crushing her competition at the Class 3A girls weightlifting state championships in Port St. Joe.
“She loved watching all my siblings lift, so I knew I had to win again for her,” Buchanan said.
Buchanan’s final lifts in high school competition ended an era at FPC. Her brothers, Charlies Elliott and Jahmari Buchanan, and her sister, Lexi, were all coached by Hagstrom at FPC. Lexi won a state championship as a sophomore in 2018.
But no Bulldog lifter, male or female, has ever come close to Annie’s accomplishments.
“She’s the GOAT of FPC weightlifting,” Hagstrom said. “She’s definitely the most decorated weightlifter to ever walk these halls.”
Buchanan not only defended her championship in the 199-pound weight class, she also won the new snatch competition at Port St. Joe.
And just like last year, Buchanan didn’t just win, she dominated.
Buchanan medaled at state in all four years of her high school career. She finished third as a freshman and a sophomore, missing second place her sophomore year by body weight — she weighed seven-tenths of a pound more than the competitor who had matched her 400-pound total.
Last year, she won with a 450-pound total in the bench press and clean and jerk, defeating the second-place lifter by 85 pounds.
This year, she lifted a 460-pound total in the traditional competition, winning this time by 95 pounds. (Her total would have won the unlimited class by five pounds). Buchanan also won the snatch title with a lift of 155 pounds, 35 pounds more than the next best lifters.
“I know her mom would be proud,” Hagstrom said.
Buchanan helped the Bulldogs finish in fourth place as a team in both the snatch competition and the traditional bench press/clean and jerk competition.
Three other Bulldogs won medals at the state meet.
As for Buchanan, all season she competed knowing there wasn’t anyone in the state who could reach her totals. But after watching Lexi finished second her junior and senior years after winning as a sophomore, Annie knew nothing was guaranteed.
“The next year after she won it, I thought she had it in the bag,” Buchanan said. “I knew then it was not guaranteed to win back-to-back.”
“She’s the GOAT of FPC weightlifting. She’s definitely the most decorated weightlifter to ever walk these halls.”
DUANE HAGSTROM, FPC weightlifting coach on Annie Buchanan
Buchanan’s weights were so much heavier than most of the other lifters that she had to wait through 57 attempts before she ever stepped on the platforms, Hagstrom said.
“She did her three snatches, her three bench presses and her three clean and jerks back-to-back, which is not ideal when you’re going heavy,” Hagstrom said. “And they only get three minutes in between.”
Buchanan ends her FPC career as the school record-holder in every category — bench (245), clean and jerk (225), total (460) and now snatch (165).
Her athletic career isn’t over, however. She plays defense on the lacrosse team. She is dual-enrolled at DSC, so she will receive her associate degree along with her high school diploma in June. She plans to finish her bachelor’s degree in education at Florida A&M or UCF.
“Maybe when Coach Hagstrom leaves, I’ll come back and coach the girls,” she jokes.
Gocking was pleased to reach the podium in her third year as a state qualifier. “I was expecting to have fun, and I had fun,” she said.
Howard was the third seed in her weight class in the bench/clean and jerk, and finished third, but she wasn’t satisfied.
“Coach always says to never be satisfied,” she said. “I got the place everyone expected, but I wanted to win.”
She still has two more years to compete for a title.
Rosa said having a second competition motivated her more, and, like Buchanan and Howard, she took home two medals.
