Lakeland, Fla. — The Villages High School and its powerhouse boys weightlifting program produced yet another state champion Friday in Lakeland.
Maleek Williams placed first at 238 pounds in the Olympic discipline of the FHSAA Class 2A State Meet inside the RP Funding Center, becoming the eighth state champion in school history and the third in program history.
The Lindenwood University signee lifted a total of 595 pounds in the snatch and clean and jerk portion of the statewide event, finishing atop a field of nearly 30 athletes participating in the discipline. Williams also placed second in the Traditional portion, where he added 335 pounds in the bench press.
"First and foremost, I wouldn't be in this position without my Lord and Savior," Williams said of his performance. "It doesn't seem real. I feel like all the work paid off. It was kind of emotional because I had some bad warmups and I was in my head all meet, but I pushed through and became successful."
Williams is the third boys weightlifting state champion for The Villages in the past four years, following in the footsteps of his former Buffalo teammates Ellis Poplaski (2022) and Kristian Sarakinis (2024).
"It has been an absolute honor to coach Maleek," said VHS boys weightlifting head coach
Jason Poplaski. "He is a rare breed, such a class act and he's worked as hard as anyone to get where he is today. He definitely belongs in the same group with Kristian and Ellis."
As a team, the Buffalo finished tied for seventh in both the Traditional portion (9 points) and Olympic discipline (11 points). Tanner Ostrom finished third individually in both disciplines for VHS at 139 pounds and Andrew Mommaerts took ninth at 219 pounds in the Olympic lift.
"We just have hard workers," Williams said of the program's recent success. "We have a lot of state champs, even though they don't have a gold medal around their neck."
VHS STATE CHAMPIONS
2013: Colton Jackson, Taylor Jackson (wrestling)
2019: Emma Symonds (track and field)
2022: Ellis Poplaski (weightlifting)
2023: Caley Sosnowski (track and field)
2024: Kristian Sarakinis (weightlifting), Kristian Sarakinis (weightlifting)
2025: Johnathan Clohecy (wrestling), Maleek Williams (weightlifting)
Cody Hills can be reached for questions or comment at cody.hills@tvcs.org.
