ST. CLOUD, Fla. — St. Cloud senior Morgan Van Auken has competed in weightlifting at the state level for three consecutive years but has yet to reach her ultimate goal of a state championship.

She has been hooked since she started competing in the ninth grade.

"I was following one of my friends. She just wanted to do it because her dad was having her do it, and I just followed her and just got addicted to it," Van Auken said.

On Jan. 24, Van Auken, along with her teammates, became district champions in both the Olympic and traditional weightlifting disciplines.

"It’s very relieving that I will be able to go to the next level and continue to regionals," she said. "I just wanted to experience everything I can and get on the platform and lift as much as I can and do the best I can."

This sport will help Van Auken create healthy habits later in life, but it also helps her in another sport she started playing her sophomore year.

"I can get better health in general, and it will also help me in my college journey when I play lacrosse," Van Auken said.

Van Auken is an attack-man for the Bulldogs lacrosse team and will play at Warner University in Lake Wales.

"It helps me to drive strong into the goal and be able to get a crease drive and shoot as hard as I can with my upper-body strength and planting my legs in my lower body and prevent me from injury," she said.

Van Auken has learned a lot about herself since stepping into the gym. Weightlifting presents a lot of mental challenges when training. But the support from her teammates helps her get through the tough times.

"Having people around me, coaches, my friends, my family all supporting me says you should do this, this is going to help you in the long run, but I really struggled with it mentally to be able to keep going," Van Auken said. "But every time I do one thing better or maybe one thing worse, it encourages to keep going."