Everything was on the line when Buchholz weightlifter Mei Li Yeung stepped onto the platform at the Oly Concepts National Qualifier May 9 to perform her clean and jerks. With a chance at the 2026 USA Weightlifting National Championships slipping away after failing her two snatch attempts, Yeung recorded a clean and jerk personal best of 115 pounds to qualify.
Yeung wasn’t the only Bobcat who qualified at the meet — Tiffany Lee, Scarlett Johnston and Sophia Flesner also posted qualifying totals.
For the first time in program history, Buchholz weightlifters head to the nationals in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which starts Saturday and ends June 28.
Fourth-year Buchholz weightlifting coach Luke Levasseur wanted to allow his team to stay active in the summer while gaining confidence heading into next season, which begins in September.
“I want them to know that they’re not middle-of-the-pack lifters anymore,” Levasseur said. “They’re starting to get more advanced with what they do. And I want them to have confidence when they come back for like regular season lifts saying, ‘Hey, I’ve been to nationals, this is a regular season meet, I don’t need to be as nervous anymore.’”
In each of Levasseur’s first three seasons, two Bobcats qualified for states. In 2026, the team produced 11 regional qualifiers, the most during Levasseur’s coaching career, including nine first-time qualifiers. Johnston made the FHSAA Class 3A-2 Region Championships for the first time in January, hitting a 140-pound clean and jerk personal record, and aims to clear a 145-pound clean and jerk at nationals.
Flesner also set high expectations for nationals, aiming to hit 155 on the clean and jerk, which is 10 pounds higher than her current max. Flesner placed sixth at the FHSAA Girls Weightlifting Traditional Class 3A Championships this season and said she will build off the achievement in Colorado.
“It really brought me a lot of confidence because that was always my goal to place at states, and so now I’m just really excited for nationals,” Flesner said.
Leading up to nationals, the lifters spent their afternoons since March working on various parts of lifts and strength conditioning. Lee, who initially joined the sport to improve her strength for archery, completed her senior season but wasn’t ready to leave the community she found yet.
“Even though I’m a graduate, my weightlifting team doesn’t want me to leave,” Lee said. “And my coach doesn’t want me to leave. So the community keeps me here. And then whatever I learn here makes me want to keep coming.”
The USAW is a separate entity from the FHSAA and organizes its lifters based on birth year, allowing Lee to participate in the junior division, which Flesner also competes in. Johnston and Yeung will go against lifters in the U17 category.
The sport’s camaraderie drew in Johnston, who joined the team as a freshman in 2023 with her twin sister, Tessa. The two came into weightlifting with a CrossFit background that began at 5 years old.
Tessa won’t compete at nationals due to injury, but her continued support helps Johnston perform better at meets.
“It was a big sacrifice from her to kind of put aside her own struggles to help make me do better,” Johnston said. “I don’t think I would have performed as well as I did without her being there for me.”
Even though weightlifters compete individually, Yeung leans on her teammates’ words of encouragement to push through lifts.
“It’s so empowering and it makes it a lot easier to push through that mental adversity and get the lift,” Yeung said.
Levasseur wants his lifters to build strength both physically and mentally. To get in the zone before meets, he requires his team to practice any form of meditation for about 20 minutes.
To lift well, Flesner uses Levasseur’s lesson of maintaining a strong mindset by not giving up on herself.
“I’ve never really had a coach like this supportive before,” Flesner said. “He cares so much about our team as a whole and reminds us always to never give up on ourselves and always be there for everyone as a team, which is really nice to have that type of support.”
Since the 2025 offseason, Levasseur saw interest spike with the number of lifters participating in summer workouts, going from seven to 16. He thinks the trip to nationals will continue building team culture while further developing the team’s leaders.
“It’s great because the older girls will kind of mentor the younger ones and help teach them with their form and stay motivated to keep coming in and keep lifting,” Levasseur said.
As Johnston continues prepping for nationals, she has one goal in mind.
“I want to prove to myself I can do this,” Johnston said. “I just want to make my family proud and my coach and my team and I just want to show people that I’m capable of doing this.”
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