By: HEATHER
BOGARD
Associate Editor
Rotary President Clem Lafleur welcomed Sacred Heart High School power lifting coach Dwayne Urbina as the guest speaker for the February 7, meeting of the Ville Platte Rotary Club. Lafleur stated you have to be mentally strong and disciplined in power lifting and commended the students for doing what they do.
Urbina thanked the Rotary Club for inviting him and said he tells his student athletes being a part of a civic organization is something they should consider once they are out of school as it is a great way to give back to the community.
Urbina has been involved in the sport for 38 years and coached a world championship team in Prague, where they won over 36 other countries, including Russia. He coached Alexandria Senior High and is a member of the LSHAA (Louisiana High School Athletic Association), ASH and LHSPLA (Louisiana High School Power Lifting Association) halls of fame. Over his career, Urbina has coached over 100 state and national champions
Even though he is retired, Urbina wanted to give back to the community and the men and women of Sacred Heart. Last year was the school’s first year with a power lifting program, and they finished the season as state runner-up and with four state champions.
Urbina gave a brief overview of power lifting, noting it began in 1979 in Bastrop with Billy Jack Talton and was designed to break up the monotony of the off season football program and measure the strength of your program against other schools. He said there are now 11 weight classes on the state level. He said each lifter does three lifts each of squat, bench and dead lift. They perform the lifts on a platform in front of three judges and the best lift out of the three in each type of lift is counted for the score. Urbina said the LHSPLA recently joined the LHSAA and is the newest and fastest growing sport in the state.
Sacred Heart will be one of the host schools at the state meet which will be held at the Cajundome in Lafayette. He said over 200 schools with 1,100 power lifters will be in attendance. He added this will be a fund raiser for the school, as Sacred Heart will get a portion of the proceeds from the event.
Sophomore Adeline Launey broke a state record with her 275 lb squat and 610 total points. She can currently dead lift 300 lbs. She said she wanted to try power lifting but there wasn’t a girls’ team. She and a few friends joined together and last year the school had a girls team for the first time. Urbina stated this will be the second year with a girls team and there are nine members currently on the team.
Sophomore Jude Hebert is the state champion with his 400 lb dead lift. He placed fifth overall in state last year and is looking to improve this year. He noted power lifting helps him to prepare for football, as well as other different skills. “Hard work really does pay off,” he said. He can currently dead lift 500 lbs.
Junior Jesse Johnson is the state champion in the squat with his 370 lb squat record. He recalled he had doubts about doing power lifting at first, but wanted to try something new. He said, “ It turned out to be one of the best decision I ever made. I learned to work hard and it helped me accomplish things I didn’t think would be possible.” He can currently dead lift 400 lbs.
Rotary President Larry Lachney reminded members there will be no meeting on Tuesday, February 21, for Mardi Gras. He also told members the District #6200 Conference will be held April 21-23, in Lafayette.
June 19, 2026
