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<p><strong>19 year old sweeps golds in 89-kg weight class at USA Weightlifting Junior Nationals</strong></p>
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<p><strong>By Mike McCombs</strong></p>
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<p class="has-drop-cap">When Dade Stanley left Beaufort to start his freshman year at Clemson University last fall, weightlifting was put on the back burner.</p>
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<p>But don’t think for a second that he’s not still cooking.</p>
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<p>Stanley, 19, swept the Snatch and Clean &amp; Jerk and set a personal record with an Overall total of 306 kilograms to win gold in the 89-kilogram weight class by 10 kg Thursday at the USA Weightlifting Junior National Championships in Detroit.</p>
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<p>To say the Beaufort High School graduate’s performance was a surprise would be an understatement.</p>
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<p>“It shocked me definitely to be able to hit a PR of any sort after coming back,” Stanley said Friday. “I thought I’d have been about where I was before. … I figured that would have given me a good chance. But when I saw the guys who would have been my main competition weren’t on, I figured if I have a good day, I’d have a good chance.”</p>
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<p>Stanley was 5-for-6 on his lifts. He lifted 127, 132 and 138 kg to win the Snatch and lifted 158 and a personal-record 168 kg in the Clean &amp; Jerk before missing on 175 kg. Team Beaufort Coach Ray Jones said the effort at 175 was an attempt to qualify Stanley for the World Championships team.</p>
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<p>“Dade can be a good as Dade wants to be,” Jones said. “We sent him, but we really didn’t know what to expect.”</p>
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<p>Competitively, Stanley was returning after a layoff of more than a year. His last competitive meet was the American Open in March 2020, where his Overall total was 303 kg.</p>
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<p>Stanley returned home from school at the end of April and didn’t start training again until May 10. The first two weeks were strictly conditioning.</p>
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<p>It’s safe to say Jones didn’t dream of a championship after such a long layoff from competitive lifting and just seven weeks or so of training.</p>
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<p>“Not only is it not likely, it’s not even heard of,” he said.</p>
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<p>Jones didn’t set up a program for Stanley to follow at Clemson.</p>
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<p>“He was smart enough to do it on his own,” Jones said. “I didn’t have a clue what to expect. We were flying blind.”</p>
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<p>Stanley didn’t want to pay for CrossFit, and COVID-19 restrictions at Clemson limited him to just a basic gym, where Olympic weightlifting workouts weren’t possible.</p>
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<p>“So basically, I was just just doing strength training – dead lifts, squats, working on my core,” he said. “For the most part, it was all second nature (when I got back to lifting). It was just about timing.”</p>
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<p>“There’s not many like Dade,” Jones said. “He might not have the strength that C.J. (Cummings) has, but technically, he’s the very best for what his strength is.”</p>
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<p>As for his immediate future, Stanley said he will continue to work out and might compete in a local meet.</p>
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<p>“If they have one in Savannah I might do that,” he said.</p>
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<p>After that, Stanley is looking forward to returning to Clemson and going to football games</p>
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<p>“I was enjoying the experience of being there,” Stanley said. “… It will be fun.”</p>
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<p><em>Mike McCombs is the editor of The Island News and can be reached at <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="mailto:TheIslandNews@gmail.com" target="_blank">TheIslandNews@gmail.com</a>.</em></p>
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<p><em><strong>Cutline: </strong>Team Beaufort’s Dade Stanley stands atop the podium after winning the Overall gold medal for the 89-kilogram weight class at the USA Weightlifting Junior Nationals on Thursday in Detroit. Photo by Ray Jones.</em></p>
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