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PLEASANT HOPE, Mo. — If there’s a pair of Lady Pirates you want on your side in a tight spot, it’s probably Braden Wallace and Breanna McNellis.
Together, the Pleasant Hope juniors are “ridiculously strong”, in the words of Wallace. Aside from track, volleyball, and cheerleading, the two began to dabble in powerlifting several years ago, and what began as a way to add muscle for their respective sport has become a full-fledged passion.
“To be stronger than all the other boys, that’s definitely something that I like,” McNellis said.
Maybe the girls didn’t know how good they’d become in the weight room. Maybe they did. Wallace emits that confidence.
“We’re both a stocky build. My dad is a big guy and I inherited some of that from him,” she said. “He’s always pushing me in my workouts.”
The classmates are no strangers to competing… they’ve been doing it for much of their lives. That’s played a big role in the weight room.
“During track season, we always clicked together because we were always the same strength. Once we started lifting together, it got to be a friendly competition and we just got strong.”
McNellis was already a state qualifier in the discus as a freshman, but her power has only grown over the last two years. Crystal Turner coaches her in both the weight room and in volleyball, and has seen it first-hand.
“As you know, in the Mid-Lakes Conference, we’ve got some pretty hard hitters in volleyball,” she said. “She was definitely an asset and her strength is definitely a reason why.”
For McNellis, it’s also a confidence booster.
“I was farm strong to begin with. I’ve always grown up on the farm, bucking hay and stuff,” she said. “After lifting weights and getting stronger, it was easier to take those hits (in volleyball) and control where the ball was going.”
Both are coming off a stellar performance in the annual Fair Grove Powerlifting Meet. They finished int he middle of the pack, given how the standings are calculated by total weight lifted divided by the participant’s weight, but they put up more weight than any other girl, with McNellis beating Wallace by 25 pounds.
The former said she has the edge of Wallace on deadlifts, given that Wallace deals with two protruding discs in her back.
“But I have the one-up on the bench and squat,” Wallace said.
Turner said she was excited to inherit two lifters of this calibur when she took over the program last year, and those marks are another example of their growth.
“It just says a lot about the fact that they worked really hard. For them to win, given the strength index, they would’ve had to lift an incredible amount,” Turner said. “All I’m looking for them to do is improve every single meet. If they do that, they’re going to be well on their way to doing well at state.”
Their friendly competition continues to raise their game. They even pointed to their future goals, both wanting a career as paramedics, as more playful sport.
While they continue to try and get ahead of each other, they have a few bragging points over their fellow student-athletes.
“The football team does walk up to us a lot and say: ‘What are your maxes? What do we have to beat today?’ Wallace said. “I probably lift more than half the team and I know (Breanna) does too.”
