The Palmerton football team hosted its 12th annual Blue Bombers Invitational Weightlifting Meet at the high school gymnasium on May 1.

A total of 117 football players representing Palmerton, Panther Valley, Tamaqua, Pleasant Valley, Palisades, Northampton, Souderton and Whitehall High Schools along with their family members, friends, and coaches packed the Palmerton High School gymnasium.For the fifth consecutive year, Whitehall captured the team championship. The 33 team points earned by the Zephyrs were enough to better second place Tamaqua's 25 and third place Pleasant Valley's 24 points for the team title.Most outstanding lifters were awarded to the best performance in the 14-15 and 16-18 year old divisions by adding the lifters best bench and squat attempts then dividing it by their body weight. The most outstanding lifter in the 16-18 year old division was Robert Ellersick of Northampton who lifted in the 180 pound class. He benched 315 pounds and squatted 365 pounds for a 680 pound total. Nate Boyle from Tamaqua won the 14-15 year old division most outstanding lifter by bench pressing 200 pounds and squatting 385 pounds for a total of 585 pounds in the 165 pound weight class.Listed below are the medal winners with their overall total (squat and bench lifts in parenthesis). The lifts were performed 'raw' meaning no knee wraps, bench shirts, or wrist wraps.14-15 YEAR OLD DIVISION120-pound weight classGOLD: Steven Ellersick, Northampton, 340 (185/155)SILVER: Pierce Demetriades, Tamaqua135 poundsGOLD: Angelo Dadona, Whitehall 400 (245/155)SILVER: Bryce Farole, Whitehall150 poundsGOLD: Trey Gretzinger, Palisades 490 (275/215)SILVER: Trace Herman, TamaquaBRONZE: David Conde, Panther Valley165 pounds• GOLD: Nate Boyle, Tamaqua 585 (385/200)SILVER: DJ Cofield, WhitehallBRONZE: Josh Rivera, Northampton180 poundsGOLD: Chad Hussett, Whitehall 535 (330/205)SILVER: Jake Barron, TamaquaBRONZE: Carson Gardner, Palmerton195 poundsGOLD: Nick Breiner, Tamaqua 615 (375/240)SILVER: Justin Santiago, WhitehallBRONZE: Zac Geehring, Palisades210 poundsGOLD: Anthony Johnson, Whitehall 550 (325/225)SILVER: Mike Parciak, PalisadesBRONZE: Dulani Smith, Pleasant Valley225 poundsGOLD: Tristian Blasko, Panther Valley 595 (360/235)SILVER: Mark Colusso, WhitehallBRONZE: Brandon Akers, PalisadesHWTGOLD: Bryan McNeely, Palisades 600 (405/195)SILVER: Manny Brown, SoudertonBRONZE: Markes Cruz, Whitehall16-18 YEAR-OLD DIVISION150 poundsGOLD: Logan Dailey, Pleasant Valley 540 (305/235)SILVER: Praise Zoegar, SoudertonBRONZE: Jared Colletti, Palisades165 poundsGOLD: Cole George, Palmerton 600 (360/240)SILVER: Martin Labib, WhitehallBRONZE: Mychael Castro, Souderton180 pounds• GOLD: Robert Ellersick, Northampton 680 (365/315) Most Outstanding LifterSILVER: Brxton Marrero, WhitehallBRONZE: Jared Stauffer, Northampton195 poundsGOLD: Chance Szabo, Tamaqua 660 (375/285)SILVER: Ryan Voss, SoudertonBRONZE: Colin Schucker, Northampton210 poundsGOLD: Jack Morgan, Souderton 690 (405/285)SILVER: Adrian Mieses, WhitehallBRONZE: Jakob Hudak, Whitehall225 poundsGOLD: Christian DeReinzi, Pleasant Valley 745 (405/340)SILVER: Andrew Stein, SoudertonBRONZE: Nicholas Dex, Whitehall240 poundsGOLD: Zac Altemose, Pleasant Valley 830 (515/315)SILVER: Adam Klatka, TamaquaBRONZE: Jeremy Sell, Northampton255 poundsGOLD: Tyler Dooner, Pleasant Valley 865 (550/315)SILVER: Nick Wismer, Pleasant ValleyBRONZE: Trevor Watts, SoudertonHWTGOLD: Collin Gerancher, Northampton 775 (440/335)SILVER: Bryce Swanger, NorthamptonBRONZE: James Jandris, Northampton* Most Outstanding LifterTEAM STANDINGSPts.1. Whitehall 332. Tamaqua 253. Pleasant Valley 244. Northampton 215. Souderton 196. Palisades 167. Palmerton 68. Panther Valley 6