On Saturday, April 1 junior Stella Tintari placed second in The Powerlifting America High School Nationals in Myrtle Beach, SC. 

Tintari started training in her home gym by lifting with her dad and found her place at the Crown Point High School weight room in August of 2021. Becoming a nationally-ranked lifter does not happen overnight. 

“I train every day. I train in the morning, I train in the afternoon. It’s a lot of hard work, but I’m willing to give all of the dedication,” Tintari said. 

Having a good mental mindset is a tremendous factor in competing. There are a lot of sounds, coaches, and other lifters in the same environment, so staying concentrated is crucial when it comes to placing. 

“I went in really wanting to place first, but I ended up just focusing on myself and my individual lifts. I actually didn’t know what was going on the entire time, so at the end, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I placed second in the nation,’ which I’m not mad at that,” Tintari said. 

Tintari’s training will not stop there. Tintari continues to train daily and works to reach the unimaginable. The first-place lifter was 18 years old and will be aging out this year. Tintari is 17, so next year will be her chance to place first and move forward in her lifting career. 

“In the future, I would really like to go to Powerlifting Worlds and go with the strongest of the strong. That’s where I would really like to end up one day,” Tintari said. 

CPHS weightlifting Coach Mark Garrett reflects on watching Tintari grow in the last two years through her work ethic and determination.

“Stella is an extremely self-motivated athlete. She shows up at 6 a.m. to do injury prevention training. She lifts in class and is the hardest worker in her class. Then she comes back after school to do her powerlifting training. She does every set, every repetition, every day. 

She set the American Record in the back squat for the 16/17-year-old division. This year she moved up to U18 division and came in 2nd in her weight class. This means she is the number one lifter returning in her weight class – in the entire country – a country of over 300 million people. This past weekend I received a call from the President of Powerlifting in Indiana who informed me that Stella has a great chance of not only making the US World Team but actually a great chance of getting a medal and maybe even winning the World Championships. 

So, the original question was ‘What’s it like to train Stella?’ Truth is, I don’t. I write a program built on scientific research on how to gain strength. Stella does all of the work. I give a lot of people recipes, but no one else cooks like Stella does,” Garrett said.