Lakeview senior Ava Costales sets state record in powerlifting

ST. CLAIR SHORES — Senior Ava Costales has etched her name into the books as one of the premier athletes to attend Lakeview High School in St. Clair Shores with her play on the softball field, but her athletic abilities go beyond that.

A Division 1 first team all-State selection in 2021 who received an honorable mention in 2022, the University of Michigan softball commit has been a staple for Lakeview softball, but she recently flexed her muscles in a different way.

On March 4 at Adrian High School, Costales took first place at the Michigan High School Powerlifting Association Varsity State Meet, but she didn’t stop there in her hardware-winning season.

Breaking her own state record at 390 pounds, Costales is now the record holder at 395 pounds for dead lift, and she is also the state record holder for total pounds between squat, bench and dead lift with 905 pounds.

“I saw that somebody had tied my record from last year in the first meet (of the season), so I was like, ‘OK, I got some competition now,’” Costales said. “I think that was a big motivator for the season, and I think that motivated me even more to get PRs.”

Costales previously won the varsity state title in 2022 and the junior varsity state title in 2021, but she returned this season with the state record on her mind.

At the state meet, Costales, who is in the 220 weight class, benched 185 and squatted 330 pounds to go along with her record-breaking 395 dead lift.

It’s a massive improvement from her 845-pound total at the 2022 finals, and Lakeview powerlifting coach Mike Divito said her determination is her strongest attribute.

“She’s got a lot of stuff going on with softball, and the University of Michigan is following her to make sure she’s doing her stuff, so she comes in tired a lot of times,” Divito said. “She trains as hard as any, both genders, as hard as anybody. She’s very athletic and very coachable.”

Divito, a longtime football/strength coach at Troy Athens High School, is in his second year at Lakeview.

Behind the strong and assertive program Divito runs, Costales’ strength has continued to improve immensely each year.

Costales said alongside Divito’s program, her history of gymnastics has also assisted her growth as well.

“Coach Divito runs a great program, but I did gymnastics for a really long time, and I quit a while ago,” Costales said. “Even though it was such a long time ago, I think I had a lot of just overall strength and body awareness from that. Knowing that I need to do the right techniques to get the best outcome, and just combining that history with what coach runs, I’m able to focus on the forms and make big gains off of the strength I already had.”

With the powerlifting season over, Costales will focus on helping Lakeview softball improve from their district title-winning season in 2022.

Lakeview softball lost in the regional finals last year and graduated a healthy amount of talent, but they will start their 2023 campaign against Madison Heights Lamphere on March 22 at Lakeview High School.

“I think we’re going to have great chemistry, and it might take a couple weeks to get used to each other, but I think it will be good once we do,” Costales said.