Westwood Freshman Sets World Record for Deadlift

Andrew Plant (center) placed second in the world for his age group in deadlifting and first for age 14. At left is Tim Fogle. At right is Andrew’s proud dad, Dr. Paul Plante.

Westwood freshman Andrew Plante, 14, hopes to one day play professional football, specifically running back. He currently plays running back on Westwood’s B-team. But Andrew has another athletic ability that most people don’t know about. He can deadlift 415 pounds.

An impressive feat for anyone.

When Andrew (115 pounds) conquered the 415-pound goal at a recent competition of the Southern Powerlifting Federation in Asheville, N.C., it became the second most weight lifted by his age group (13-16 years old) in the world and a world record for a 14 year old.

Andrew’s father Paul Plante is amazed by his son’s strength.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “I’ve never seen anyone with that kind of strength at his age. It’s just crazy.”

Paul Plante is a good judge of power lifters. He holds the world record in total-lift and deadlift for the 45-years-and-older age group. Plante and his son have lifted together since Andrew was 9 years old. Paul Plante believes his son will break his records and deadlift 700 pounds before Andrew is out of high school.

Andrew said he feels powerlifting has enhanced his ability as a running back for the Redhawks, a tailor made position for Andrew since it requires leg strength and a sheer will to overcome the opponent.

While his training in deadlifting has parlayed into a specific skill to run the football, a chip on his shoulder doesn’t hurt either.

“Some people just don’t believe that I can lift that much,” he said. “That gives me motivation, because I know I can.”

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