Saint Stephen’s launched its competitive weightlifting program for boys and girls during the 2022-23 school year, and in just three seasons the Falcons have already produced five district championships and an individual state medalist.

The 2024-25 season was one to remember for both the boys and girls. Junior Corbin Franklin won his classification and helped the Falcons to fifth place overall as a team in the Olympic division at the state meet in Lakeland. Earlier in the year, the girls placed fifth in both Olympic and Traditional at state and three senior lifters finished in the top three in their weight classes: Priscilla Webley with a pair of second-place finishes, Annesley Flint with a second and third, and Brooke Cosentino with a third.

It has been an incredibly rapid rise since the girls hosted the program’s inaugural meet at the Falcon Field House in October 2022. That was the start of a magical first season that eventually included capturing the seven-team Class 1A-District 13 championships in Olympic Lift and Traditional Lift. The girls have now won three consecutive district titles.

The boys followed their female counterparts by winning a district title in just their second season of competition in 2023. The Falcons eventually finished as regional runners-up and collected the program’s first-ever state medals when Franklin and then-senior Jake Clulow both placed sixth in the Olympic category in their respective weight classes.

The team is coached by Saint Stephen’s alum Erik Schulz, who also works with all of the Falcons’ student-athletes as the school’s strength and conditioning coach. Schulz was recognized by the National High School Strength Coaches Association as its 2022-23 Florida Coach of the Year.