PERRY — Valdosta High’s weightifting team won the Class AAAAA state championship Saturday.

The state championship was Valdosta’s first in weightlifting. It was the third weightlifting championship for coach Rick Tomberlin, who places a lot of emphasis on conditioning and strength.

“We’re real happy, and real proud of these boys,” Tomberlin said. “It says a lot about our kids and their willingness to buy into our program and work at it.”

The Wildcats team members were Alex Hall, Young Roberson, James Stokes, Lee Scurry, Marcus McNair, Chris Newsome and Ahmad Williams. Individually, Hall took second at 190 pounds.

Windsor Forest was second in the state, followed by Sequoia. Effingham County won state in AAAA, Washington County was the AAA state champions, Dublin was the AA champs and Trion won it in Class A.