Alvarado the State’s Strongest High Schooler

Flatonia powerlifter Taden Alvarado not only qualified for the state powerlifting meet in Abilene back-to-back years, he took the 2A crown in ’22 as well as this year in ’23.

Alvarado also set state records this year in squat with 800 pounds and in overall total with 1,775 pounds.

“What Taden accomplished this year was awesome,” said Flatonia head powerlifting coach Brad Oden. “Not very many people knew that Taden was battling an injury a little bit earlier in the season. He really had to retrain himself in one of his lifts to compensate for that injury. To be the defending state champion and to have your totals posted on the website where all his competitors all year long could see what he was doing, anybody who’s defending something has a target on their back. He went into the state meet, overcame the injury, lifted really, really well, walked in there and he had that bullseye on his chest and everybody was gunning to try to beat him. There were two competitors that he was actually competing directly with that he had beaten last year. Both kind of verbalized to him last year at the state meet ‘we’re gonna beat you next year’ so from all that he accomplished and all he overcame, it’s a historic season for his part, and to set new state records en route to winning that state championship a second time, it’s very, very historic. It’s something that doesn’t happen very often.” Alvarado’s heroic performance has made him our choice for this edition’s Athlete of the Week.

Question: How would you describe your experience at state powerlifting?

Answer: “Well, being at state is pretty awesome. It’s a very different environment from regular powerlifting because there’s a whole lot more people there that you’re competing against. It just brings a whole different environment into your life when you go there.”

Question: Where does this state win rank in your all-time accomplishments?

Answer: “Me being in junior high, I never really thought about powerlifting until Coach Oden came along my freshman year. I was like ‘let’s see what this is.’ then as I got older and I progressed in higher grades, I was really impressed and this is really my all-time accomplishment being backto- back state champion.”

Question: What other

sports are you good at?

Answer: “I was pretty good at football and that’s really all I played was football and powerlifting. That was about it.”

Question: Who inspired you to become a powerlifter?

Answer: “My aunt, she was a powerlifter in her high school days and I just wanted to take it along, and luckily I had the best coach ever to take it along with.”

Question: What’s your workout routine like?

Answer: “We worked out three days a week. We’d lift weights during the period, then after school, we would do on Mondays plate deads. On Wednesdays, we would do iso-pulls and block bench, and on Fridays we did rack deads. On Friday’s we’d usually go at 6:30 in the morning just so Friday afternoon we could have to ourselves.”

Question: What did you like the most about the Taylor County Expo Center?

Answer: “Well, I’ve been there three years. Sophomore, junior, and senior year. It’s a really nice facility. The way they have it planned out there and mapped out is really functional for the way the powerlifting meet should run.”

Question: Did you have a good feeling you were going to win state after your performance, or were you surprised?

Answer: “Before my performance, I was kind of scared due to me having an injury at the beginning of the season, but after I found out that I won, I was really excited because I finally got back-to-back and I totaled better than I did last year.”

Question: If you could have dinner with two people of your choice, who would they be?

Answer: “Ronnie Coleman and Brian Shaw because they do heavyweight lifting as well.”

Question: Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

Answer: “I see myself hopefully having a family and then just enjoying life, having a good paying job, and just working out through life. Keep on working out so I can stay fit and everything.”

Question: What’s something that stands out to you about Flatonia?

Answer: “I’ve been going here all my 12 years and I’ve seen a bunch of progress with new administrators in the office and everything. I really am impressed and I can’t wait to see what Flatonia has for it. I really am surprised how Flatonia’s running everything right now. It’s really awesome. I’m really proud of Flatonia ISD.”

Alvarado’s achievements put him amongst the greatest to ever step foot in Flatonia.