Latest / The Platform: a Michigan High School Powerlifting Association Podcast / Jeanne Park, MHSPLA Scholarship Winner, Troy HS | The Platform Episode 6
Transcript
- CHRIS WHITTAKER: Welcome to the platform where the stories weigh a ton. This is where some of the MHS PLA's best tell real stories about what it takes to build themselves and their teams under the bar. I'm your co-host Chris Whitaker, and we're glad you're here. Hey, if you're enjoying this show, please make sure to subscribe, follow, and leave a review on all major podcasts on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, Amazon, you name it. Right? That support helps us continue to grow and bring the conversations to you that you want to hear on the platform. Give us feedback to just a topic or just You want to be on the show or you know somebody that should be on the show, let us know, and we will get back with you. ⁓ send an email in to info at mhspla.com with your topic suggestions, your guest suggestions, or if you yourself would like to be on the platform. ⁓ today's episode is a re-release for episode number six. ⁓ we had some technic technical issues with Christian Lopez of Nobel Catholics episode. Chris Whittaker: And here we are back with another episode of the platform. I am a cohost of the show as always, Coach Chris Wicker, Dexter High School, Iron Dread Strength and Conditioning, Iron Dread Powerlifting and the Michigan High School Powerlifting Association Board. My cohost, Coach Chris Gillum is not here right now. So I'm gonna introduce you to our guest and we'll see if Coach Gillum meets up with us here. Our guest is from Troy High School. Jeanne Park: ⁓ hi. CHRIS WHITTAKER: ⁓ we're gonna work on those and hopefully release that at another date. ⁓ we're gonna pivot here to one of our other 2026 scholarship winners, and that's Miss Gene Park of Troy High School. She shares some insight about herself, her training, her future plans after high school, which includes going to West Point. So step up, lock in. The bars loaded for Gene Park and episode six. Hit that intro music. Chris Whittaker: She's one of our scholarship winners for the 2025-2026 season. And her name is Jean Park from Troy High School. Jean, welcome to the show. Jeanne Park: Thank you. We're happy to be here. Chris Whittaker: We're glad to have you here. And we kind of talked a little bit before we hit record, right? We're really excited to ⁓ honor and acknowledge all the great kids that are coming through our association, especially our scholarship winners. You guys had to essays. Well, I had to submit a bunch of questions in ⁓ long form. And we as a board got to go through and look at all those and then vote. on the ones that we thought were the best and you were one of those for sure. ⁓ As we go down through, we're just gonna ask a bunch of questions, stimulate some conversation. ⁓ You might answer some of these questions as we go. ⁓ Like we even without me asking them, so we'll just keep things moving here and if Coach Gillum hops in, we'll get going with him. So the first thing that we have for you here is how many siblings do you have? Jeanne Park: I have one younger sister and she started powerlifting this year with me. She's two years younger than me so she's a sophomore right now. Chris Whittaker: Awesome. And she's how much younger. Okay, awesome. Awesome. One younger sister involved in the sport. We're carrying on the park name in powerlifting. ⁓ Now, the besides powerlifting, obviously we get into the sport and we it takes up a lot of our time, the training and all that. But do you have any hobbies or interests outside of just training? Jeanne Park: I actually do something that's kind of different from powerlifting, almost completely like, strengthen endurance-wise. I do long distance running. So I do track and then I also just run out for fun. Chris Whittaker: long distance runner. can I have you come talk to some of the distance runners at my place about, you know, strength training and how it carries over in the long distance running? Jeanne Park: For sure, for sure. Lots of endurance with that. Chris Whittaker: I might, I might have you talk to some coaches too. mean, they, you know, they think, I think cause they touch weights, they're to look like me. And I said, no, I gotta work hard to be a super heavyweight. All right. ⁓ that's awesome. So you're into, ⁓ endurance as well. You're in the middle of your track season right now. How's that going for you? Jeanne Park: you Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. ⁓ Pretty good. I'm going a little bit lighter than I was last year just to prevent injury and everything, but I've definitely been starting to incorporate some more rocking and the more bodyweight exercises for sure. Chris Whittaker: Good. You know, I mean, and that is important, waving the run volume and not pushing yourself too far to a point where your body starts to break down because a runner that can't run, you know, now they're just detraining on all aspects. So good. ⁓ We talked a little bit about this before we started, but what are your plans post high school? Jeanne Park: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I'm planning on joining the United States Military Academy at West Point. So I plan on attending my four years there. And then I also am planning on going to graduate school afterwards and hopefully go towards medical. So, yeah. Chris Whittaker: Nice joining the United States Army, heading to West Point, got approved by a senator to go. ⁓ the West Point tough, tough spot to get into hats off to you for getting in there. ⁓ we talked a little bit, you know, I'm from that area. ⁓ Newberg, New Windsor, New York, a lot of, a lot of history there along the river. ⁓ I've it's been so long since I've been there. Everyone tell you a good place. ⁓ Jeanne Park: Thank you. for sure. Chris Whittaker: I know one good place you gotta go, Gene. Jeanne Park: Where would that be? Chris Whittaker: Right on the waterfront in Newburgh, right? Got to go a little bit North. right. There's a place called Billy Joe's rib works. All right. We don't normally give free shout outs on this show, but the food's good. There's a, if you ever have experienced a large line dance group, it's a good time. Good time. They get a couple hundred people in there on a Tuesday night. and a majority of them are out on the deck in the summer. Jeanne Park: Mm-hmm. Chris Whittaker: line dancing. if you get to go off of, I don't know what we consider it off base, really off campus, go up there to Newburgh and check out Billy Joe's Rib Works. Are you going to be participating in any athletics at West Point? Jeanne Park: Yes, I plan on doing powerlifting there. They have an army powerlifting team. They hit up Collegiate Nationals and everything, so I'm really excited to try out, hopefully make the team, and then, you know, compete there as well. Chris Whittaker: That'd be awesome. You know, getting to compete and, and represent West Point and represent ⁓ our country as well as a member of the military. What kind of drew you into this sport of powerlifting? Jeanne Park: Mm. ⁓ I would say I started lifting, ⁓ with my dad. started benching during quarantine and I felt like that was like the only time, like the only thing I could really control at the time. So I kind of put in my energy into lifting. then during my freshman year, ⁓ you know, we had kids working out in the weight room. I didn't really have a gym membership at the time or a driver's license. So I kind of got involved with that sort of small community there. The kids also working out and that's also. where I got really close with my teammate Zarya. And then that's kind of where we hit it up from there. Chris Whittaker: Awesome. So started as a lot of kids do training with mom or dad and worked your way in, know, shout out Zaria. got shout out Zaria. Hopefully she listens to the show and supports you here. But that is what the cool part of this sport is. It's, ⁓ you get the connections with people, whether it's teammates, training partners, ⁓ even in this sport, the opponents. Jeanne Park: I'm so. Chris Whittaker: Right. You become friends with people that you're going against, um, with, this. Um, so it's, it's a pretty interesting thing and not like anything else. Um, how long have you been involved? So you said 2020 during quarantine. That's when you started and you started competing once we got back to school. Right. So that would have been what in 2021 in that range. Right. So about five years involved in the, in the sport, did you compete as a middle schooler or did you start competing in ninth grade? Jeanne Park: Yeah, for sure. Once I came into high school, because we didn't really have that much of a weight room back in middle school. Chris Whittaker: Okay. Now, what was your experience like in our association in the in the MHSPLA? Did it have any kind of impact on you as a as a lifter or as a person? Jeanne Park: Um, for sure. I would say that this sport is probably what led me to get into track. And it also led me to even trying to apply for West Point and even trying to go to the school in general. Um, definitely taught me how to like push myself, how to, you know, you know, work with a team, how to also, you know, become a leader in that, especially becoming, you know, leading our schools team in general. And yeah, I would say powerlifting and this association in general has made a huge impact honestly of where I'm. trying to go in the future and then even for me today. Chris Whittaker: Awesome. So ⁓ did your team have like captains named captains or anything like that? And you were one of those. What about Zarya? Was Zarya a captain? Jeanne Park: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yes. Yeah, Zaria's my co-captain for all, basically all four years with me. Mm-hmm. Chris Whittaker: So the two of you getting after it, ⁓ share one fond memory you have from your experience at our different MHSPLA meets. Jeanne Park: Um, for me, I would say when I first hit 315 on deadlift, I think that was like the sort of like a crazy like, you know, hitting like three plates was something that like, you know, seemed almost impossible at the time. So just getting that goal was insane for me. Chris Whittaker: Yeah. Once you hit three wheels, man, it's, it's, that's one of the, the big, ⁓ big stepping stones, right. And once you can, once you hit that, seems like sometimes there's a little bit of a sticking point. And then the next one comes at four or five, right. When you're putting that next 45 pound plate on a coach, Gillum has joined us here and is ready to go coach Gillum. Welcome back to another episode of the platform, right? Where the stories weigh a ton. Jeanne Park: Thank you. Chris Gilliam: Thank you. Yeah, my apologies, Jean. ⁓ My daughters are visiting and it's my birthday, so they had a cake and stuff. So I needed to do that. So, ⁓ but I'm glad I could join in for a short period of time with you guys. So what have you guys covered so far? Chris Whittaker: That didn't. Well, are we just she just shared a fond memory of her experiences. But first, let's stop. Happy birthday to you. Right, Gene, he does the scheduling for this, right? I just sent out the invite. ⁓ he scheduled this on his birthday. ⁓ Chris Gilliam: ⁓ nice. Thanks. Thank Yeah, yeah. So. Well, and I got the stink eye already, but you know, to me it's another day so. But you know. Jeanne Park: Well... Chris Whittaker: hey, Gene, if you've ever met his daughters, are they're grilling him hard right now, especially the older one, especially the older one. Chris Gilliam: Yeah. Yeah. They're, they're going for a walk now post a cake and ice cream stuff. So, but yeah, thank you for joining us. Congratulations once again on being one of our scholarship winners. ⁓ what's one piece of advice for somebody considering competing in the sport of powerlifting for the first time that you would give somebody? Chris Whittaker: You Jeanne Park: Hmm. Thank you. ⁓ I would say be in the moment for sure when you're doing this. ⁓ Even if you're nervous, even if you're shaky, there's a lot of people that also feel that same way no matter how long they've done that sport. Especially if you're hitting a PR, you never know if you're gonna hit that way. Even if you hit that PR before, you don't even know if you can hit that way now. So I think just the fact that everyone's kind of in the same boat and there's nothing to be too worried about and we're all there to, you ⁓ improve ourselves, get better, and then do what we love, which is lifting. Chris Gilliam: That's good advice. Chris Whittaker: Just get after it. Don't be worried. Go. Big question we like to ask all of our guests, especially our student athletes. ⁓ Is powerlifting considered a varsity sport at your school? Like can you earn a school letter for powerlifting? Jeanne Park: you For my school, all four years we've been unable to make it an official team sport. We've been functioning as a club, but that hasn't stopped us from getting those meet awards or stopping us from not holding practices together. We recently, towards the end of our season, we hosted a team dinner and everything. We had team shirts. So just because that title isn't there, that's definitely not something that's going to hinder us from involving ourselves in the sport. Chris Gilliam: That's good. So your coach and all the participants, you're treating it just like any other team sport yourselves, even though the school is not recognizing it with varsity letters. ⁓ That's a lot of credit to you and your coaches. And ⁓ hopefully the word gets around and maybe it'll become a sport that they can earn letters down the road. And you guys could be a part of that initial push maybe. Jeanne Park: you Chris Whittaker: Even in my building, we're, still considered a club sport and they'll allow me to submit and have kids earn, earn a letter, but we're not a varsity sport. Chris Gilliam: Gotcha. How have the numbers been within your program since you began lifting? Have they increased, stayed the same, went down? Jeanne Park: I would say we did have a good increase towards the start. I would say we did have a rocky year beginning because that was like our first time hosting official powerlifting practices and such. But I would say towards the end of my four years, we had a lot of kids, especially a lot of the boys go into the States. And then we also grew our girls team a lot this year. So I'm really hoping that's able to carry on even after when I graduate. Chris Gilliam: Gotcha. So how many girls did you guys have participate this year? Jeanne Park: I would say our first two years we were around five to six so we wasn't a big group but then this year we had around 10 to 10 ish I would say and then we had a couple girls make it to States as well. Chris Gilliam: Awesome. Well, that's good that it grew and maybe someday down the road it'll double again. So that's great. Awesome. Jeanne Park: Mm-hmm. Chris Whittaker: Yeah, you know, maybe some young kid sees you on this podcast and it helps ⁓ inspire them to want to join your team, be a part of it. So powerlifting itself is a sport where a lot of we experience failure. Okay. We could miss an attempt to miss a record. ⁓ And that could be the difference between winning and losing. So it carries with us some penalty or some cost here. What is your favorite time that you had a failure or a setback that you ultimately were able to set up and utilize to drive you to later success? Jeanne Park: this. ⁓ I would say I believe it was in my second meet last year, right before States. It was the meet right before that. And I was really hoping to, you know, move some weight and like go into that state final meet like very strongly. it was, I think around 340 for that deadlift. And that was the first time I've missed a deadlift in a very long time. ⁓ I think I definitely pushed myself to get there, but it definitely got me worried towards, you know, States coming up. I was really feeling unsure about myself, ⁓ even during those upcoming practices, like up to states as well. But I think definitely with having my teammates on that state meet and also that adrenaline, I think that really helped me break 340 and hit up a new PR right after that as well. So that was definitely big for me too. Chris Gilliam: No listen. Chris Whittaker: So you not only hit the weight, but then went and passed that weight. Jeanne Park: Mm-hmm. Chris Gilliam: That's good. Sometimes people get so worked up over a mess that it just totally affects them the rest of the meat. So that's, that's awesome. In your opinion, what's the hardest thing to learn in the sport of powerlifting? Jeanne Park: Mm-hmm. I would say patience. I would say growth isn't linear, especially when it comes to this. Like me personally, I have a lot of issues with my bench going up a lot of the time. It's a lot slower than my progress for some of my other lifts, but definitely just taking the time. Like you don't really, no matter how much work you put in, you never know what you're going to come out of it, but you know that you're going to improve. So even if the weight's not going up right away, sort of just knowing that like, Hey, I'm putting in all this effort. It'll make an outcome at some point. no matter how late you're on. Chris Whittaker: Yeah, it's not linear. Like, what's the what there's that that ⁓ photo that goes around the internet and it it says like, the path to success, right. And then and it shows in one spot, like what people think it is. And it's an arrow going straight up on an angle. And what it actually is like zigzag up, down, around backwards, like a roller coaster to then get there. Right. And I think you just painted that image perfectly like that's That's the way this sport is. That's the way life is. So awesome. Now this next spot is our rapid fire speed set questions, right? We got to get back underneath the bar in 45 seconds. Bang, bang, bang, bang, All right. So these are real quick answers. And coach and I alternate back and forth asking these questions. ⁓ This answer quick. Don't think too long on them and tell us, okay. What's your favorite lift squat bench press or deadlift? Jeanne Park: Delft. Chris Gilliam: Are you a low bar or high bar for squat? Jeanne Park: High bar. Chris Whittaker: Sumo are conventional. Jeanne Park: conventional all the way. Chris Whittaker: the Chris Gilliam: Do you prefer a max one rep or a rep PR? Jeanne Park: Rupyar. Chris Whittaker: Now let's talk your favorite accessory exercises. What's your favorite accessory exercise for the squat? Jeanne Park: I would say hamstrings. Chris Whittaker: Any specific one? Jeanne Park: ⁓ not really. just, you know, like getting a good pump by there, so. Chris Whittaker: Let lion curl, GHR, ⁓ all those little knee flexion hamstring action. Jeanne Park: Mm-hmm. Chris Gilliam: What's your favorite accessory for the bench press? Jeanne Park: And truss, upper chest probably, upper chest in that area. Chris Gilliam: So some type of incline movement. Okay. Jeanne Park: Okay. Chris Whittaker: And what about the deadlift? Jeanne Park: Deadlift, I think I just go for that one, honestly, don't. Chris Gilliam: Is there some some type of exercise that you guys may have trained to help you with your deadlift? Jeanne Park: I would say probably lot of RDLs and then working on grip strength. I think that was a big part of that. Chris Gilliam: Okay, good. Excellent. Chris Whittaker: They're training the posterior chain at Troy High School coach. Good good. Maybe that's why their kids are getting stronger. Alright, so Jean, ⁓ our next thing here is what we like to do. ⁓ And actually coach, I'll kick it to you first if you have any additional questions and then if not, then we will kick it to Jean and anything we haven't discussed yet. So coach, you have any additional questions? Chris Gilliam: Yes, they are. Jeanne Park: Thank Chris Gilliam: Yeah. Jeanne Park: You Chris Gilliam: I just wanted to let her know like, when we, when you guys apply for the scholarship, everybody looks at it. We don't know who everybody is. We probably have seen you at meets, but we can't place a name on the face, but your answers to the questionnaire and stuff. ⁓ And based on the short time I've been on here, you're very articulate, young lady, very smart, intelligent person who seems to have a good head on their shoulders. ⁓ It was a no-brainer to pick you based on how you answered things. ⁓ And so you should be super proud. Your parents should be super proud. And good luck with your future endeavors. I know I missed the beginning of it. So if you could share with me real quick what your post-graduation plans are. Jeanne Park: I plan on attending the US Military Academy of West Point. So I'm basically joining an army, learning about leadership throughout that to become an officer there. I also plan on going to graduate school and then hopefully going into the medical field or military intelligence. Chris Gilliam: That's awesome. And ⁓ I do remember seeing your United States Military Academy. So that's official. That's where you're going. Awesome. Congratulations. That is, you know, you're in the top 1%. Just so you know, that's pretty amazing. So congratulations to you and good luck with all those things. Jeanne Park: Yes. Thank you. Chris Whittaker: Mm-hmm. I know a lot of kids that have been told no, I've tried to get in that place. So again, hats off to you as we said before. Chris Gilliam: Thank you. Jeanne Park: you Chris Gilliam: And I know they have a power lifting program there too. So. Chris Whittaker: Yep. She's she's going to try out coach. She's going to join. Jeanne Park: Mm-hmm. Chris Gilliam: Good, awesome. Good luck to you with that. I think that's a great experience. I know they have wonderful facilities there too. I've seen them. Jeanne Park: Thank Chris Whittaker: All right, Jeannie. So, Jean, sorry. So ⁓ anything that we haven't discussed that you'd like to share with our audience, this podcast goes not only all over the state, but all over the world. It's available on every major podcast platform. ⁓ Anything you'd like to share with our audience that we haven't talked about yet? Jeanne Park: I would just say like, ⁓ I think a big part of when I was during my high school and even when we were sort of like showcasing for people to join our clubs, especially for the girls, we definitely had a lot of girls straight away from the whole idea of powerlifting just because it seems like such a, you know, like a brute strength sport in a way, especially in a more male dominated field and our team for girls being a little bit smaller. ⁓ I think ⁓ even if you're intimidated by it, I think it's important to know that we have like an amazing community, powerlifting, the gym community, running community, no matter what. So I think even if you're kind of worried or like scared, intimidated, just to like try, try everything, you know, to see how, if you like it or not, I guess. Chris Gilliam: Yeah. I mean, you hit the nail on the head, the tons of support, even from other schools and competitors in our sport. The sportsmanship is amazing and people find friends because even when teammates, they might not be at the same platform as you. So you have to rely on complete strangers to spot you at meets. You end up developing some friendships, I'm sure along the road too. That's awesome. Thank you for sharing that. Chris Whittaker: And the thing we like to talk about all the time too, is there's a spot for everybody in this sport from the biggest of the big to the smallest of the small. Like, um, I think I like, I like seeing the, the light weight kids because boys or girls, when you look at them, usually you don't go, they're a power lifter. And then they put up big numbers and you're, oh yeah, that's, that's cool to see that hundred some pound kid doing weights that some of the heavier kids are. a good time for sure. Okay, Jean, well, we don't want to keep keep you ⁓ too much longer here. We appreciate your time. Any public facing social media that you have or your program utilizes if people want to keep up with you or keep up with Troy powerless. Jeanne Park: ⁓ We have our Troy High School powerlifting Instagram. I believe it's THS powerlifting. So we have that available. ⁓ I plan to post my school experience for the next four years on my own Instagram, which is just my name, Jean Park. ⁓ So yeah, so those are sort of where our social media platforms are. I'm hoping to give that Troy High School powerlifting account off to an underclassman, and hopefully we keep that going strong. Chris Gilliam: Right. Chris Whittaker: Yep. So we follow the Troy team on Instagram and follow Jean on Instagram. ⁓ Chris Gilliam: So are you set to go to basic like in early or mid June? that when you're? Jeanne Park: Yes, I'm leaving towards the end of June. Report date for us is on June 29th. Thank you. Chris Gilliam: Yeah. Okay. Well, good luck. I'm sure you'll do fine, Larry. Jeanne Park: Thank you. Chris Whittaker: So you guys start that at West Point or you're going to like Fort Leonard would or one of those other locations before reporting to New Windsor, New York. Jeanne Park: I believe we're staying on campus, then we also have Camp Bungner, which is around that area. So we're probably traveling since it's a larger campus with all those training fields. I believe we're staying there for now. Chris Gilliam: Awesome. Chris Whittaker: Cool. So you get re-report right there for basic. Awesome. Well, Gene, again, thank you for being here. We appreciate you a lot. Congratulations again on all your success, all your team's success and your scholarship. And hey, go Army, beat Navy. Chris Gilliam: Thank you. Jeanne Park: Thank you. Chris Whittaker: Thank you.