Peyton McKenzie broke Florida High School Athletic Association records in May as a dominating state champion weightlifter for DeLand. He has said that performance was one step forward in a career he hopes will include the 2032 Olympics.
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The DeBary teenager raised the bar another notch with his performance at last month’s USA Weightlifting National Championship meet at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. McKenzie set 17-and-under national records and is ranked No. 1 in that age group across all weight classes. He now can profess to be America’s strongest high school weightlifter.
McKenzie, who gave up football to focus on weightlifting last year, plans to switch back from DeLand High to University High of Orange City, his zoned school, for his senior year.
In the national meet, he weighed in at 238 pounds and competed in the above-94 kilograms heavyweight weight class. He hoisted 136 kilos (300 pounds) in the snatch and 170 (just under 375 pounds) in the clean and jerk for a 306 total (674.6 pounds). He said afterward that he went in hoping for even more, but all three marks set USAW 17U records.
Last week he learned he was selected for Team USA and invited to return to Colorado to participate in an expense-paid USAW developmental camp, scheduled for Saturday through July 17.
“One of my big goals was making the team,” McKenzie said Monday. “It was the first time at Colorado Springs for me, and the altitude really got to me. I was gassed. I missed a clean for the first time in forever. But it is definitely cool to be No. 1 for the 16 and 17 age group.”
His hope is that training with national coaches and top lifters from across the country, in altitude, will help him make the USA juniors team (ages 18-24) for the 2027 World Championships in Albania. McKenzie turns 18 in January.
USA Weightlifting, the governing body for the Olympic sport, recognizes performances for records only in drug tested USAW or International Weightlifting Federation meets that are overseen by accredited judges.
McKenzie was a promising football prospect when he transferred from University to Lake Mary as a sophomore home-schooler in 2025, but a summer knee injury put him on the sideline. From there, he chose another path to compete nationally in weightlifting.
As a junior last May he set FHSAA state meet Olympic style records for the 238 weight class with a 315 pound snatch, 370 clean and jerk and 685 total. He added a 405 bench press to also win the Traditional style with a 775 total, which combines the bench with the clean and jerk.
DeLand’s FHSAA record-setter, Peyton McKenzie, is boys weightlifter of year
Oviedo triplets
The triplets who excelled in cross country, track and classrooms for Oviedo High the past four years — Aiden, Brody and Colin Aysun — are all headed to prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study subjects like computer science and aerospace engineering. Incredibly, all three finished high school with identical 4.849 weighted grade point averages (straight A’s 4.0 unweighted) and shared valedictorian honors for their school.
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“It’s incredible. They are great athletes, incredibly smart, great people,” Oviedo athletic director Jen Darty said. “Every time I talked to them I felt like I was the one learning something. They have a bright future ahead of them for sure.”
The Aysuns made the FHSAA’s 24-student All-State Academic All-State Team.
They were joined by two other recent Orlando area graduates: Sarah Cantwell of Trinity Prep and Alyssa Klyce of West Orange.
Cantwell held a 4.0 GPA while playing volleyball, lacrosse, soccer and weightlifting for the Saints.
Klyce sported a 4.0 GPA while competing in cross country, track and swimming.
USA basketball
C.J. Rosser and Beckham Black, the two leading scorers for nationally ranked Southeastern Prep Academy of Orlando as juniors last season, were stars for the winning USA Basketball U17 team in the recent FIBA World Cup. Team USA thumped Serbia 107-81 in the gold medal game played in Istanbul, Turkey. The U.S. is 58-0 in the U17 world tournament since 2010.
Rosser, a 6-foot-10 forward, scored 23 points in the final. Black, a 6-3 point guard, averaged 12.3 points, 8.3 assists and 3.0 steals and was one of five players on the All-Five all-tournament team. Both are ranked in the top three college prospects in America.
Cayden Daughtry, another five-star prospect who led Calvary Christian of Fort Lauderdale to a 2026 state title, was another standout for the U.S. squad.
None of those three have committed to a college yet.
Daughtry excelled on the Nike EYBL travel ball circuit with the Florida Rebels team directed by Oak Ridge High coach Steve Reece.
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Volleyball
The Winter Park Volleyball Club’s 17U Armour Black team was the Open division (top tier) runner-up at the 53rd AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships in Orlando. That event, which concludes Friday, drew more than 6,000 teams and 100,000 athletes to the Orange County Convention Center.
The WPVC team members, listed with their 2025-26 high school, were Sydney Allen (Winter Park), Ella Gravlee (Vero Beach), Ellie Enger (Orangewood Christian), Mollie VanDeusen (Beachside), Isabel Incinelli (Winter Park), Alex Kennedy (Lake Highland Prep), Jordyn Lehman (Winter Park), Olivia Sosa (Orangewood), Journey Summerville (Boone), Teagan Mitchell-Timmons (Lake Nona), Avery Valentine (West Orange) and Kennedy Walker (West Orange).
A Lake Mary team, Goldenbulls 18B Black, won the 18s Club division championship.
Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be contacted by email at [email protected].
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