Bingham High School graduate Maegan Lee Snodgrass competed in the Junior National Weightlifting Championships held last week in Foster City, Calif., and came away with two first-place trophies in the 165-pound weight class.

In the process she earned a trip with Team USA to compete in the Junior World Weightlifting Championships to be held in Romania in June.

In the clean and jerk category, Snodgrass lifted 220 pounds, and in the snatch she hefted 182 pounds. Her performances garnered her 25 percent funding support for the trip to Romania from the U.S. Weightlifting Federation.

Snodgrass was originally a gymnast, but her coach was also the weightlifting coach and asked her one day to try her hand at lifting. At the age of 14 she was lifting as much as the 17-year-olds and knew she had natural ability.

"My dad keeps telling me I have a special gift," she said. But she acknowledges she keeps to a strenuous workout regimen. By the time she turned 17 she won a couple of national titles and then the injury bug struck and she had to take two years off. Ironically, her injuries occurred on the gym mats.

"I broke both my wrist and my foot," she said.

She was still able to earn a gymnastic scholarship to Utah State, but just recently she was medically retired from that sport.

So it was back to weightlifting, where she took up right where she left off in the national spotlight.

"I love the thrill of competing, and my goal is to make the 2012 Olympic Team," she added.

She said her goals are written up on the wall of her bedroom and, "I read them every day."

The competition will undoubtedly get stiffer as she moves up from the junior ranks, but for now, at age 20, she has a shot at the Junior Worlds.

Her mother and father will accompany her to Romania and she is excitedly looking forward to the opportunity of competing.

E-Mail: wjewkes@desnews.com