Thunder & lightning

Kloie Doublin has been playing these next three months out in her head for quite some time. If all goes as she expects it to, she’ll end up on top of the world.

The reigning sectional champion in the 100-meter dash and long jump as well as a member of Franklin’s sectional-winning 4×400 relay team, Doublin is working toward making it to the girls state track and field meet June 3.

At the same time, she’s also preparing to take first place at the World Powerlifting Championships later that month in Minsk, Belarus.

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Working together

On the surface, one might think that track and powerlifting would get in the way of one another — but it turns out that the opposite is closer to the truth.

“One of the things that you need to have in track and field, especially in her events, is to be very explosive,” said speed coach Lee Taft, who has been working with Doublin since last fall. “Speed comes down to how much force you can put into the ground. … She has that; we just had to teach her how to use it.”

Franklin girls track and field coach Tim Leonard has noticed a difference as Doublin has become more immersed in powerlifting during the past year and a half.

“We’ve noticed her starts are a lot stronger,” he said, “and it looks like her takeoff in the long jump is a lot stronger. Not that it was bad before, but the added power has obviously added another dimension.”

That power has propelled Doublin to the top of the powerlifting world in a very short period of time. She qualified for the 2016 world championships as an alternate in her first year competing — and now, she’s heading to Belarus as the favorite in her weight class.

At the Arnold Classic earlier this month in Columbus, Ohio, Doublin posted an unofficial world record in the junior 155-pound class by totaling 442.5 kilograms (975.5 pounds) on the squat, bench press and deadlift.

Balancing act

Doublin clearly has the tools to excel in both sports. The tricky part has been balancing the training for the two. Fortunately, her coaches have been supportive and willing to work with her on a training schedule.

“We just talked about her goals and what she wants to do,” said Jeremy Hartman, Doublin’s powerlifting coach. “We have to train around (track), so she’s not on a typical schedule. Some nights, she’s working out at 8, 9 o’clock with me.”

On days that Doublin’s high school track workouts require more running, she’ll do most of her heavy lifting during the school day. If they’re lighter on running, she works out with Hartman later in the evening.

It takes a lot of planning, Doublin says, to make it all work.

“Every weekend on Sundays, I sit down and I write everything out,” she said. “Really, I just have to plan ahead a lot, or else my eating suffers, my sleep suffers, school suffers. I have to make sure that everything’s planned out, and that’s really the key.”

The planning could be particularly important in April. The Johnson County Track and Field Meet is scheduled for the 18th, right smack in the middle of the World Bench Press Championships, which run from the 16th to the 22nd in Killeen, Texas.

Doublin, who is due to compete at the bench press worlds on the 20th, said that she may scale back a little on what events she competes in at county, or even skip the meet altogether, depending on how her body feels that week.

Leonard has had to make adjustments for many of the athletes on his team that are involved and other activities, and he has done so with Doublin, both with powerlifting and with dance before that.

“We’re flexible and willing to do that, because we know it means a lot to her,” he said.

The lifting has required flexibility on the track side in more ways than one — Doublin actually outgrew her uniform thanks to the 15 or so pounds of muscle that she has added since last spring.

“I hadn’t put it on since last track season — and it was a small,” she said. “And I was like, ‘This is not working.’ So we had to trade.”

Eyes on the prize(s)

Doublin has set her sights on the state meet — very much a realistic goal after she placed fourth in the regional in the 100 (12.77 seconds) and the 4×400 (4:07.99) and seventh in the long jump (16 feet, 8 1/2 inches).

Her main focus this year, she said, will be on the 400-meter dash, although Leonard said he believes she also has a good shot in the long jump.

Should she make it to Bloomington for that meet, Doublin will then have just over two weeks before she’s set to compete in Belarus on June 20 — a window of time that she describes as “perfect.”

The physical preparation for both sports will continue through the next few weeks. Mentally, Doublin has been prepared for a while.

“On weekends, and even throughout the week, all I’m thinking about is going to state and being first on that (world) podium,” she said. “So a lot of that, I’m already seeing mentally; in my brain, I’m making sure I’m already mentally there. I sort out those feelings and emotions that I might be seeing later on now, so when I get there, it won’t be a big deal.”

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Kloie Doublin will be chasing titles in both track and field and powerlifting this spring. A look at her personal bests on the track and her lifts from this month’s Arnold Classic:

100 meters;12.77 seconds

200 meters;26.67 seconds

4×400 relay;4:07.99

Long jump;17 feet, 0 inches

Squat;157.5 kilograms (347.22 pounds)

Bench press;100 kilograms (220.46 pounds)

Deadlift;185 kilograms (407.86 pounds)

Total;442.5 kilograms (975.545 pounds)

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