Gratton starts strong
Mia Gratton had a feeling she could do well in her first official competition.
Even then, the Mars eighth-grader surprised everyone, including herself, by setting four state records in the 2022 USA Powerlifting Pittsburgh Spring Classic last month.
A relative newcomer to the sport, she placed first in the Women’s Raw Teen I (14-15) division at the event, held at Legends of Pittsburgh Fitness in Tarentum on April 9.
“I just like lifting a lot,” Mia said. “It’s fun to me. I like hitting big numbers.”
When her father, Bryan, and mother, Kristen, turned 40, their competitive nature drove them to want to get in shape. They took up CrossFit at a local gym, Beyond Parallel Fitness Community in Cranberry Township, and Mia eventually decided to tag along.
The couple also has two sons, Kai and Kaden, who play high school soccer for Mars. Their 12-year-old daughter, Miley, plays club soccer for SCS.
“All of our kids have done CrossFit with us in some way or another — and they’re all fairly decent at it,” Bryan said. “But (Mia) with the lifting, she really took to that and excelled quickly.”
Only a few months ago did she transition from CrossFit classes to direct her effort more toward competing. She had only eight weeks in a program to specifically prepare her for April.
“A lot of what we were focused on was doing the lifts correctly,” said Mia’s mentor, Kevin Lesniak, adding that there are certain standards in how the contest is judged. “She has a lot of natural strength, so she was able to build her strength and learn to get her technique better in that short amount of time.
“She still has a lot of potential, because we were kind of rushed for time and focused mostly on preparing for the competition environment.”
Lesniak is the powerlifting coach at Beyond Parallel Fitness and is certified through USA Powerlifting. Mia was one of the first to join a growing powerlifting club at the gym.
In the Pittsburgh Spring Classic, she lifted 126 pounds in the bench press, 220 in the back squat, and 254 in the deadlift. She’s ranked sixth in the country in her division.
“It kind of just started off as something she did and then when she realized she was good at it, she just loved it,” Bryan said. “It brought her a lot of self-confidence. And so, for a 14-year-old girl to get self-confidence, (it) means a lot to my wife and I.”
Mia’s passion lays in fitness as a whole. She trains three times a week for at least an hour, sometimes after a two-hour track and field practice. In that sport, she runs the 4x100 relay and throws shot put and discus.
“She can see a lot of progress looking ahead,” Lesniak said. “She enjoys that style of training and she sees that she has a lot of potential in it.”
It doesn’t appear that her commitment to the craft will wane.
“I’m thinking of maybe going to college for it,” Mia said, adding that she’s interested in attending Penn State or the University of Pittsburgh.
A number of colleges hand out scholarships for the sport.
In the meantime, Lesniak believes that an elite stage is one that Mia can reach fairly soon. She plans on competing at a second meet at the Pittsburgh Mills in November, with a goal of qualifying for nationals next year. This time around, she has six months to ready herself.
“From there, it all just continues to roll forward,” Lesniak said. “It really comes down to her dedication and her work ethic, which she clearly has from what I’ve seen.”
