Harbor’s Gute qualifies for national lifting camp

Chris Gute, who will be a junior at Newport Harbor High in the fall, has qualified for a prestigious school-age national weightlifting camp that will be this weekend at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Gute won the national title in the 62 kilograms class (136.4 pounds) for the 16-17-year-old division at the school-age national weightlifting championships in Springfield, Mo. on July 1. He dominated with 180.4 pounds in the snatch (a wide grip on the bar that is lifted above the head in one motion) and 231 pounds in the clean and jerk (bringing the bar to the shoulders and jerking it above the head). But to qualify for the camp, Gute ranked in the top 10 of all weight classes in the age division.

His younger brother, Greg, who will be a sophomore at Harbor in the fall, finished third in the 169.4 weight class of the 15-16-year old division. Zach Moghaddam, who will also be a sophomore for the Sailors, took fourth in the 187-pound class of the 15-16-year-old division.

Stephanie Ciarelli, Newport Harbor’s strength and conditioning coach, will also be in Colorado Springs, as she is a regional coach for USA Weightlifting, which is conducting the camp.

— From staff reports