With the support of his coaches and his family, Harrah (Oklahoma) High School graduate Kash Maynard has become a standout in multiple sports.
He closed out his high school athletics career by winning a 2024 state powerlifting title. Maynard competed in the 168-pound division for Harrah High School. He lifted that day a total of 1,260 pounds. Maynard was honored by the Harrah Public School Board for his accomplishment.
He also served as cheer captain during the school year.
An emerging sport
Powerlifting is growing in popularity due to its accessibility, inclusion of both women and men and a large social media following. USA Powerlifting reported that their membership has jumped since 2014 from 6,410 to 22,026 members, according to the Washington Post.
The sport consists of three lifts: the squat, the bench press and the deadlift.
“You perform these lifts to try to get as high of a weight as you can. You get three attempts per lift,” Maynard said.
Competition days can be long, with bus trips, weigh-ins and then waiting for competition time. Maynard can be at a meet for five to eight hours before it concludes.
Within most sports, competitors don’t often cheer for each other. It is different in powerlifting, where competitors become friends.
“It’s very interesting because you think it’d be (your) teammates, but the teammates don’t see each other much, because of the different weight classes,” he said. “So, everybody at your rack, even your competitors, will hype you up just because it’s a really communal sport. It’s awesome to see someone get a new personal record or just move heavy weight.”
Maynard originally began lifting weights for fitness, but friends encouraged him to think about powerlifting.
“I said, ‘Well, I’ll give it a shot.’ And then the last two years, I just went for it and competed, and it was awesome, I loved it,” he said.
Winning a state title was “pretty awesome. It’s a pretty good feeling. All that hard work that I put in, it paid off.”
Multiple sports and academics
Maynard has used his athletic abilities in many other sports.
“I was a gymnast all up until high school, but it was very time consuming,” he said. “I was talking to my wrestling coach to go back to wrestling. In middle school, he was also the cheer coach, and he said, ‘You should try cheer. I think you’d be really good at that.’ So, (he) got me into cheer, and I fell in love with that too. It’s an awesome sport.”
The cheer team has four competitions a year, which don’t conflict with powerlifting. They practice year-round before going to regionals and then state. The team placed third at state this year.
Maynard does not struggle switching sports from one season to the next. In fact, he has noticed powerlifting has given him a performance boost in cheer.
“The more I can (power)lift, the easier I can lift and cheer, right? Granted, that’s a little more athletic because we do flips and stuff, but I don’t think it is too hard to switch between,” he said.
All his school activities mean Maynard has become an experienced time manager. He has excelled in the classroom, even with advanced coursework.
“Usually if I have schoolwork, I try to get most of it done in school, and then the stuff that I don’t get done, I’ll do before I go lift,” he said.
Future plans
The Tescier family descendant will attend Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, a public liberal arts college. The school has a 1911 mandate to provide qualified Native Americans with a tuition-free education.
Fort Lewis is near the LaPlata Mountains and is known for its beautiful campus. Maynard is excited to connect with more Native American students.
He plans to study physics and has big goals in mind.
“I’m thinking of going into the field of particle physics. I’ve always been fascinated with it. My dream job would be to work at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland,” Maynard said.
CERN is the European Organization for Nuclear Research. It is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world, according to their website.
Support system
Like many successful student-athletes, Maynard is grateful for the people around him.
“My coaches are always super supportive of me in everything I do. They’re always pushing me to do better and coming out to support me,” he said. “All (my) coaches have helped push me to be a better person inside and outside the athletic room as well.”
“My parents are very supportive. They came out to every meet they could, which was really awesome. And they pay for my gym membership which is huge. Without a gym membership, I wouldn’t be able to lift weights,” he said.
From excelling in gymnastics at age 6 to his recent achievements, mother Kellie Maynard and Kash’s family are confident he will meet any challenge.
“He has always given his best with great achievements in all that he sets his mind to. He gave 100% to varsity cheer, was cheer captain and nominated for Oklahoma All State Cheer team,” Kellie said. “He started with powerlifting to help with his strength for cheer, but in true Kash form, worked his way up to Oklahoma State Champion. I’m a proud mother not only for his physical accomplishments but his academic and leadership achievements and goals. Kash is excited to represent CPN at Fort Lewis College and focus on those goals.”