Algebra and geometry teacher Kalynne Tweedie adds it up both inside and outside school. In the classroom, Tweedie uses numbers and equations. In the gym, it’s weights and on Saturday she competed in the 2018 Lock and Load Championships at The Barn in Van Alstyne for Olympic Weightlifting, sweeping the competition by placing first overall.

“I was satisfied with first place, but I wasn’t satisfied with my performance because it wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be,” Tweedie said. “I’m competitive.”

CrossFit was her first focus, but over the past year she has been making gains in weightlifting.

“I saw the Olympic weightlifting class and I started doing that to get better at the CrossFit aspect of it,” Tweedie said. “Basically because the amount of time that I had to put in to be a regional games athlete for CrossFit I realized that I don’t have enough time, so when I looked at weightlifting I was like okay I really like to weigh lift and there’s only three moves I can master so I can do that in a lot less time than with all of the CrossFit.”

She quickly grew fond of the sport and knew it was something she wanted to pursue further.

“I fell in love,” Tweedie said. ”They were like hey why don’t you compete, so I started competing in it and I went with that.”

With a barbell snatch of roughly 140 pounds and her clean and jerk at around 165 pounds, the competitions are rigid.

“The judges look for locked out elbows so if you don’t lock your elbows out in the snatch then you get a no rep, and if you drop the bar before the down signal then it is a no rep,” Tweedie said. “On the clean and jerk, you can’t hit your elbows on your knees and when you jerk the bar over your head, you have to be locked out before you land.”

Being able to lift heavy weights comes with dedicated hours and time, she fits her busy schedule as a teacher to get in the gym and put in work. Working at Black Powder Crossfit everyday with the help of her coach, Mike Manning, Tweedie has flourished in her new passion, which has become evident to her students.

“I support her and I think it’s really cool,” sophomore Kate McKinney said. “You don’t see a lot of teachers as active as her.”

“I think it’s very cool and unique,” sophomore Adrienne Taylor said. “It’s taught me that you can do anything that you put your mind to. She’s not only an awesome algebra teacher but is also an awesome athlete.”

Balancing academics and her athletics, Tweedie aspires to fulfill a life of fitness and continue her career for years to come.

“I plan on doing this until I die, or until I physically can’t do it anymore,” Tweedie said. “I’m just competitive.”