GREEN COVE SPRINGS - Clay High three-time state champion and record holder Emma Heck has been a dominant force for her first three years of weightlifting for the vaunted Blue Devils program under former coach Rodney Keller and present coach Autumn Null and now, it's the world.

"I was ninth last year and plan to be in the top five this year," said Heck, as she plans on leaving Monday to travel to Peru for the IWF World Youth Championships over the week. "We have few American lifters going, boys and girls, but the meet is very much faster than meets like the state meet in Florida."
Heck, ranked in the top 10 worldwide in the 59 Kilo weight class (130 pounds), will be joined by lifters from as vast an area as Ukraine, Belgium, Argentina, Kazakhstan, Great Britain, Colombia and Uzbekistan with all the competitors with birthdays in either 2007 or 2008.
"There are some strong youth lifters around the world," Heck, who is a bit strong in her own right with school and state records piling up on her resume. "One girl will open with a 200 lbs. opener. I hit 215 and state so that could be a good fight."
At the 2024 state championships, Heck, who noted the meet was not one of her best meets, hit a 160 Snatch with two misses at 170 and lifts of 205 and 215 in Clean and Jerk for the Olympics (Snatch/Clean and Jerk totals) title then a 170 on bench press for the Traditional title (Snatch/Bench Press total)
"I train between the two; high school states and the USA Weightlifting meets," said Heck. "There is not much time off."
Heck, who finished ninth overall last year in Albania; a combination of lifts in both Olympic Snatch and Clean and Jerk, with a 77K (130 Lbs) Snatch and a 93K (205 Lbs) Clean and Jerk to total at 170K (375 Lbs.).
The overall winner last year was Medine Amanova of Turkmenistan of Asia who totaled 199K (440 Lbs.) with lifts of 90K (200 lbs.) and 109K (240 lbs.) with Jessica Isabel Palacios Dajome of Ecuador second with 195K (430 Lbs.) total.
For Peru, Heck is seeded with a 174K (385 Lbs.) total with the top seed at 195K (430 Lbs.) belonging to Marjona Abdumutalova of Uzbekistan.
The world records for the 59K weight class are 111K (245 Lbs.) for Snatch, 136K (300 Lbs.) for Clean and Jerk and 246K (542 Lbs.) for a total all held by world champion Kim II Gyong of North Korea. Gyong has six world records; Snatch, Clean and Jerk and Total, as a youth and as a Junior.
On the Florida Weightlifting Federation rankings, Heck is listed as a state record holder in four categories; one in 55K, three in 59K.
At the FWF Florida State Championships in 2023, Heck totaled 175K.