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Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - Sibling powerlifters for St. Louis Catholic High School Luke and Morgan Churchman have used the sport to create a very strong bond and this past season the pair placed the highest in school history at the state championships.

Luke took second place in the LHSAA state meet, and has qualified for powerlifting nationals, and having his sister finish top three in the meet also made it even more special.

“It’s been really great I love having her here, I get to try to help teach her and bring on the next generation I love that it could just be us up there and make a name for St. Louis, hopefully in powerlifting,” said Luke Churchman.

For Morgan, lifting with her brother helped her grow in the sport, and she made it clear that she couldn’t have accomplished what she has done without his help.

“It’s very special to get to, like, share it together it makes it so much sweeter,” said Morgan Churchman. “It was unreal it was like a dream because he coached me the whole way through, along with the struggle and it was just incredible, he was the one who told me I won and I’ll never forget the feeling we finally got to see all our work pay off.”

Head coach of the Saints John Dugas, a former college powerlifter, has loved the opportunity to teach the pair and has been honored to coach such a hard-working group of kids.

“They are so attuned to the regimen, and they’re so dedicated that it just makes it easy, I come in and I give them the numbers and there’s no questioning it, they say ‘all right let’s go and do it’, and I loved watching them as they grew because their confidence, went up, and with the confidence the lifts got better so It was a rewarding experience for them,” said coach Dugas. “I wanted them to feel that rewarding experience and just to be able to see their growth and talk to them, you see them as individuals. you see their desires, you see what they want to do in life, and this group in general just feels like a family.”

Luke, who is set to graduate from St. Louis this year, will take his talents to Louisiana Tech as he will compete for their team this coming year. As for Morgan, she made it clear that her third-place finish at the state finals is only the beginning as she has three more years left to compete in high school.