PORT ANGELES — Greeted by a group that would look just as comfortable at a motorcyle clubhouse as in workout gear — at a place called the Dungeon — most people would be intimidated.
But it’s increasingly clear with every muscle-building repetition that Port Angeles teenager Maggie Doyle, 17, is built a little different.
Doyle, possessing an iron will, a dogged work ethic and the genetics of a former Clallam County Strongman competition champion, is off to — what else? — a strong start in the world of powerlifting.
In her first competition, Doyle had other participants abuzz while setting four U.S. Powerlifting Association age-group records and winning the 2023 Sleighin’ Weights contest held last month at Bremerton’s Dungeon Fitness. Her bench press lifts were good enough for fifth in her age group worldwide at 100 kilograms and she sits 14th overall globally in total weight.
Shaking off some initial nerves at the Sleighin’ Weights contest, Doyle quickly showed she belonged, drawing praise and support from her fellow lifters.
“Everybody at the meet was wonderful,” Doyle said. “For a bunch of gnarly, tattooed guys, they were super kind and welcoming and talkative. People wanted to help me out. Everybody was super warm and nice. Once they figured out I was going for national records, a lady yelled so loud for me during the national record dead lift her voice cracked when she was screaming and you can hear it on the video.”
Powerlifting competitions are made up of three common exercises: the bench press, squat, dead lift — all working toward putting up the largest combined weight total.
Doyle is the daughter of Lance and Dacia Doyle, an exercise-minded couple with a pedigree — Lance won the Clallam County Strongman competition back in the late 1990s.
“My parents always had me around the Y and encouraged me to work out, but I wasn’t motivated or inspired to try powerlifting before,” Doyle said. “As soon as I met my coach and I saw him on the bench press and I was impressed. I had never seen anybody lift anywhere near that much. And once he started training me, he really has been supportive and told me you can be really, really good at this if you learn how to lift.”
Only since April
She’s been training with weights since April 2023 after noticing YMCA of Port Angeles’ Ryan Fontana, himself a former state powerlifting champion, putting up a massive bench press at the Y.
“I describe it as she’s kind of like a freak of nature,” Fontana said. “Some powerlifters are built for one of the three events, but Maggie has the frame to go heavy in every exercise. Flash forward a year or two from now and genetically she has an advantage.
“She’s going to be 18 soon and you’ll never meet somebody that young with that type of work ethic.”
Working out six times a week for two-plus-hour durations has Doyle adding plates to her lifts.
“My bench presses in my first workout journal were about 95 or 100 pounds,” Doyle said. “Now my bench press record is 187.4 pounds. My deadlift record is 352.7 and it was probably 135 at the start and my squat is 330.7 up from 115.”
Eating a far more healthy diet than the typical powerlifter has provided fuel for Doyle.
“Powerlifters eat like crap,” Doyle said. “Pizza, ice cream, cheeseburgers. I’m from more of an organic family and probably two meals a day I’ll have a bowl of rice, chicken, hard-boiled eggs and cilantro. I try and get fruits and vegetables in before and after my workout. Lot of chicken, ground beef, protein shakes. I try to eat clean and reach 250 grams of protein a day, but I fall short on that a lot and probably hit 200 or 220.”
More driven
Doyle said she can take her powerlifting experiences and relate them to her everyday routine.
“I’ve noticed a lot of differences in my day-to-day life,” Doyle said. “I feel like I have more drive to do things, something heavy I’m definitely capable, but if it’s a mental challenge, I feel a lot more confident that I can take it on.
“It may seem cheesy, but I feel like a different person. I know that I can complete those goals that I set for myself and that can translate to anything in life. See it, visualize it and do it.”
As for her future as a powerlifter, Doyle is hooked and plans to pursue the sport as far as it will take her.
“There’s always that little hope that if I’m No. 5 at 17, maybe I could be No. 1 at 18 or 20,” Doyle said.
“So a short-term goal would be to set the 18- or 19-year-old records. If I can keep up, I can probably smoke them.”
And Doyle knows powerlifting is increasingly offered at a number of colleges and universities, including major schools like Texas A&M and the University of Wisconsin.
“For sure, I’ve seen so many things about the communities and the kind of friendships that can be built, it’s all keeping each other accountable,” Doyle said. “I wouldn’t be there just for powerlifting of course.
“I know I’m never going to stop working out and powerlifting.”
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at sports@peninsuladailynews.com.
