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5 Vermilion Parish girls headed to World Powerlifting Championships
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(KLFY) -- Khandi Shuford, Baylee Batiste, Lydia Shields, Tayler Guidry, and Thaovy Tran are heading to Malta to compete in the Powerlifting World Championships
The quintet is not unfamiliar with the big stage, all of them are Louisiana state lifting champions.
Cajun Prep powerlifting assistant coach Shelby Vice said it was no surprise to know that these five would reach global competition.
"You know, these are the hardest workers in their in their field. Everyone here, all the kids here, including the coaching staff, you know, they're doing all they can at every level. So it's not surprising to see that they're excelling at a world level as well now," she said.
One other thing they all have in common: they're all from Vermilion Parish.
The lifters hope to lift their hometowns into the global spotlight.
"It was great to be able to bring kind of awareness to that community and represent that community and see what we can turn out," Tayler Guidry said, a recent Gueydan graduate.
North Vermilion alum Lydia Shields said, "The only thing that got me here is local support. All the people around me have supported me. I found local people to compete with and this team is a local team that has forged a great competitiveness."
And as far as what the crew thinks of each other?
"They're they're a group of girls. We're all different individuals, but we all come together and it's a nice experience. It's fun," Abbeville High student Khandi Shuford said.
"My teammates, they're really fun. They always make me laugh. And when we get serious cases, we all see these times when we have our fun times," Abbeville High student Brylee Batiste said.
"It's a good crew. It's a crew that we have fun. We can compete together, not be too serious about it," Shields said. "When it's time to get serious, we can be serious, but it's just all-around good fun.
Guidry said the others started the second year that she started Cajun Prep, but has been competing alongside them for two years.
"I wouldn't rather have anybody else," Guidry said.
The world championships begin August 28.