With this 2022 season signifying her very first year of competitive powerlifting, Elgin High School sophomore Nya Kirk Jones has already established herself as a state champion-caliber student athlete. She had seldom in her life visited a weight room until 2021.A member of the band and a clarinet player since sixth grade, Jones came into her high school career having minimal interaction with athletics. “I tried,” says Jones with a chuckle, as she thinks about endeavors to get into sports like softball or volleyball in her younger years. “It did not work out.”During her freshman year, Jones befriended bandmates Jami Robledo ...