Weight-lifting program excels

      Don't call it the new kid on the block.
      "Eldorado's weight lifting program has been around since 1977," said Kenny Trujillo, the weight lifting coach who introduced it as a prep sport in Las Vegas.
      And while Trujillo's teams consistently dominates state contests - his team also placed third in the 1995 national championships - citywide interest in the sport still stagnates.
      But not at Eldorado, where the 45-year-old former top-rated power lifter has had little trouble fielding teams.
      "Kids come up to me and ask about the program," said Trujillo, also head football coach and chairman of the athletic department. He averages 40 athletes; most other schools average 15 to 20.
      Trujillo said garnering media coverage and competing against the school's football and wrestling legacies has been tougher than a 325-pound bench press.
      "Our boys and girls dominate the state," said Trujillo, who began pumping iron as a college sophomore in his native Sante Fe, N.M. "And we almost always have the boys' and girls' MVP awards in the state tournament."
      He smirked at the three-inch brief hanging on a locker panel in his office which lists his team's third-place finish at the 1995 national championships in Dallas.
      He understands why football and wrestling horde the coverage - the gridiron team has made the playoffs seven consecutive years, including a state title in 1991, and some of Nevada's best grapplers have led the Sundevils to 12 state titles and a designation by USA Wrestling magazine as the nation's 10th best team of the 1980s.
      But the weight lifting program is no slouch.
      "We have six or seven kids every year that can compete nationally," the Sunrise-area resident and 23-year coaching veteran said.
      Trujillo has worked for nearly two decades to mainstream the sport. While competing and coaching, he coordinated world-class competitions in Las Vegas before quitting to teach full time and raise a family.
      Trujillo was weight lifting as a sophomore when his University of New Mexico strength coach showed him into the weight room. Success came fast. He won his first meet, the 123-pound category, at a 1976 contest at the University of Texas, El Paso.
      More victories followed: a second place finish in the 132-pound class at the 1981 national power lifting championships in Boise, Idaho; a national title at the 1982 U.S. finals in Portland, Ore.; regional titles; and Nevada overall power lifting crowns from 1977-1984.
      He landed at Eldorado in 1977 and offered weight lifting to athletes who wanted to get stronger. Interest waxed and waned because of the traditional winter sports - basketball and wrestling. Many teams, he said, did not field teams because of Eldorado's dominance and athletes like 18-year-old Jesse Howard.
      Howard, a senior who lives in the Sunrise area, is a national-championship caliber talent. Like many of Trujillo's stewards, Howard is stout at 5 feet 6 inches, but the coach said its not the athletic ability that makes Sundevil lifters superior - its their technique.
      Howard recalled wowing coaches and other prep lifters during a summer football camp at Arizona State. Sporting T-shirts saying "325-lb. bench press club" or "500-lb. squat club," the Sundevils drew more than their share of gawkers.
      "It felt good showing off," Howard said.
      Besides T-shirts, the top 30 overall lifters get their names on the "board," which allows Trujillo to record their statistics, something he does for everyone.
      Adrianna Trujillo has charted her progress since she first hoisted a barbell during last year's track season.
      "I have improved my bench press from 105 pounds to 125 pounds," she said. Adrianna Trujillo, a Sunrise-area junior, expects the added strength to mean longer discus and shot put distances. She likes weight lifting because she can continually set goals and it makes her feel good. "I feel I am doing something to help myself." She plans on being the first girl on this year's team.
      Craig Soto, 17, likes Trujillo's sparkplug coaching style. After breaking the state record for dead lift by a 132-pounder, he said the national title will not be far behind. The national finals are in Dallas in April.
      Seventeen-year-old senior Cory Boyd lifts everyday. The Northern-area resident credits weight training with raising his collegiate stock as a defensive back and raising his self-esteem.
      "Lifting (weights) is spiritual," he said, "It keeps me up. Lifting makes me feel I am doing something to help myself."