Cathedral senior Brandon Gremillion is your typical small school senior athlete, going from one sport to the other. What makes Gremillion unique is the sports in which he competes. Gremillion was a standout defensive player on the Cathedral soccer team and will be competing in the South State 2A Powerlifting Meet today in Gulfport.

&uot;A lot of people are surprised I do both,&uot; Gremillion said. &uot;Somebody told me doing both messes up your powerlifting because you are running all the time in soccer. At the end of soccer I was doing a little bit more on my squats.&uot;

The 5-foot-3, 110-pound Gremillion competes in the 114-pound division.

Gremillion said he took up powerlifting this year after Green Wave coach Craig Beesley approached him to compete after losing Michael Mire to graduation last year.

&uot;I told him I would give it a try,&uot; Gremillion said. &uot;It was a challenge and I wanted to see if I could do it. He (Beesley) just thought I&160;had the strength and size.&uot;

Gremillion admitted he wasn’t too crazy about the sport at first, especially considering he would leave soccer practice and go straight to the Cathedral weight room to work out.

&uot;At first I didn’t think I would be able to do as much as he had planned,&uot; Gremillion said. &uot;I would walk in thinking, ‘No way,’ but I just kept at it and didn’t give up.&uot;

Gremillion said he did have to make some adjustments.

&uot;I had to learn how to do the dead lifts and the squats,&uot; he said. &uot;I had never done any of those before. The dead lift was tough because at first it hurt my back. But after a while I got used to it.&uot;

The work paid off as Gremillion won was the top lifter in the division meet.

He bench 135 pounds, squatted 195 and dead lifted 265.

His best lifts this year were 145 in the bench, 215 in the squats and 285 in the dead lift.

&uot;I regret not starting this earlier now,&uot; Gremillion said. &uot;I think I could be a lot better, especially in the dead lift and bench.&uot;

Gremillion, the son of Sylvan and Vicki Gremillion of Vidalia, La., began playing soccer in the eighth grade when Cathedral started up its soccer program.

After a few years of suffering growing pains, the Green Wave soccer team qualified for the playoffs last year and won its district this year, losing to St. Andrews in a first-round playoff contest.

&uot;That was nice way to end our high school careers,&uot; Gremillion said of winning district. &uot;I knew it would be tough the first few years, but it got better. We’ve been playing together so long and working real hard.&uot;

One aspect Gremillion likes about powerlifting is that everything is on his shoulders.

&uot;You don’t count on anybody else and nobody else makes you lose, so it’s pretty much up to you,&uot;&160;he said.

Gremillion said he has more respect for the sport.

&uot;I didn’t know anything about it before we had our first meet at Natchez High,&uot; he said. &uot;It takes a lot of work to get this far. You constantly have to lift weights.&uot;

Gremillion, who carries a 3.0 grade point average, said he plans on attending Copiah-Lincoln here next year and working before transferring to LSU. He wants to take up accounting.

&uot;I’d like to be an accountant or either get into the field of law enforcement,&uot; he said.

Gremillion said participating in sports has helped prepare him for the future.

&uot;It requires a lot of discipline,&uot; he said. &uot;You have to learn to stay on top of things and prioritize.&uot;

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