For years, weight rooms have been dominated by men — Girl Gains is changing the narrative to empower women’s confidence at the gym.

The club was founded in 2020 at San Diego State University and is now present on over 100 campuses across the United States, Canada and Vietnam. Their mission is to promote female weightlifting and support women in the gym.

In January 2023, former president of Girl Gains, Kayla Long, brought the club to Cal State Fullerton. For the past two years, CSUF’s Girl Gains club has hosted events, frequent gym-meetups, panel discussions with fitness coaches and created a safe learning environment for women to grow at the gym.

The current president, Mattea Chung has worked hard to grow the club on Fullerton’s campus, with attendance varying weekly. On average, they have about 15-30 active members, depending on the meeting.

Many of the women in the club formed strong connections through their shared experience of playing sports in high school. However, after starting college, they found themselves without a community to stay active with, leading them to join Girl Gains.

“It was one of the best decisions I made. Now I’m here, president of the club 2.5 years later (…) and all these people are here because I found a vision for it,” Chung said.

Haley Agbayani, a senior and biology major at CSUF, joined Girl Gains in the spring of 2024 to continue to stay active after leaving the school’s cheerleading team.

“Before Girl Gains, I was on the cheer team and I decided to part ways,” Agbayani said. “I wanted something to fill that void.”

While some women joined Girl Gains to continue their active lifestyle, some members were just getting started on their fitness journey.

No matter the fitness level, Girl Gains strives to be a safe space for women to learn and improve their weightlifting technique. Women of any background and skill level are welcome into the club. With a $25 membership, members have access to bi-weekly chapter meetings, merchandise discounts, off-campus events and their annual end-of-year banquet.

During their bi-weekly meetings, Girl Gains brought educational speakers to speak on women’s health, nutrition and other kinesiology-related topics.

CSUF’s Girl Gains chapter partners with other schools’ chapters for fitness events. Last month, they held a hiking event with USC’s Girl Gains called “Sisterhood Summit.” The club doesn’t only focus on weightlifting, they have held pilates classes, zumba classes, rock climbing, swimming and other fitness events.

Girl Gains also has bonding events like karaoke night, game night, banquet and camping trips. This semester, the event coordinator, Sarah Mazengia, planned a camping trip at Joshua Tree National Park. They spent three days on the trip.

“It was our first big overnight trip (…) It was a lot of fun, a lot of things went wrong,” Mazengia said. “But everyone survived.”

To wrap off the Girl Gains year, they hosted their second annual banquet in the Titan Student Union. Members had free food, games, awards, and a slideshow of all their photographed memories from the 24-25 school year.

Mazengia became teary-eyed as she spoke about her memories from Girl Gains, as a graduating senior.

“Banquet was really hard for me (…) I’m going to miss them a lot, because they’re all amazing, beautiful, and that is a true reflection of their soul,” Mazengia said.

The Michigan high school season is quickly moving to the playoff phase, with lacrosse and girls tennis teams heading into districts and regionals.

Saginaw-area spring sports athletes are trying to reach their peak performances heading into the playoffs.

Fans can check out the top performances in the area for the week of May 4-10, with Athlete of the Week voting open until 11 p.m. Thursday.

Chloe Basner, Millington

Chloe Basner claimed a pair of wins in the Brown City Green Devil Invite in the 100 (:12.99) and 200 (:27.26), with legs on Millington’s winning 400 relay and 800 relay. She followed with a win in the 100 (:12.69) at the Akron-Fairgrove Invite, plus a leg on the winning 800 relay.

Alahna Beckett, Midland High

Midland High remained undefeated in girls soccer with Alahna Beckett scoring three goals with two assists in a 5-3 win over Grand Blanc. She also had a goal and two assists in a 4-1 win over Nouvel.

Izzy Curry, Hemlock

Izzy Curry found success in soccer and track for Hemlock. In the Tri-Valley Conference Blue championship meet, Curry won the high jump (5-2), with legs on the winning 400 relay and 800 relay. In the Fulton Invite, she added legs on Hemlock’s winning 400 relay, 800 relay and 1,600 relay. On the soccer field, Curry scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win over Midland Calvary, following with three goals and two assists in a 6-1 win over Pinconning.

Mckenzie Derusha, Valley Lutheran

Mckenzie Derusha earned a pair of titles in the Tri-Valley Conference Blue meet in the 100 hurdles (:15.95) and 300 hurdles (:48.89), with a leg on the 1,600 relay. Derusha won the same events at the Akron-Faigrove Invitational: the 100 hurdles (:16.28), 300 hurdles (:48.74) and 1,600 relay.

Natalie Foltz, Frankenmuth

Natalie Foltz was a three-time conference champion in the Tri-Valley Conference Red Track Meet, claiming titles in the 800 (2:21.76), 1,600 (5:20.69) and 3,200 (11:55.50). She added a win in the 3,200 (11:16.14) in the Bad Axe Invite.

Victoria Garces, Midland Dow

Victoria Garces warmed up with a win in the 800 (2:19.55) in a Saginaw Valley League dual meet with Heritage. She finished the week in the SVL Championships with conference titles in the 800 (2:17.92), 1,600 (5:03.21) and 3,200 (10:57.85).

Jaxon Hartley, Swan Valley

Jaxon Hartley had two hits in Swan Valley’s 8-5 win over Bullock Creek before the Vikings took on Escanaba. Hartley set a Swan Valley baseball record with 17 strikeouts in a 4-2 win, allowing six hits and no walks in a complete-game win. Hartley added two hits and an RBI in the Vikings’ 4-1 win in Game 2.

Sydney Kuhn, Swan Valley

Sydney Kuhn set another school record in the 300 hurdles, winning the Tri-Valley Conference Red title in 42.06 seconds. She added a title in the 200 (:24.63).

Thomas Larson, Alma

Thomas Larson helped Alma finish second in the Tri-Vally Conference Red meet, winning the 800 (1:59.08) and 1,600 (4:31.27), with a leg on the winning 3,200 relay. He added wins in the 1,600 (4:24.80) and 3,200 (1:58.90), with a leg on the winning 3,200 relay in the Alma Panther Invite.

Isabelle Lewis, Coleman

Isabelle Lewis helped lead Coleman to an 8-7, 22-7 sweep of Fulton with two hits in the opener and three hits with five RBIs in the second game. In the Coleman Classic, Lewis had two hits in an 11-10 win over Beaverton. She had three hits and three RBIs, earning the win in a 17-0 win over Carrollton. Lewis also had two hits in a 15-4 loss to Bay City Central.

Paige Luneack, St. Louis

Paige Luneack earned six wins in the circle for St. Louis, striking out 16 and adding two hits in a 7-1 win over Beaverton, She followed with six strikeouts in three innings in a 13-0 win over the Beavers. She allowed just two hits in a 16-1 win over Harrison, with 10 strikeouts in a 19-3 win over Harrison. Luneack struck out six in earning the win in a 4-1 victory over Ogemaw Heights before striking out eight with two hits in a 4-0 win over Ogemaw Heights.

Willow Mason, Heritage

Willow Mason opened the week with a win in the 200 (:25.92) and a leg on Heritage’s winning 800 relay in a Saginaw Valley League dual meet with Midland Dow. She followed with the SVL Championships, earning conference titles in the 100 (:12.20) and 200 (24.72), with legs on Heritage’s winning 800 relay and 1,600 relay.

Madeline McDonald, Freeland

Madeline McDonald had two hits and two RBIs in an 8-4 loss to Ithaca, before adding two more hits in an 8-2 win over the Yellowjackets. Freeland added another split against Midland High, with McDonald getting two hits in an 18-8 loss. In a 16-6 win, McDonald had three hits, including a homer, and six RBIs. In the Escanaba Tourney, McDonald had two hits, including a homer, and four RBIs in a 17-14 win over Three Rivers.

Mia Robinson, Swan Valley

Mia Robinson earned three wins for the Swan Valley softball team, with a pair of wins over Bay City John Glenn, 20-14 and 12-2. In the opener, Robinson had two hits, including a homer, with five RBIs. She followed with a five-hitter with 10 strikeouts and no earned runs in the second game, hitting a homer and driving in two runs. She also earned the win in an11-0 victory over Bullock Creek, allowing one hit and striking out eight.

Will Salgat, Michigan Lutheran Seminary

Will Salgat had a big week for the Seminary baseball team, helping the Cardinals post a 3-1 win for the week. Salgat had two hits and two RBIs in a 17-0 win over Saginaw United, adding two hits and two RBIs in a 16-0 win over United. Salgat had a hit and RBI in a 5-2 loss to Ithaca, with three hits and two RBIs in a 7-6 win over the Yellowjackets.

Reid Schisler, Valley Lutheran

Only a freshman, Reid Schisler emerged as the Saginaw County boys golf champion. Schisler shot a 2-under 69 for Valley Lutheran in the Saginaw County Boys Golf Invitational at Valley View Farm Golf Course.

Maxwell Stoecker, Midland High

Maxwell Stoecker claimed a pair of wins in a Saginaw Valley League triangular, taking first in the shot put (57-11) and discus (167-11). He followed with a pair of wins to help lead Midland High to the SVL title, claiming the shot put (60-3) and discus (178-7). Stoecker also won the shot put (59-4) in the Punch a Hole in the Sky Meet at Midland High.

Zander Wheatley, Freeland

Zander Wheatley won a pair of titles in the Tri-Valley Conference Red meet, taking firsts in the 300 hurdles (:40.07) and high jump (6-3). He traveled to compete in the Macomb Dakota Cougars Invite, winning the 110 hurdles (:15.10) and high jump (6-4).

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