Leila Galloway of Kasson has been a power lifter for the last three years at Kasson-Mantorville High School. Since starting as a Komet sophomore she has advanced to win the Minnesota state powerlifting title in November 2025 setting several state records for her weight class. In that competition she lifted 203# in the squat, 126# in the bench and 292# in the dead lift for a personal best of 621# for her final State High School competition. In this competition Leila set four new records for the 52kg weight class, squat, bench, deadlift and total. She was also named the best overall female lifter of the entire competition.
In February the Kasson-Mantorville High School senior and team captain signed a letter of commitment to join the McKendree University in Illinois and be part of the Bearcats Powerlifting program, currently ranked third in the nation. Leila will be joining the Bearcats this fall. K-M coach Jason Murphy has worked with Leila in the Komet program to help her achieve the level of success that she holds.
On the last weekend in March, seventeen Minnesota high school students, including five from Kasson-Mantorville traveled to Killeen, Texas for the USA Powerlifting High School Nationals. Galloway, the 2026 Minnesota State Champion, weighed in at 111 pounds and was on a mission to take back home a title.
She lifted a new best record of 215 pounds in the first round of squats. Next she moved to the bench press and started with a 121 pound press, but failed the next two attempts at 132 pounds. In the deadlift she started with 281 pounds and then reached for the 303 pound mark. Her second attempt failed, leaving her trailing for the title. On her final lift she gave it all and succeeded with a 303 pound personal best. With a three lift total of 639 pounds she claimed the National title, returning to Minnesota with the Gold.
