Dakota Christie isn’t a typical softball player. Typical would mean that she couldn’t throw 132 pounds over her head...


...but she can.

Christie has been an athlete essentially since she could walk. She got her start in gymnastics at the age of four because family on her mom’s side owned some gymnastics gyms; gymnastics then evolved into competitive cheer.

Ray Christie, Dakota’s dad, describes her as having been a “baseball baby...always at the field watching her brothers play in youth leagues,” so softball seemed like another natural choice for her to pick up, and she did at the age of eight.

The 16-year-old high school sophomore participated primarily in softball and cheer until about a year ago when she gave up cheer for a less prevalent sport—especially among softball players—Olympic weightlifting.

The sport of Olympic weightlifting consists of lifters given three attempts at a maximum-weight single lift of two exercises, the snatch and the clean and jerk. The snatch and the clean and jerk are the two most technical barbell lifts that exist and require most of the attributes deemed necessary for success in athletics: strength, power, speed, flexibility, accuracy, coordination, and kinesthetic awareness.



Dakota Christie at USA Weightlifting competition performing the snatch and clean and jerk

Christie began Olympic weightlifting at 4F Sports Performance with the Harrisburg Weightlifting Club in Harrisburg, North Carolina her freshman year at the encouragement of the facility’s owner, Dan Rose. Ironically enough, the freshman wasn’t allowed to take weightlifting as a physical activity class at her high school due to school policy.

“I originally started just lifting weights at 4F to get better for softball, but [Rose] he said I’d be a great weightlifter so I decided to try it.”

And Rose was right. Christie saw her max lifts increase steadily over the first year of her training, so much so that he encouraged her to compete in state and national championships, and she’s seen a great deal of success.

In October 2014, Christie won the North Carolina Weightlifting State Championship with a snatch of 55kg (121 lbs) and a clean and jerk of 61kg (134 lbs) giving her a total of 116kg. She then competed in both the USA Weightlifting National Junior (ages 15-20) and Youth Championships (13-17) in which she finished No. 12 and No. 8, respectively.

State champion and eighth in the nation in one year? No wonder Coach Rose wants her to continue lifting. Her maxes continue to increase, with her current snatch at 60kg (132 lbs), clean and jerk at 72kg (158 lbs), back squat at 85kg (187 lbs), front squat at 75kg (165 lbs), and deadlift at 100kg (220 lbs).

Ray Christie explained that his daughter wasn’t quite sure whether she wanted to defend her state title this year. “At first she didn’t want to compete this year and defend her title, but as the event is getting closer, she’s changed her mind.”

With Dakota's decision to defend her title, Coach Rose has put her on nine-week training cycles specific to Olympic weightlifting. After Dakota finishes her weightlifting season, Coach Rose will shift her training cycles to include more softball-specific exercises.

Her days right now consist of a morning Olympic weightlifting session before school and softball practice after school, sometimes with an evening session of weights after softball. And all the training has paid dividends for her softball performance.


Dakota has seen her throw increase 7mph since beginning Olympic
weightlifting and has noticed more power in her swing as well

“I’ve really seen it with my arm speed. I was throwing the ball in the low 60s and now I’m in the high 60s, low 70s. My training has put about 7mph on my throw, and I’ve also seen it improve my hitting power.”

The 5-foot-2 3B/SS started all 25 game as a freshman for her 3A high school team the Hickory Ridge Ragin’ Bulls. She batted .373 with five home runs, 25 RBIs, and a .647 slugging percentage. Christie can also flash some leather at the hot corner, having only seven errors on 102 chances, for a fielding percentage of .931. In addition to high school ball, Christie plays for the Cape Fear Storm-Williford club team and has played in some major summer tournaments, including the Colorado Sparkler, Atlanta Legacy Showcase, and TCS East Coast Nationals.


Dakota had a stellar fielding percentage of .931 at third base as a freshman, with only 7 errors on 120 chances

She’s garnered attention of universities ranging from Virginia to Florida, with Duke University being one of them, and will be attending both the Duke and UNC-Charlotte prospects camps in the fall.

With all the success she’s seen in her brief Olympic lifting career, softball remains her passion and focus. “I want to compete for a national title in college,” says Christie. “I ultimately want to wear ‘USA’ across my chest for softball.

Ray Christie and his wife support Dakota in whatever sport she eventually chooses. “She’s a good kid and grabs life by the horns. We’re going to support her wherever she wants to go.”

We’d say she has a pretty promising future in either sport, and we’ll be paying close attention to where this gifted athlete chooses to continue her career.