Peninsula’s Powerhouse Reclaims Her Season After Crash

The gray sky was settling into night last February when Alexa Apostol was walking to her car, still riding the quiet confidence of a perfect training day.

Six hours earlier, the then-17-year-old Peninsula High School junior had squatted four reps of 275 pounds. It was a weight that would wobble most adults, and the kind of effortless strength that signals a young powerlifter is ready to climb the ranks. With nationals on the horizon, she had every reason to feel invincible.

Within hours, that feeling would disappear. In the short distance between morning triumph and an evening collision near Wollochet in Gig Harbor, her world shifted from limitless to barely standing.

“I felt like I could touch the stars, and to go from this super strong, can’t-touch-the-ground girl to being so fragile that even paramedics are afraid to touch you was difficult,” Apostol said.

The crash, a rear-ender caused by the driver behind her not paying attention, totaled her car and left Apostol with bone contusions, a damaged hip, rib pain, and a concussion. But the physical injuries were only the start. Apostol, one of Washington’s strongest women — let alone teenagers — had spent months prepping for the high school nationals: early mornings, cardio nights, few off-days, no shortcuts. She was getting better at each meet and was projected for a top-three finish.

Born With Power, Redirected by Pain

Powerlifting wasn’t part of the plan, but Apostol’s strength was obvious long before she ever touched a barbell.

“I’ve always been the girl who was good at arm-wrestling,” she said.

Growing up in Arizona, she really made her mark on the wrestling mat. But her strength couldn’t protect her shoulder. She dislocated it in eighth grade, rehabbed it for months, returned, and dislocated it again within weeks.

Doctors told her one more major dislocation could mean a full shoulder replacement. That meant no more contact sports, which was tough for the self-proclaimed “bull in a china shop.”

Then she stepped into a weight room at Peninsula High School four years ago.

On her first day, without formal training, she deadlifted 225 pounds. Soon after, she broke the Peninsula High School girls' deadlift record, raising it from 185 to 205 pounds as a freshman, then later 265.

Once she broke that first record, her development accelerated. Apostol immersed herself in training, learning how to turn raw strength into controlled, technical lifting. Coaches helped rebuild stability around her repaired shoulder, and the numbers began to climb in sharp, steady jumps. Before long, she entered sanctioned meets and was outlifting girls years older, pushing her into the state rankings and revealing just how far the sport might take her. She even learned she could powerlift for a college team if she earned the opportunity.

Powerlifting centers on three events — the squat, bench press, and deadlift — with athletes chasing their total across all three. Apostol shines in all three movements, but she gravitates toward the deadlift, the one that revealed how naturally the sport came to her.

The girl who feared losing her athletic identity suddenly found a new one.

The Hardest Comeback Came After the Crash

Returning from the car accident required relearning her own body. She couldn’t walk without pain for weeks. She couldn’t train with intensity for months. Her coaches, physical therapists, and family urged patience, but she struggled with the sudden loss of momentum. Apostol’s parents saw how close she was to quitting.

“She thought she was at the end,” her dad, Jon, said. “I told her, ‘We’re not going to let this event define your entire life. You’re going to be the one who walks away from the sport, not because somebody took it away from you.’ ”

Through the summer, her strength slowly came back faster than her confidence, and it was months before Apostol even considered lifting heavy again. Fear had carved its own weight on her shoulders.

“The idea of putting over 300 pounds on my back was daunting,” she said. “I was genuinely terrified.”

During a training block leading into the fall, she loaded the bar and stared at it.

When she found the courage, she hit a 340-pound squat, 20 pounds heavier than her pre-accident best.

“Not only was I back, but I was better,” she said. “Nothing compared to that mental comeback. Your time under tension is how your muscles grow, but your time under rough circumstances is how you mentally grow.”

The speed of her resurgence surprised even her, but Apostol’s competitive fire never dimmed.

“There is something about winning and blowing people out of the water I just can’t get enough of,” she said. “Somebody is always gunning for you.”

At the Washington State Championships in November, she not only won her age and weight division but also placed second in the open category against adults in their 20s and 30s.

Her best lifts to date include a 345-pound squat, a 165-pound bench press, and a 332-pound deadlift, giving her an 842-pound total.

According to the website openpowerlifting.org, as of November 2025, Apostol ranks No. 2 in the country in the teenager 165-pound division.

A College Program that Refused to Give Up on Her

When the accident forced her to withdraw from the 2025 nationals, Apostol braced for silence, and it arrived quickly. Several colleges she had been talking with ghosted her.

Except for one. A coach from Friends University in Kansas, a rising program in collegiate powerlifting, sent her a message the same night she posted about the accident on social media.

“They chose me at my lowest — so I chose them,” Apostol said.

She signed her letter of intent with Friends in November, becoming one of the first powerlifters from Peninsula High School to earn a college scholarship in the sport.

Her dad thinks her success can help others overcome similar adversity.

“There are kids who aren’t the tallest or the fastest,” Jon said. “But that doesn’t mean they’re not strong. She shows there’s a pathway for them, too.”

Next Up

Between working at Starbucks and taking a full load of college-level courses, Apostol now has her sights set on the same high school nationals she missed last year. This year it’s in Texas, and she isn’t going just to compete — it’s to reclaim the season she lost.

“The road ends when you tell it to end,” Apostol said.

And with powerlifters who are competing in their 60s, there’s a long road ahead for the high school senior.