HOUGHTON — When watching the Summer Olympics, one of the more intense competitions is actually an offshoot of what athletes do to keep in shape. Olympic-style weightlifting consists of two main lifts, the snatch and the clean and jerk. A local 11-year-old is working to master the forms of both.

He is already better at both than his father.

In March, then 10-year-old Luke Hill, along with his family, traveled to Marquette to compete in a weightlifting competition. At the end of the day, he qualified for the national competition which will take place Friday in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

“We’re excited to do this,” said Anders Hill, Luke’s father.

Anders, a former powerlifting coach, has always been a gym rat himself, so he was not surprised that his son would enjoy joining him. At first, Luke just made up his own “workouts” while his father did all the hard work, but, at the suggestion of Micah Stipech, owner of Crossfit Hakkapeliitta, Luke began taking lessons from coach Nadine Sikora, a Michigan Tech student, and he discovered a love for the workouts.

Stipech was excited to see father and son get into weightlifting together.

“Anders actually approached me,” said Stipech. “He was looking for something he and his son could do together, weightlifting-wise.”

Luke and Anders started attending Crossfit Hakkapeliitta a couple of days a week. Stipech has enjoyed seeing the pair in the gym.

“They’ve had fun together,” he said. “I don’t think they were expecting to do something like this, but now that it has happened, it seems like they are having a fun time with it and are excited about the opportunity.”

Sikora has been teaching olympic weightlifting at Crossfit Hakkapeliitta. She is happy with teaching younger athletes, but has really come to enjoy helping families bond through their shared experiences.

“I’ve created a couple of classes for kids that are younger,” she said. “Micah suggested me to Anders and Luke as someone who could help them with some father and son bonding. Luke really latched on to it. I love having him around and pushing him to be better.”

Luke’s father is proud to see him find something he can be passionate about.

“He’s always been strong and flexible, and he’s always been into sports, but he’s never been the star,” said Anders. “He’s humble, a hard-working kid, and he has really been picking this up quickly. It’s really exciting.”

In competition, Anders has seen his son blossom.

“He was really nervous, but he didn’t show it while competing,” he said. “Nadine has pushed him to be better… His form is already better than mine.”

Sikora, who is from Alberta, Canada, found Crossfit Hakkapeliitta while looking for a gym that “provided space for her to simply do her own program and grow as a weightlifter.” While Anders feels that she has been instrumental in Luke’s transformation, she noticed Luke’s demeanor change once he got into competition.

“He was running around the gym the way a 10-year-old would,” said Sikora. “When he had his weigh-in… I think he realized at that point that it was a real thing and that he shouldn’t mess around with it.”

She has also seen the youngster come to appreciate what he is learning each session.

“He shows that it is something that he really cares about and something that he wants to continue with,” said Sikora. “At school (other kids) ask him questions, and I think that is really fun for him.”

The Hills, along with Sikora’s olympic weightlifting classes, have helped spark other kids in the gym to put in the time and effort in to compete next season.

“There are other young people in the gym who are close to qualifying,” said Stipech. “In the future, there could be a number of kids heading down for the championships.”

Luke and his family will travel Thursday to Grand Rapids and he will compete Friday, starting at 3 p.m. If you are interested in following Luke’s competition on Friday, the event will be livestreamed at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Weightlifting/LIVE.