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First period doesn't begin until 8:45 a.m. at The Colony. But three hours before that, Travis Briggs has already crawled out of bed.

The senior powerlifter could sleep longer, but that would cut into his time in the weight room. And with a state championship on his mind, Briggs never struggles with motivation.

OK, that's not really true.

MIKE STONE/Special Contributor

The Colony's (from left) Jeremy Wiseman, Victor Williams, Tasheem Dickson and Travis Briggs have seen their daily 21/2-hour workouts translate into berths in Saturday's Texas High School Powerlifting Association state meet in Abilene.

"Almost every day, I don't want to do it," said Briggs, one of four powerlifters from The Colony who have qualified for this week's Texas High School Powerlifting Association state meet in Abilene. Briggs will compete in the super heavyweight division, senior Jeremy Wiseman in the 242-pound class and senior Tasheem Dickson and junior Victor Williams at 148.

The four lifters, who are also football players, acknowledged that they don't always want to put in the work. But the chance to compete keeps them going.

"I love going to the meets and showing people how much I can lift," said Dickson, "and lifting more than I ever thought I could lift."

Dickson did that at the Region VI meet March 1, when he dead-lifted 530 pounds on his final attempt to win the Division I (4A-5A schools) region title. His teammates went crazy, except for Williams, who dropped into second place in the 148 division.

"I was very disappointed because I was used to getting first," Williams said. "But at the end of the day, I was happy for him."

The Colony finished second behind Cedar Hill in Region VI, which encompasses most of the Dallas-Fort Worth schools. The Colony lifters work out about 21/2 hours each day, laboring to improve their performances in the squat, bench and dead lift. At the state meet, they will get three attempts at each. The best lift in each category goes toward the weight total.

Briggs, who won the Division I Region VI title, hopes to break the state record of 825 pounds in the squat. He squatted 800 at the Region VI meet. Together with Wiseman, who was second in Region VI, and Dickson and Williams, The Colony hopes for a top-five finish at state.

It's certainly possible.

"Going into the state meet, you never really know," coach Kevin Kallus said. "Just like a kid is going to run faster on the football field with people cheering for him, a guy's going to lift more weight with people cheering for him."

Dickson added, "In a weight room, you could probably never lift it. But when people are cheering and you get that adrenaline going, you don't know how much you can lift."

mwixon@dallasnews.com

What: Texas High School Powerlifting Association state meet

Where: Taylor County Expo Center, Abilene

When: 9 a.m. Saturday