BEAUMONT — Brittany Fruge had not competed in organized sports since her volleyball days at Northwestern State University.

Although she began coaching volleyball and track and field at Port Neches-Groves High, she actually wanted to fill the void of competition, so she took up cross training.

Then, she found a bigger motivation.

“After my sister passed away — I was at CrossFit Mid-County — but once that happened, I just kind of shelled up and didn’t really do anything physically active,” Fruge said. “I kind of let myself get a little bit depressed.”

Emily Fruge had battled four types of cancer since age 10 before a form of brain cancer took her life at 23 in 2014. To deal with the loss, Brittany took a barbell class at CrossFit Beaumont and found healing in her training.

“It helped me get back motivated, set some goals and stay active,” she said.

Three years later, Brittany Fruge, now 29, is weightlifting on a national level.

She qualified for the USA Weightlifting American Open finals through a local meet in Austin on June 3. She’ll compete at the finals in Anaheim, California, on Saturday.

Fruge has more than her sister to thank. CrossFit Beaumont co-owner Erica Reeves, 26, an Orange native, is competing in Anaheim with Fruge and has been coaching her.

“I was kind of like scouting people out and looking at people who move pretty well and are kind of strong and trying to get people to establish a team,” said Reeves, a Little Cypress-Mauriceville High graduate with a background in cheerleading. “When [Fruge] came in, she had a lot of natural strength already from squatting and military pressing, so I knew she had a good strength base. I had competed at a national level already, so I knew the kind of strength you had to have to get there.”

Fruge had just started weightlifting 1½ years ago and thought Reeves was crazy to get her involved in the sport.

“… But once I realized was decent at it, I decided to give it a shot,” Fruge said.

Fruge was a volleyball and soccer standout at PNG, graduating from the school in 2007. She earned a volleyball scholarship to Panola College and transferred to Northwestern State in Louisiana to finish her career.

When she’s not lifting weights, she’s lifting the spirits of her volleyball players at PNG as a first varsity assistant to Barbara Comeaux, Texas’ most victorious high school coach.

“They probably found out this summer how serious I was when they came up here to train,” Fruge said, taking a break from her lifts at CrossFit Beaumont. “They did their training up here for two-a-days in the summer. Sometimes, they keep my head straight. I was in the gym the other day with Rachel Hammersmith, our senior setter, and she was like, ‘Coach Fruge, you’ve got to go for it like you tell us all the time and leave it all on the platform.’ Some of the things I tell them, I take my own advice.

“Being an athlete here helps me remember what they are going through as athletes. So, it makes me a better coach.”

Fruge helped PNG win its second straight District 22-5A championship this fall. The Rock-A-Noos have lost only one district match in the last two seasons.

Fruge also is the head girls track and field coach at PNG, although she did not participate in that sport in high school.

“In high school, you’ve got to be ready for whatever in the coaching department,” she said.

Fruge is one of 43 women in the 152-pound weight class who qualified for the American Open finals, according to Reeves, a 138-pound contestant who led cheers at Stephen F. Austin State and Lamar universities. Each lifter has three attempts to complete a lift in two disciplines, the snatch and the clean and jerk.

In training, Fruge has snatched as much as 173 pounds and clean-and-jerked as much as 233. Reeves, who has experience in national events, has recorded 183 and 218 in competition.

On Saturday, Fruge will have her chance to take on the nation’s best. She’s one coach who trusts the advice of another.

“I feel nervous, but I feel like we’ve been training so consistently since June,” she said. “[Reeves has] been like backing off on [the number of] pounds and working on technique, and I’ve gotten more confident on technique.”

I.C. Murrell: 549-8541. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews