Football squad holds Lift-a-thon
Pioneer football players showed off the results of their off-season work in the weight room last week, competing against each other in the team?s annual ?Lift-a-thon? at the Charlie Dalton Gym.
Earlier in the week, the Pioneers competed in the power clean, performing that lift again at last Friday?s event if they had lifted 225 or more pounds. They also participated in the squat and bench press, with ever-increasing weight amounts. After maxing out in each event, the total weight from all three lifts, as well as the ?pound-for-pound? number arrived upon by dividing the player?s body weight into the total weight lifted, determined which of three ?Weight Clubs? the player was placed in. Club members will receive a T-shirt designating which group they are in, as well as a patch for their letterman?s jackets.
The sole member of the ?Pride? club, for players who lifted 1,050 total pounds or more or had a pound-for-pound number of 5.5, was lineman Trey Whitaker, who hoisted 1,080 total pounds and received the Strongest Lineman Award.
Jason Johnson was named Strongest Skill Player and also received the Strongest Pound-for-Pound award, after arriving at a pound-for-pound score of 5.1. Those numbers landed him in the ?Power? club, for players with a 5.0 pound-for-pound or 900 total pounds. Brandon Rich lifted 975 total pounds, earning the Strongest Back award and also making the ?Power? Club.
Other members of the ?Power? club were Toby Watts (1,010 total), Conovia Qualls (990), Scott Murphy (970) and Morgan Wilcher (910).
The ?Performance? club was for players who were able to lift 750 total pounds or have 4.5 pound-for-pound number. Players in that club included: Cody Bottoms (895 total pounds), Daniel Boyd (860), Cody Deason (830), Michael Stevens (825), Cody Robinson (825), Kyrie Harris (795), Casey Solomon (765), David Delane (755) and Jay Hutchings (4.6 pound-for-pound.)
The Pioneer coaching staff initiated the Lift-a-thon several years ago as a fund-raising event, as well as an incentive to keep players interested in getting stronger as the off-season progressed.