Columbus North sophomore Bryce Harriman performs a squat Wednesday during the football team’s Lift-a-Thon in the school’s weight room.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
Shortly after taking over as Columbus North football coach late last spring, Logan Haston learned about one of the Bull Dogs’ annual events.
“When I was hired, everybody started asking me right away, ‘Are you going to keep the Lift-a-Thon?’ Haston said. “Right away, I kind of got the idea that this was a pretty big deal. It’s a tradition that we want to preserve and try to make it better every year that we do it.”
Wednesday night, the returning players for next year’s North team participated in a Lift-a-Thon. Music blared as teammates and a handful of parents watched athletes try to beat their best numbers on bench press, squat, power clean and 40-yard dash in the school’s weight room.
“This whole offseason, the team has been working really hard in the weight room and on the field and after schools in SAQs (Strength, Agility, Quickness sessions),” said quarterback Hudson Elwood, who will be a senior in the fall. “We put it all together tonight. A lot of us PRs and had some really good maxouts. Especially with the environment going on with the whole team around you and cheering, music going, your teammates yelling at you to get the bar up, it really gets you pumped to and ready to get that max up.”
Columbus North sophomore Garrett Long prepares to perform a power clean Wednesday during the football team’s Lift-a-Thon in the school’s weight room. Looking on are, from left, Braeden Farrell, Dumo Kak, Rylan Wormer, Luke Revell, Drew Schiefer and Bryce Harriman.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
Coaches drafted seven teams with about 10 players on each team. Each of those units was scored on four components — grades, attendance at offseason workouts, the fundraising aspect of Wednesday’s Lift-a-Thon and finally, their performance in the Lift-a-Thon.
“First and foremost, regardless of numbers, the energy in the room has been fantastic,” Haston said. “What the fans are seeing tonight is really just a culmination of the last four or five months of hard work and dedication in the weight room. We’re just excited to have an opportunity to showcase that tonight in front of people.”
Lineman Nick Austerman, who will be a senior, came close to the school record with his 560-pound squat. Another senior-to-be lineman, Luke Revell, put up squatted 525, benched 315 and power cleaned 275.
Columbus North junior Luke Revell adds a weight to the squat rack Wednesday during the football team’s Lift-a-Thon in the school’s weight room.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
“I’m a big lifting guy,” Revell said. “I’ve really enjoyed SAQs in general. This being my last year doing Lift-a-Thon, I thought it was Christmas Morning this morning when I woke up. I was so excited to get here. I’m really proud of the team what we did today. We put up some really big numbers.”
“I’ve been really impressed with Luke Revell,” Haston added. “He’s kind of been our strongest guy throughout the night. Then, pound-for-pound, we have some guys like Josuan Padilla and Sam Perry that aren’t heavy, but based on their body weight, are scoring good for us. But really, everybody is doing a fantastic job.”
Columbus North’s Joey Stockey, right, watches as strength coach Jordan Sharp inputs data into a computer Wednesday during the football team’s Lift-a-Thon in the school’s weight room.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
