Aug 3, 2016
Up for the Challenge

Rocori High School in Cold Spring, Minn., recently held its fifth annual Spartan Challenge, a competition between six area schools’ football players in six events related to training.

According to the St. Cloud Times, the six events consist of the 40-yard dash, the back squat, bench press, power clean, the pro agility drill, and the vertical jump. Awards are given to the three highest-ranked finishers in each category, as well as the top lifter, which is determined by the athletes’ top lifts in the weightlifting events divided by their overall weights.

Mike Kleinschmidt, Head Football Coach at Albany (Minn.) High School, one of the schools that participated in the event, said that football teams must continually upgrade their strength programs in order to keep pace with the competition.

“It’s not your parents’ weight-training any more,” Kleinschmidt said. “It’s not just about muscle. There’s speed and agility. Explosiveness is the core of what it is now.”

This year, college football coaches attended the Challenge, including Greg Medeck from Central Lakes College, Gary Fasching from St. John’s University, and Aaron Willits from Concordia-Moorhead.




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