Attempting to reconstruct the dynamic of the weight room, the athletic department has hired a fresh mind who is working to implement a variety of changes to the schedule and surroundings of the weight room. New strength Coach Riley Edgerton has big goals for his student athletes.
“The vision of the athletic department and the school was that we could train a lot of student athletes, or students, at the same time in this room during the school day,” Coach Edgerton said. “That opens up our students day after school so they can have extracurricular activities like sports, clubs or they can go see their teachers.”
The class is marketed toward student athletes, excluding the requirement of PE I and II for incoming and current freshmen. You can take it up to six times, which means that the student athlete can train their entire high school career year round.
“For our general population students, I want them to experience the different fitness things they do in PE, then when they get in here, we’ll start from ground zero and from there we can grow,” Coach Edgerton said.
As well as expanding the exclusivity of the class, the athletic department has provided funds for new equipment, including platforms, bumper plates, bars, bands and plyo-boxes. Coach Edgerton has also adjusted the layout of the weight room, grouping machines together in the most sensible fashion to promote organization and reduce hazards. The new layout makes it much easier for a beginner to understand what’s what.
“Every athlete can benefit from learning how to vertical jump, land, absorb force, and produce force,” Coach Edgerton said. “When you’re training 80 athletes you have to have a little bit more space. You have to be more organized.”
As the founder of “Mustang Mentality,” a new phrase aimed to encourage students to personally excel, Coach Edgerton is looking for the best of the best. The wristband given to athletes who demonstrate qualities of mustang mentality may be small, but the idea it stands for is much bigger.
“I can tell who you are as a person as soon as you walk in this room,” Coach Edgerton said. “At the end of the day when you go to get a job, that’s what your employer is gonna look for. It’s all about your character, discipline, effort and who you are as a person.”
