In 2015, a new weight room was added to the school, giving students the opportunity to use high quality weight machines. Even with the new equipment intact, varsity football coach Mr. Adam Grybauskas still wanted to find another way for the students to be motivated to exercise.

Before winter break, Mr. Grybauskas, P.E. teacher Mr. Chris Gumper, and athletic director Mr. Chris Galloway had the idea to place three record boards in the weight room, one serving a different purpose.

Mr. Grybauskas’s original plan was to make one for football alone, but Mr. Gumper and Mr. Galloway thought it would be nice to have one available to everyone else.

“This is a plan I had when I started coaching here,” said Mr. Grybauskas. “I like to see my players and students in my weightlifting class improve.”

Previous years the football team did keep track of their scores but this will be their first record board in the weight room. Two of the three record boards are specifically for football. One of them is used to hold the all-time records from last season, while the other will be used during the current football season.

The board used throughout the current football season is intended to motivate players to work harder and beat the records daily. The other board is available to all athletes or anyone who believes they can make it on the list.

“I had the top record in bench press which is 325 pounds,” said senior Elijah Eatmon. “With our new head coach, we started the records all over again.”

The boards can hold up to eight names into the five categories which is bench press, squat, clean, 40 yard dash, and agility. Each task is physically and mentally challenging to accomplish.

Whoever has the confidence to achieve a record on the board can simply ask either Mr. Grybauskas or Mr. Gumper to test them on one of the five categories.

“Hopefully, this will motivate athletes to lift more weights and push themselves in the weight room on a daily basis,” said Mr. Galloway.

Staying in shape is every athlete’s goal. These records will motivate students to stay healthy and continue to try hard to break records, personal, and school-wide.