For The Tribune
BROWNSTOWN
Male athletes at Brownstown Central like to see how they compare to athletes from neighboring schools when it comes to weightlifting.
On Monday, Brownstown hosted to a lift-a-thon, and the Braves topped Bedford North Lawrence and West Washington in the competition.
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The athletes competed in bench press, power clean and parallel squat.
Braves football coach Reed May said when you add those three together, you get your power club.
“Basically, you take what they lifted and divide it by what they weigh,” he said. “Let’s say a kid squatted 300 pounds and weighed 150. His index would be 2.00.”
It was the 16th time the Braves have competed in a lift-a-thon since May took the reins as football coach at Brownstown.
May got the idea for the event from Dick Dullaghan, former football coach at Ben Davis High School.
“We wanted to have something in the long wintertime to keep the kids motivated, and the competition came up,” May said. “The kids get to see other kids and how strong they are. This week is our max-out week. Monday in weight class, I timed them in the 40, backward 30 and T-test. They maxed out in the contest, and the rest of the week they’ll max out, too. The kids get the best lift and see how strong they are.”
Athletes will continue to lift throughout the spring and have a max-out at the end of May. Then they lift during the summer and have another max-out as part of the Superstars competition at the end of July.
Many athletes compete in spring sports and can’t lift as much during that time as they would like to.
May said the amount of weight they lifted should have improved since December.
John McKinney and Jacob Brewer, who are juniors, enjoy competing in the lifting competition each spring.
McKinney said the lift-a-thon motivates him when he watches athletes from other schools compete.
He said the power clean is his favorite event.
“I lifted 245 (Monday), but I’ve gotten 255,” McKinney said. “I wish I could have done more, obviously. I just like the power clean.”
McKinney lifts weights in weight class throughout the school year, and along with his teammates, will lift throughout the summer in preparation for the upcoming football season.
“Working out the way we do, doing the stuff he asks us to do, doing the right weights and the right reps, you can notice a difference pretty fast if you do everything he tells you to do,” McKinney said.
This spring, McKinney will be a member of the track team, and he plans to continue to lift during the season and will cut back at the end of the season in preparation for the conference and sectional.
Brewer, who started at right guard on offense and middle linebacker, said he looks forward to the lift-a-thon each spring.
“It just gives us a chance to get out of our routine because we lift throughout the fall, winter and everything,” Brewer said. “It gives us something different. It gives us a little competition.”
He said the power clean also is his favorite event, and his top lift Monday was 265 pounds.
“We’re a smaller group of kids,” Brewer said. “We’re not as big as some of our competition, so it really gives us some strength compared to the competition. A lot of the teams we play against, we’re a little bit stronger than them in some of the areas. We try to get bigger, faster, stronger.”
Gavin Bane was Brownstown’s highest overall finisher in third, McKinney was fourth, Devin Stuckwisch was sixth and Kyle Kramer was seventh.
“Basically, those are our backs for next year,” May said. “Usually, in index competition, your backs, slots and those type of kids do well.”
Awards are presented based on index and total weight lifted.
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Brownstown Central Lift contest
Team results: 1-Brownstown Central, 2-Bedford North Lawrence, 3- West Washington.
Brownstown Central results:
John McKinney: 2-Clean index, 4-Big 3 index, 4-Bench index, 7-Squat index
Gavin Bane: 2-Squat index, 3-Big 3 index, 3-Clean index, 6-Bench index
Clayton Wilkerson: 3-Clean, 5-Big 3, 6-Squat
Tanner Bell: 5-Squat, 6-Bench, 7-Big 3
Justin Donnells: 2-Clean, 7-Clean index
Kyle Kramer: 5-Clean index, 6-Big 3 index
Devin Stuckwisch: 5-Squat index, 7-Big 3 index
Gus Hogan: 6-Squat index, 6-Clean index
Jacob Brewer: 4-Clean
Clay Hauer: 6-Clean
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