This past week, the Lewis Cass Kings Football team hosted a weightlifting meet. The Kings invited the Kokomo Wildcats, Western Panthers, and Northwestern Tigers. These teams competed in a handful of lifts, including bench press, squat, and clean. Athletes also sprinted a 40-yard dash and a pro agility run. The meet ran from 5:30 to 8:30 pm. The competition was very competitive, with the top three teams having very close scores. This was the second year Cass has hosted the meet.
Head Football Coach Mannering was content with the turnout. He explained how the number of lifters has increased from the previous year. “Overall, I was really pleased with how the event has grown in year two,” Mannering said. “Last year we hosted about 100 athletes total, and this year we were closer to 150.” Coach appreciated the more difficult competition. He intentionally invited larger schools in order to have a larger pool of competitors. This would allow the team to push themselves further in order to compete. Mannering was impressed with the showing from Cass and the other schools as well.
Coach Mannering believes a weightlifting meet like this is valuable. “Lifting can be tough for high school athletes at small schools because there is often no off-season,” Mannering said. “… because of that it can be difficult to find an ideal time to hit your max strength.” Mannering explained this meet could give players something to look forward to in the offseason. He hopes as the weightlifting meet continues in the years to come, athletes will look forward to it more and more.
In the meet, Northwestern finished fourth, Cass third, Western second, and Kokomo first. The teams were fairly evenly matched for the majority of the event. However, Kokomo had a great showing in the 40-yard dash, which secured their victory. “If you were at the meet, you couldn’t help but be impressed by some of the numbers the Kokomo kids were putting up. I think they would say the same about some of our performances too,” Mannering said. Coach is excited to see how the competition will encourage our players to work harder in the off-season.
Lewis Cass Varsity football player, junior, Gavin Smith, had an impressive performance at the weightlifting meet. With a body weight of 180 pounds, Smith managed to bench 245 pounds, squat 420 pounds, and clean 265 pounds. “I was very happy with my numbers, and I felt like I pushed myself to do the best I could do,” Smith said. According to Smith, his numbers were better than most other lifters near his weight. Smith scored in the top ten in the clean, earning him a custom-made t-shirt for the meet. He was optimistic about the Kings’ numbers at the meet. He believed the strong turnout will translate to improvements on the football field, as long as they worked hard. Smith stated, “Our numbers are very good as a team, but we need to work hard in the off-season, be physical in practice, and games, and give 100% every play in order to have a successful football season.”
Many athletes showed up to prove they could compete. The competition was tremendous, and the athletes pushed each other to their limits. These teams are preparing well for the fall season. We wish the best of luck to all of these teams as they enter the season next year!
