Source: SCHS

Salpointe student-athletes get early jump on upcoming seasons

Arizona Daily Star
The sprints come first, followed by pushups and kettlebell squats.

“Finish strong. Last set, best set,” trainer Conor Johnson says to his class of seven.

The crew walks across the gym and begins throwing medicine balls against the wall, lunging and doing timed planks with weights in each hand. When that’s done, they push sleds weighing 45 or 60 pounds.

The class’ performance is even more impressive given the age of the students. They’re high schoolers, working to get stronger, faster and even more explosive during the offseason.

“It feels good to push myself and get the workout in,” said Benji Thomas, a cross-country runner at Salpointe Catholic. Thomas puts in two workouts a day — a run with his teammates in the morning and a workout at Desert Speed School on Tucson’s east side.

Visit the Desert Speed School on Wednesday mornings or Friday mornings, and you’ll see Johnson and his staff putting athletes through the paces. The trainer prepares a workout that takes into consideration all the variables, including which sports each student-athlete plays.
 
“We work within the range of abilities,” said Johnson, the director at Desert Speed School. “Every exercise has a desired progression. If someone is advanced we make that adjustment; if someone is new we make that different. It makes it easy in the group. And, if there are overhead movements we modify for baseball players, swimmers, volleyball players. For these athletes we can modify it on the fly. It’s designed to flow from one thing to the next.

“A lot of times, football teams will work out in the morning, and then the athletes will come to see us. If we know they are in the weight room, we modify the training to do more speed work here.”

Some athletes, like Salpointe soccer player Sydney Lenhart, train year-round at the gym. The two-time state champion is focusing on something specific this summer.

“I’m working on my upper body and core to really strengthen,” said Lenhart. “Last summer, I worked on my running technique; keeping girls off, and exploding on runs. Over the summer you get the work done. Taking time — one hour, three times a week — is helping.

“On weights, I don’t try to over or under stress. The guys push me to run faster. Conor knows my limits, so I don’t hurt myself.”

Lenhart’s teammates and others saw the difference in her performance last season.

“Sydney has taken great strides,” said Johnson. “Other parents have noticed and asked what did Sydney do? She’s a lot faster.”
 
Thomas, the cross-country runner training with Johnson for the first time, has different goals in mind. He is working on his upper body strength and his speed and already thinks his upcoming season will be better than his last.

Thomas is focusing on running mechanics. Like many, his form needed tweaking.

“I get a lot of athletes who have been coached in sports, to shoot the ball or swing the bat, but they’ve never been taught to run correctly. They are inefficient with their mechanics,” said Johnson. “We look at how the foot strikes the ground and build it into the warmups for the sake of repetition.

“To change how someone runs their whole life is difficult, but we see good results. If they have the awareness and the diligence, they see good improvement.”

These training sessions aren’t limited to only high school athletes, Desert Speed School has also worked with former UA football players Jason Sweet and Jarrett Mitchell. Benji Thomas’ brother, Nate, a cross-country runner at Air Force, is training there too. He focuses on long distances — 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters and steeplechase.

“Nate is a good runner and has good mechanics,” said Johnson. “He’s new to progressions and we are focusing on things he’s not doing. He’s getting in a lot of miles. He’s not doing a lot of strength or explosive work. So we are doing strength and plyometrics to supplement what he is doing on his own. We’re doing quick explosive jumps and done work on his hurdling. If he can get a little faster, his times will come down.”

Nate Thomas was quickly learning new techniques he’ll take back with him to school in the fall.

“The first time, what stuck out to me was taking 15 minutes for dynamic stretches,” he said. “It’s so simple, but I’ve never done this. It targets tight hamstrings, hip flexors — areas I don’t normally do. It’s fun to be in a group with kids all working towards a common goal. The energy keeps you competitive; it pushes you and it’s uplifting.

“I was a little worried at first that I was a little older than the other kids and wondering, ‘How could they tailor this so it’s good for all ages?’ But it’s designed to pick up the intensity and weight as we go. Every time I’m tired and sweaty after the workout. It doesn’t matter the age — everyone gets a good workout.”

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Salpointe Catholic High School

1545 E. Copper St.,
Tucson, AZ 85719
(520) 327-6581
Attendance: (520) 327-1990
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