Summertime sweat

Athletes get, stay in shape with crossfit training, other work at Auburn Mountainview

High pulls followed by power cleans, jerk presses, front squats and bent-over rows.

All done quickly, repetitiously, in a stuffy weight room filled with athletes for all seasons.

“It’s a buildup,” three-sport athlete Cooper White said of the sweat-stained, summertime workouts at Auburn Mountainview High School. “You’re here looking to get better … here, you’re able to look back and see how much you have improved. … This gets us together and gets us ready for the season.”

White, a senior wide receiver and defensive back on the varsity team, plays bigger than his 5-foot-7, 150-pound frame would suggest. Time spent in the weight room and on the field makes that possible.

At Auburn Mountainview, boys and girls of all sports are discovering the benefits of supervised, preseason, crossfit training – new ways to improve strength, flexibility and conditioning – as the fall teams’ openers loom.

Since early July, turnout for the Mountainview United program has been steady. On average, about 70 athletes arrive for their four-days-a-week, two-hour morning workouts. Groups take turns in the weight room then hit the field to sprint, flip large tractor tires, pull thick ropes and push obstacles.

Even the cheerleaders have embraced the challenge of moving the five-bag blocking sled along the field turf.

The Mountainview United way builds muscle, fuels speed and spreads camaraderie. Coaches casually oversee and direct the traffic. It’s not a boot camp, it’s not a sports-specific practice, it’s a basic, stay-in-shape, come-and-go program that rewards participation. All athletes sign a card each day they attend, and those who make 16 workouts get a Mountainview United T-shirt.

About 130 different players signed cards last summer, and coaches expect similar numbers this year.

“It’s been great for us,” said Jared Gervais, Lions football coach, one of the originators of the summer-week group workouts. “I go to clinics and tell other coaches. It’s the best thing we do.”

After completing a circuit relay of tire flipping, rope pulling and dummy bag pushing, Hayley Flores dropped to her knees, but only for a moment.

“It was fun,” said Flores, a junior and a standout basketball player. “You get a good workout with friends. It’s a fun environment as well.”

Rufina Everett, a senior and state-class shot put thrower, turns over some heavy tread during workouts Wednesday at Auburn Mountainview High School. MARK KLAAS, Auburn Reporter

Rufina Everett, a senior and state-class shot put thrower, turns over some heavy tread during workouts Wednesday at Auburn Mountainview High School. MARK KLAAS, Auburn Reporter