On the other side of the school, the weight room is a place where athletes can come to be with friends while they lift. On Saturday, February 23, Mr. Curt Samuelson organized an event to raise money for the weight room. Photo by: Katie Sommers
By Katie Sommers
A variety of students attended the Liftathon Saturday, February 23rd in the weight room for various reasons.
The Liftathon a group of students who enjoy lifting and wanted to improve and show their work. “[There] was a bunch of football players and kids that were in weights classes, lifting [weights] to raise money for our weight room,” junior Brayden Davis said. It was arranged by Curt Samuelson [Coach Sammy] for the students and athletes so they could all work-out and lift together for a couple of hours on Saturday evening at 6pm.
Lifting is not the only reason these athletes came together on a Saturday. The main purpose of this event was to raise money for the weight room and other sports activities. The activity was one dollar per person to attend. Sophomore Taylor Fulton said the purpose was, “to raise money for the weight room and to show our progress of working hard.” Everyone who attended was able to purchase a t-shirt that helped with the fundraising as well.
The Liftathon allowed those who attended to spend time in the weight room with fellow athletes. Freshman Jake Dewar said, “I participated because I wanted to have a bit of competition and be with the team and coaches. It helps us bond and makes us closer together.” The Liftathon allowed athletes to practice and get in shape for sports. Junior Jose Figueroa said he attended the Liftathon because, “I play football, [I] wanted to support the cause, and [I] love to lift.”
Either being with friends or lifting all students had a purpose for attending and enjoyed a specific part of it. Enjoying the time spent with his friends, sophomore Ryan MacLain said his favorite part of the Liftathon was, “seeing and hearing the people cheer me on while I lifted.” On the other hand, Fulton said his favorite part of the day was, “On our second lift when the lights were off, we were in the spotlight, music was blasting, and we were all up on the stage excited and cheering everyone on during their lift.”
As the students that participated compare their work and effort to how they have done in the past, they say the day was quite a success. Dewar said, “I did pretty well. I squatted 310 for my max. Coming there, I didn’t know if I would get it, but the help of the coaches and teammates, I got it up [his maximum weight lifted]. Figueroa said that he performed like a champion because he was able to defeat the weight that had beaten him twice before.
Many lifters met personal goals and their maximum [weighted lifted]. Every student interviewed enjoyed the experience and time spent with fellow athletes and can not wait to participate in this again.