In-Season Training: Weeks 1 and 2

Program will be 3x per week.  In season, especially with the hours we put in on the field, your bodies can't handle the training volume we had in the fall.  All we are trying to do right now is maintain the strength we gained in the off-season, not gain strength.  Feel free to add in exercises that you want for core and forearms, but I want you guys to stick to the lower body and upper body movements I list.

Every 2 weeks the program will change up a bit so be sure to check in.  I will write the workouts on the board in the weight room tomorrow when I get to campus so they will be available in there as well.  As always, if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Make sure you guys are taking the time to get in a good warmup before you guys start your lifts.  I don't want anyone missing any time on the field for a weight room related injury due to lack of warmup or poor form.  TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODIES.  

The work will be done in supersets so you guys can get more work in a shorter period of time.  Like I said before, you shouldn't be spending more than 30-45 minutes in the weight room. 

Day 1

SS (Superset) 1:

3 sets of:

4 Back Squats @ 75% 1 RM

6 Jump Squats

-2 min rest between sets

SS 2:

3 Sets of:

8 Weighted Pushups

8 1 Arm Lat Pulldowns

DB Lunge Complex - 2 each direction

SS 3:

8 Landmines

Burnout on Gripper

Day 2

3 x 4 Deadlifts @ 75% 1 RM (Drop from the top)

SS 1:

3 Sets of:

8 Inverted Rows

8 Reverse Hypers

8 Physioball Hamstring Curls

SS 2:

3 Sets of

8 Knees to Elbows (Controlled)

Max Front Plank Hold

Isometric Reverse Curl Max Hold (Fat Bar)

Day 3

3 x 4 Hang Cleans to Front Squat @ 75% of 1RM Hang Clean

SS 1:

3 sets of:

8 Good Mornings

8 KB Swings (Heavy)

8 Pushup/Dip Combo

SS 2:

3 sets of:

8 Landmines

8 Ab Rollouts

I'll be posting video tomorrow on some of the things we haven't gone over in detail.  Again, start each day with a good warmup and finish up with stretching and/or foam rolling.  

Foam Rolling

I want you guys foam rolling as often as possible throughout the spring.  It's a great way to recover from all the work we do on and off the field.  You should try and roll either before or after practice each day.  I know there are some in the shed out at the field so if you get out to practice early, this would be something you could do once you do your pre-practice jobs.  Another good idea would be to pitch in a few bucks each and get one or two for the locker room.

Here are a couple videos on foam rolling so you guys have an idea what you should be doing...

Part 1

Part 2

Back to Work...

Fellas-

Next week we are going to start our in-season program that will consist of 3 lifts a week.  Most of the work will be strength based with supplementary exercises and less WOD based.  The workouts will be designed so that you aren't spending more than 30 minutes in the weight room at a time.  I understand practices are long and take up a good chunk of your day so I want you guys to get in the weight room, get your work in and get out.

That being said, I fully expect you guys to be getting these 3 lifts in each week.  There should be no excuses, you have all week to get these workouts in.  The workouts will be full body each day, no upper body/lower body split.  We will continue running sprints and doing agility and med ball work in our pre-practice time.

Position guys... for now I would split these workouts up to Monday, Wednesday, Friday.  When the season starts, you would want to get these in on days we aren't playing, or early enough in the morning on a game day that they wouldn't affect you later on.

Pitchers... I'll talk to Dave more on this, but you guys also need to be doing these lifts based on your pitching schedule.  Ideally, you would spread these out so that you have a day or two rest before your next start or appearance.  Relievers run on a little different schedule, but since guys don't really have assigned roles yet, get the work in when you see fit.

I am finishing up the in-season program right now, should have it finished up by the end of the day.

Team Big Cat Final Results

This year's Big Cat finish was perhaps the most memorable finish in Big Cat history.  This year's finale, the obstacle course, was one of the toughest final events ever.  Each team member was assigned one leg of the obstacle course which consisted of a 2 lap swim, 50 pullups, tire throws over a football goal post, an agility course, 75 yds of burpee frog jumps, and a 400 meter plate run.

Teams started the final event based on their finish in the preceding 5 events.  3 teams started within 30 seconds of each other:  "SAWS" led by Eric Binder, "Team Sanchez" led by Nick Pappas, and "The Gangstas of Love" led by Kevin Jackson.  In the end, it came down to these 3 teams in a race to the finish in the 400 meter plate run.

Mike Hunter from "The Gangstas of Love" was the first to start the plate run, wasn't able to hold on to a 50 meter lead to start the race.  Tyler Rockafellow from "Team Sanchez" looked to have the race in hand with about 50 meters left after passing Mike Hunter 2/3 of the way through the race, couldn't hold on to the lead and saw Senior and team captain of "SAWS" Eric Binder step across the finish line for the win and Team Big Cat Championship.

Unfortunately we were unable to capture footage of the obstacle course because the event was so scattered and the constant change of location.  You had to be there to truly understand and appreciate the dramatic finish of this year's Big Cat, but having been a part of every Big Cat Challenge to date... I can say that this year was easily the most competitive and had by far the best finish.

THIS YEAR'S BIG CAT CHAMPIONS....
INDIVIDUAL - DOM ROBUSTO
TEAM - "SAWS" led by team captain ERIC BINDER

Obstacle Course...

This year's obstacle course will have 6 different legs... (in no particular order)

2 Lap Swim
50 Pullups
400 yd. Plate Carry (holding handles)
Football Field Workout (Sprint, Lunges, Bear Crawl, etc.)
Tire Throws
75 yd. Burpee Frog Jumps

Standings Going Into The Final Day...

Here are the standings going into the final day of the Team Big Cat Challenge which will contain both the Swim Relay and The Obstacle Course:

Team Binder "Jaws"- 13:30
Team Pappas "Team Sanchez" - 13:49
Team Jackson "The Gangstas of Love" - 14:05
Team Klimesh "Green Death" - 15:19
Team Lawson" The Team Formally Known and Prince" - 17:09
Team Keiser - 18:32

After the Swim Relay, times will be added up and the team's total time in the first 5 events will decide their starting point in the Obstacle Course.  As of right now, it looks like tomorrow could be a great final day of Big Cat action.

Team Event 4 - Tug of War

Today's competition was one that definitely favored brute strength... the Tug-of-War event.  Teams were pooled in a round robin style tournament to decide the top two teams who then played a best of 3 series to decide the champion of the event.  Each spot in the event was worth 20 seconds of time, so the winner of the event did not have seconds added to his overall time accumulated whereas 2nd place had 20 seconds added, 3rd place had 40 seconds added... 6th place had 1 min and 40 secs added.

Each match provided lots of intensity, several teams found it to their advantage to synchronize their pulls and others used simple brute force to overcome the other teams.  It is rumored that yells of "1-2-3 Pull" were heard across campus...

Once the round robin tournament was completed, SAWS led by Eric Binder and Team Sanchez led by Nick Pappas squared off in a best of 3 series to decide 1st place in this event. It only took SAWS 2 matches to prove their dominance and the team was crowned victorious in the Tug of War event.

Perhaps the biggest surprise in the event was "The Gangstas of Love" led by Kevin Jackson and their inability to get a single win in the event.  Going into the Tug of War having won 2 of the first 3 events, Jackson's team was heavily favored to win the Team Big Cat Challenge, but it seemed as if they were a team built on speed and not on strength after today's event.  We will see if they can bounce back tomorrow in the swim relay and regain some momentum going into the final Obstacle Course event which will also bed held tomorrow.

Here were the results from the Tug of War Event:

Team Binder "SAWS" 5-0
Team Pappas "Team Sanchez" 4-1
Team Lawson "The Team Formally Known as Prince" 3-2
Team Keiser 2-3
Team Klimesh "Green Death" 1-4
Team Jackson "The Gangstas of Love" 0-5

Team Event 3 - Tire Flip

Day 3 of the team Big Cat Challenge brought an event that required both strength and speed for every competitor.  The event was the Tire Flip.  Teams were required to flip a 150+ pound tired 100 yds. however, each team member was only allowed to flip the tired 7 times then sprint back to the starting line to tag in the next player.  That player then sprints out to the tire for 7 more flips, and this pattern continued until the tire crossed the finish line 100 yds. away.

Each team was evenly matched in this event with only 11 seconds separating the first place team and the last place team.  In the end tho, a victory is a victory and "The Gangstas of Love" led by team captain Kevin Jackson picked up their second win in 3 events thus far in the challenge.  Captain Will Keiser and his team finally pulled themselves out of the cellar a bit and finished second in the event after 2 last place finishes in the previous 2 events.  Keiser and his team definitely have some work to do in the following events to put themselves in contention on the final day, but in the end, the obstacle course can make or break a team.

Here were the results of the Tire Flip event:

Team Jackson "The Gangstas of Love" - 3:16

Team Keiser - 3:19

Team Pappas "Team Sanchez" - 3:20

Team Binder "SAWS" - 3:20

Team Klimesh "Green Death" - 3:21

Team Lawson "The Team Formally Known as Prince" - 3:27

Click here to see video from this event...

Team Event 2 - Bag Pull

The team bag pull proved to be one of the toughest events yet of the entire Big Cat Challenge, requiring players to pull a tackling bag 35 yds. around a cone and back, pulling backwards the entire time.  As you can see from the video captured from the event, several players struggled getting across the finish line without falling down in the last 5 - 10 yds.

After a win in the first event, Kevin Jackson lead his team, "The Gangstas of Love" to another solid finish in the bag pull, finishing second only behind team "SAWS" led by captain Eric Binder.  Not only did Binder and his team win the event, but they did so in a commanding fashion, winning the event by nearly 30 seconds, gaining some time on "The Gangstas of Love" after their dominating victory in the Plate Carry.

Here were the final results from the event:

Team Binder "SAWS" - 4:55
Team Jackson "The Gangstas of Love" - 5:24
Team Lawson "The Team Formally Known as Prince" - 5:49
Team Pappas "Team Sanchez" - 5:50
Team Klimesh "Green Death" - 6:18
Team Keiser - 6:25

Results After Day 1 Team Big Cat Challenge

Yesterday, the Tigers started the team portion of the Big Cat Challenge with the Plate Carry event.  Each member of each team carried two 45 lb. plates 90 yds and back in a relay style race.  The run required speed and also a great amount of grip strength as the players were not allowed to grip the weights by their handles.  Instead they were only allowed to carry them by the grooved edges which provided quite the challenge for many.

"The Gangstas of Love" led by team captain Kevin Jackson won the event in an impressive time of 3:45 with no penalties.  The team got off to a rough start but Jackson was able to put together a dominant run to put his team right back in the mix of things and each member of the team then followed up with solid runs to claim the win.

Although Jackson's team made the event look easy, several players struggled with the grip strength portion of the race costing their teams valuable seconds.  However, every team has the opportunity to gain ground on Jackson's "Gangstas of Love" in every event leading up to the Obstacle Course.

Here are the results after the first completed event:

Team Jackson "Gangstas of Love" - 3:45
Team Pappas "Team Sanchez" - 4:19
Team Klimesh "Green Death" - 4:20
Team Binder "Jaws" - 5:15
Team Lawson: 7:03
Team Keiser: 7:48

As you can see, the "Gangsta's of Love" have a commanding lead after Day 1, but every team is still in the hunt and will be scratching and clawing to close the gap in the following events.

Click here to see footage from yesterday's Plate Carry event.

Teams set for Big Cat Challenge

This evening, after today's practice, the Tigers will kick off the Big Cat Team Competition.  Last night, captains Nick Pappas, Kevin Jackson, Will Keiser, Eric Binder, Ben Klimesh and Andrew Lawson met with the coaching staff and held a draft.  This group of competitors finished top 6 in the individual Big Cat competition, minus Dom Robusto of course who decided not to compete in the team events and allowing himself to recover from a hamstring tweak.

Each of the first 5 events will all be timed and accumulated before the final Obstacle Course Event.  The cumulative timee in these events will decide where each team starts on the final day.  For example, if team A compiles a total time in the first 5 events of 20 minutes and team B's total time if 21 minutes, team A have a 1 minute head start in the obstacle course and team B will have to make that time up over the course of the event and finish before team A.

Today's event is the Plate Carry Relay.  In this competition, players will be required to carry a 45 lb. plate in each hand and sprint up and back the turf intramural practice field in a relay style until each member of the team has completed the run.

Here are the results of last nights draft:

Pappas             Jackson       Keiser         Binder      Klimesh       Lawson
Paillet               Lucero         Warren       Murphy    Bentz           Frasier
Barron             Hunter          Donnan       Felix         Ryan            Bay
Rockafellow    Hall              Calbick        Jones        Fink             Webb
Heckerl            Haaf             Woodruff    Spriggs     Stanton       Knowlton
Bogese             Panozzo       Clements    Francke   Grimshaw   Burden

Videos from the Final Individual Big Cat Event - The WOD

Sophomore Tim Stanton with a Strong Finish to the Workout
Senior Evan Jones goes up against Freshman Andrew Webb
Freshman Jon Hall Finishes up his Last Set of Cleans
Marquee Matchup Between High School Teammates Will Donnan and Michael Bentz
Sophomore Ben Klimesh Prepares Himself for the WOD
Klimesh and Junior Will Keiser Showing How to Compete
Keiser Completes the Workout for 3rd Place in the Event
Senior Eric Binder and Sophomore Nick Pappas Dominating the Workout
Sophomore Dom Robusto's Championship Clinching Heat and Junior Kevin Jackson's Great Effort

Big Cat Team Events Announced

This year's Big Cat team events are:
- Plate Carry Relay
- Bag Pull Relay
- Swim Relay
- Tug-of-War
- Tire Flips
- Obstacle Course

Big Cat Individual Final Standings

The final day of the Big Cat Individual Challenge was one that gave players a chance to decide their own fate in the final standings.  Players were grouped based on their position on the leaderboard.  The top 10 competitors going into the event performed the workout in pairs with an opportunity to leapfrog their opponent in the final rankings.

Going into the event, sophomore Dom Robusto was holding on to first place by 5 points over both sophomore Nick Pappas and junior Kevin Jackson.  However, on the off day before the final event, Robusto tweaked his hamstring while running a sprint in practice so he was questionable going into the event.

The drama ensued as last year's individual champion Will Keiser posted the best time in the event giving him a legitimate chance to repeat if the top 3 were to slip up in the WOD.  Pappas then ended the chance of the first repeat champion in recorded Big Cat history* by overtaking Keiser's top time by several seconds, putting him in a great position to be the new Big Cat champion.

All this time, Robusto was still a question mark and finally was allowed to compete in the event, but only  under the close watch of strength and conditioning coach Nick Vera to be sure that his form was not impaired by his hamstring injury.  If Vera were to see any break in form, Robusto would be shut down for the event and take a DNF, eliminating his chances to claim the crown.

So in the final heat of the WOD, Robusto and Jackson went head to head to decide this year's champion with Pappas watching closely to see if his time would hold up and give him the win.  The two athlete's put on an incredible display of strength and athleticism, Robusto actually performed almost every burpee on one leg to avoid re-injuring his hamstring.  The heat was neck and neck nearly the entire workout, but it was Robusto who not only won the matchup, but also finished with the top time overcoming his handicap of competing mostly on one leg.

The overall effort of every competitor throughout the competition was astounding.  We now look forward to this week's beginning of the Team Big Cat Challenge.  The top 6 finishers were awarded with the opportunity to be captain's for the team challenge, however, Robusto chose not to participate in the team challenge to give his hamstring an opportunity to heal and allowed senior Andrew Lawson the chance to be a captain since he was the next highest seeded finisher.  Later tonight, the team events will be posted so captains will have the opportunity set up for the draft.

Here are the final standing from the Individual Big Cat Challenge:

Name	Total
Robusto	34
Pappas	40
Jackson	46
Keiser	50
Binder	53
Klimesh	59
Lawson	71
Paillet	75
Donnan	81
Murphy	84
Hunter	86
Bay	89
Bentz	90
Woodruff	92
Spriggs	94
Knowlton	96
Barron	97
Ryan	99
Haaf	99
Hall	104
Rockafellow	111
Panozzo	113
Lucero	124
Fink	131
Felix	136
Bogese	139
Grimshaw	143
Heckerl	145
Jones	145
Webb	148
Warren	151
Clements	162
Frasier	163
Calbick	168
Burden	187
Stanton	188
Foster	193
Francke	194
Robertson	206

Individual Big Cat Challenge Day 6 - The WOD

After a day off yesterday to give the players a chance to rest and recover after 5 events in 5 days, the Tigers concluded the individual portion of the Big Cat Challenge today with the WOD event.

The Tigers have been doing workouts this season that are constantly varied and very intense.  The players are assigned a WOD (Workout of the Day) each day that consists of functional movements such as squats, deadlifts, cleans, pushups and pullups done over a certain period of time or for a prescribed set of repetitions.  This style of training instills a competitive atmosphere in the weight room and is an extremely efficient and effective.

Players were unaware of the design of the WOD until moments before they entered the weight room to start the final event.  Rumors were spread amongst players that the workout would be a max pullup/pushup contest or a max bodyweight back squat in 1 minute.  The WOD was posted just after today's practice and it read:

3 Rounds of:
5 Cleans @ 135 lbs
7 Burpees
9 KB Swings (24 kg)

Although the workout was short, 2 to 4 minutes for most players, it was also grueling, leaving players lying on the ground gasping for air several minutes after completing the WOD.  The times are currently being entered into the Big Cat spreadsheet to see where players ended up after the final event.  Check back tomorrow to see the results of the WOD along with video and also the final standings of the individual competition.

Big Cat Day 5 - Hill Sprint

Friday's event tested not only the player's ability to sprint uphill, but also their ability to deal with surrounding elements.  First, the event was complicated by the fact that they not only had to sprint approximately 150 meters uphill, but they were also weighed down by a 50+ pound sandbag.  On top of that, they had to deal with the rain and a cool night in San Antonio.

Unlike the previous events where players stuck around to view the results of others in a particular event, after completing the Hill Sprint, players were happy to head back to the locker room to get out of the rain and the cold.  Fortunately, many of them were provided a shuttle back down the hill after running the spring to regain leg strength and catch their breathe after a tough all out sprint.

Sophomore utility man Dom Robusto claimed the victory in the event with a stellar time of 26.49 seconds.  With the win and the separation he created between his competitors, Robusto overtook the overall lead in the individual Big Cat competition.  Former chart topper Kevin Jackson put together a solid time at 28.92 seconds up the hill, but enough players came between him and Robusto to see Jackson lose claim of the lead.

Here were the results of Friday's Hill Sprint Event:

Name	Time		Points
Robusto	26.49		1
Binder	27.29		2
Pappas	27.54		3
Lawson	27.93		4
Fink	28.11		5
Paillet	28.3		6
Barron	28.53		7
Keiser	28.71		8
Klimesh	28.88		9
Jackson	28.92		10
Ryan	28.92		10
Donnan	29.03		12
Bentz	29.12		13
Knowlton	29.31		14
Rockafellow	29.5		15
Lucero	29.98		16
Hall	30.41		17
Bay	30.62		18
Bogese	31.23		19
Hunter	31.23		19
Panozzo	31.37		21
Woodruff	31.42		22
Clements	31.44		23
Haaf	31.51		24
Murphy	31.94		25
Webb	32.02		26
Spriggs	32.36		27
Grimshaw	32.85		28
Foster	32.96		29
Stanton	34.33		30
Heckerl	34.43		31
Frasier	35.81		32
Calbick	35.95		33
Jones	36.42		34
Burden	37.85		35
Francke			36
Warren			36
Felix			36

Big Cat Interview Day 4

We interviewed Ryan Murphy after the Towel Hang to hear what he thought about the event, his overall performance, and the Big Cat Challenge.

Video

Videos From Big Cat Day 4 - Towel Hang

Yesterday's champ Kyle Felix performing the towel hang
Josh Fink holding on in the last seconds of his hang
Kevin Francke makes his return to the Big Cat Challenge
Freshman John Hall and Will Donnan go head to head
Former individual leader Ben Klimesh in his attempt at the towel hang
Ryan Murphy's towel hang with commentary from Noah "mono" Solomon 
Matt Grimshaw finishes up his attempt and Nick Pappas puts up a stellar towel hang
Kevin Jackson and Dom Robusto battle it out for first place

Big Cat Individual Standings After 4 Events

Things have really tightened up at the top of the leaderboard making tomorrow's event, the Hill Run, that much more pressure filled for those competing for the top spot.  The event will test both speed and power as players will be sprinting up a 150 meter hill carrying a weighted object.  Here are the overall standings going into tomorrow's Hill Run...

Name	Total
Jackson	28
Robusto	32
Pappas	35
Keiser	39
Klimesh	40
Binder	44
Paillet	47
Bay	47
Spriggs	51
Woodruff	52
Lawson	56
Murphy	59
Hunter	62
Bentz	62
Donnan	63
Haaf	66
Felix	70
Panozzo	71
Barron	73
Hall	73
Ryan	77
Knowlton	78
Warren	88
Heckerl	88
Webb	89
Grimshaw	90
Bogese	91
Jones	92
Fink	96
Rockafellow	96
Calbick	105
Lucero	108
Clements	109
Frasier	118
Francke	128
Stanton	130
Burden	132
Foster	134
Robertson	140

Big Cat Day 4 - Towel Hang

Today's event, the towel hang, brought about a new look to the top of the leaderboard.  Sophomore Ben Klimesh and senior Eric Binder, who held the top 2 spots the first 3 days of the Big Cat Challenge, each had their struggles with the towel hang and were both bumped down a few notches on the leaderboard.  Junior Kevin Jackson and Sophomore Dom Robusto were the last two competitors in the event and each held on longer than the previous top time and battled it out for first place.  In the end, it was Jackson who outlasted Robusto by 10 seconds and claimed his first win in this year's individual Big Cat Challenge.

After a rough start to Big Cat, both Jackson and Robusto have rallied in the past couple events to find themselves atop the overall leaderboard with Jackson holding on to first place and Robusto right behind him in second.  Also hopping to the top of the standings are sophomore Nick Pappas who is currently in 3rd place overall and junior Will Keiser who sits in 4th place.

Here are the results from today's event, the Towel Hang:

Name	Time		Points
Jackson	118.5		1
Robusto	108.64		2
Keiser	93.21		3
Bay	90.96		4
Bentz	88.98		5
Calbick	88.16		6
Spriggs	87.01		7
Pappas	86.83		8
Paillet	81.97		9
Grimshaw	78.01		10
Hall	76.59		11
Woodruff	76.51		12
Knowlton	76.37		13
Bogese	75.06		14
Haaf	74.08		15
Fink	72.4		16
Francke	66.45		17
Lawson	66.42		18
Heckerl	65.15		19
Murphy	62.28		20
Warren	61.94		21
Jones	61.78		22
Clements	61.64		23
Lucero	59.92		24
Hunter	59.64		25
Klimesh	58.8		26
Donnan	58.58		27
Felix	57.65		28
Binder	56.79		29
Rockafellow	56.48		30
Panozzo	56.21		31
Barron	55.58		32
Burden	51.57		33
Ryan	47.99		34
Webb	44.96		35
Frasier	35.12		36
Stanton	28.57		37

Videos from Big Cat Days 2 and 3

Strongman Event
Kyle Felix's Winning Effort
Seniors Andrew Lawson and Evan Jones go head-to-head
Michael Bentz and Chris Ryan post strong runs
Marquee Matchup between Eric Binder and Ryan Murphy
Freshman Kyle Bogese takes a spill in his heat
Senior Mike Hunter matches up against Freshman Kelly Woodruff
Roommates John Paillet and Mike Panozzo race for bragging rights

Wall Ball
Kyle Felix vs. John Paillet
Jackson vs. Warren
Klimesh vs. Pappas
Rockafellow vs. Woodruff
Binder vs. Clements
Hunter vs. Jones

Big Cat Interview Day 2

Roommates Kyle Felix and Dom Robusto finished 1st and 2nd in the Strongman event and were asked to comment on their performances and the Big Cat Challenge.  Each has a different perspective on the challenge as a whole so check out the video to see what they had to say...

Video

Unofficial Big Cat Challenge Day 3 Results

Today's event was Wall Ball.  In this competition, players were had to perform a deep squat with a 20 lb. medicine ball in hand and heave it over a 10 ft. marker on a wall as many times as they could in 1 minute.  What turned out to be the deciding factor for many of the competitors was efficiency as opposed to speed, as players were not alloted points if they did not touch the ball beneath them or get the med ball throw over the designated line.

As it stands, Sophomore Weston Haaf, barefooted and fresh off a meal in Mabee dining hall, holds the lead in the Wall Ball event with 35 successful attempts.  A few pitchers who threw in yesterday's Spring World Series game were unable to compete in today's event due to day after pitching bikram yoga.  These competitors will be allowed to make up today's event at a later date...

Sophomore Dom Robusto and Sophomore Nick Pappas each put themselves in good position to make a late push in the running for the individual championship by placing high in today's Wall Ball event while Senior and current Big Cat leader Eric Binder slipped up a bit and allowed the competition to gain some ground.

Tomorrow's event, the towel hang will test each individual's grip strength and we could possibly see some fluctuations in the leader board.

Here are the results from today's Wall Ball event:

Name	Total		Points
Haaf	35		1
Lawson	33		2
Pappas	31		3
Robusto	30		4
Barron	30		4
Klimesh	30		4
Jackson	30		4
Spriggs	30		4
Binder	29		9
Donnan	29		9
Webb	29		9
Felix	28		12
Bay	28		12
Ryan	28		12
Murphy	28		12
Warren	28		12
Keiser	27		17
Jones	27		17
Hunter	26		19
Knowlton	26		19
Woodruff	26		19
Frasier	26		19
Heckerl	26		19
Rockafellow	25		24
Paillet	24		25
Lucero	24		25
Stanton	24		25
Bentz	22		28
Grimshaw	22		28
Hall	22		28
Burden	21		31
Clements	16		32
Fink
Panozzo
Foster
Bogese

Standings After Day 2

After 2 events, Senior pitcher Eric Binder sits atop the leaderboard jumping Sophomore pitcher Ben Klimesh by finishing 6 spots ahead in yesterday's Strongman event to take the overall individual lead.  Players returned to the Intramural field yesterday after Game 1 of the Spring World Series for Day 2 of the Big Cat Challenge.  The Strongman event proved to be more than just an event based on brute strength, but also requiring speed, agility, and a little finesse.  

Junior Kyle Felix and Sophomore Dom Robusto were heavily favored going into the event and lived up to the expectations finishing 1st and 2nd with Felix edging Robusto by .4 seconds.  Both Felix and Robusto put themselves back in contention for the individual championship after less than stellar performances in the Agility Course event.

Today's event provides the top performers to create some separation from the rest of the pack, but don't be surprised if a couple players in the middle of the pack step up today and get themselves in the running.

Here are the standings after 2 events:

Name	Total
Binder	5
Klimesh	10
Paillet	11
Keiser	18
Hunter	18
Woodruff	20
Jackson	23
Pappas	24
Donnan	26
Murphy	26
Bentz	26
Robusto	27
Felix	29
Ryan	30
Bay	30
Hall	31
Lawson	36
Panozzo	36
Barron	37
Spriggs	40
Rockafellow	41
Webb	44
Knowlton	45
Bogese	47
Heckerl	49
Grimshaw	49
Haaf	50
Clements	51
Jones	52
Warren	54
Fink	55
Lucero	57
Foster	60
Frasier	62
Calbick	63
Burden	65
Robertson	66
Stanton	66
Francke	75

Big Cat Interview

After Day 1, Sophomore Ben Klimesh and Senior Eric Binder sit atop the leaderboard.  Find out what they thought about the event and how they think the Big Cat Challenge will finish up.

Video

Big Cat Day 2 - Strongman Results

Here are the result from last night's Strongman event.

Name	Time		Points
Felix	26.7		1
Robusto	27.1		2
Binder	27.52		3
Bentz	28.5		4
Barron	28.57		5
Bay	28.64		6
Hunter	28.7		7
Paillet	28.85		8
Klimesh	29.09		9
Keiser	29.2		10
Knowlton	29.46		11
Ryan	29.47		12
Murphy	29.5		13
Pappas	29.6		14
Jones	29.75		15
Woodruff	29.82		16
Fink	30.2		17
Jackson	30.24		18
Spriggs	30.3		19
Donnan	30.3		20
Rockafellow	30.31		21
Panozzo	30.6		22
Grimshaw	30.94		23
Hall	31.3		24
Webb	31.96		25
Frasier	32		26
Lawson	32		27
Lucero	32.27		28
Foster	32.69		29
Burden	32.9		30
Warren	33.46		31
Heckerl	33.7		32
Stanton	34.16		33
Haaf	35.5		34
Bogese	35.69		35

Videos from the Agility Course

Lawson Owning the Hurdles
The Hurdles Owning Rockafellow
Do a Dance Paillet...
Klimesh's Dominating Run 

Big Cat Individual Results: Event 1 - Agility Course

The competitor with the fewest points at the end of the 6 individual events will be crowned this year's Big Cat Individual Champion with the team events following the next week.  After the first day, the dynamic duo of Ben Klimesh and Eric Binder sit atop the leaderboard, but tomorrow things could change with an event that provides both a strength and agility challenge.  Those sitting at the bottom of the rankings have a chance to pick up some serious ground if they are able to perform well in tomorrow's event, at this point, it's still anyone's title...

Name	Time		Points
Klimesh	50.76		1
Binder	51.28		2
Paillet	52.23		3
Woodruff	53.99		4
Jackson	54.01		5
Donnan	54.17		6
Hall	54.73		7
Kaiser	54.87		8
Lawson	55.21		9
Pappas	55.35		10
Hunter	55.61		11
Bogese	56.44		12
Murphy	56.82		13
Panozzo	56.89		14
Clements	57.06		15
Haaf	57.12		16
Heckerl	57.16		17
Ryan	57.19		18
Webb	57.26		19
Rockafellow	57.32		20
Spriggs	57.87		21
Bentz	58.48		22
Warren	58.56		23
Bay	58.95		24
Robusto	58.95		25
Grimshaw	59.18		26
Calbick	60		27
Felix	60.33		28
Lucero	60.39		29
Robertson	61.28		30
Foster	61.61		31
Barron	61.76		32
Stanton	62.13		33
Knowlton	62.48		34
Burden	62.84		35
Frasier	63.65		36
Jones	63.75		37
Fink	66.69		38
Francke	98		39

Here We Go

Good to have you fellas back-

Tomorrow at the meeting we will fill you guys in on what's going on this week.  Spring World Series will be a 3 game series starting on Tuesday.

Big Cat Challenge will be scheduled a little differently this year since we're doing it in the spring as opposed to the fall...  Starting tomorrow, we will do 1 event per day at a time I will designate, most often after practice.  There will be 6 individual events and 6 team events, tomorrow we will start the individual portion of the competition.  Again, you'll get more info on all this tomorrow at the meeting.

Lifting wise, we will be on a 4 day a week schedule until games start, then we will move to a 3 day a week schedule.  In season, it's all about maintaining the strength you gained in the fall.  We will continue doing strength work, but it will all be based on percentages.  We'll have a meeting later this week to discuss the spring program and I'll answer any questions regarding lifting, conditioning, diet, etc. at that time.

Looking forward to getting the spring rolling fellas, come out ready to work, have fun and most importantly get better every day.

Thursday 1/7

OFF

It's looking like Big Cat Challenge will be starting on Monday the 11th as opposed to Sunday the 10th.  This will give the guys who are flying in on Sunday a chance to recover from your travels and be ready to go on Monday.  More details coming soon on official dates, times and events...

Wednesday 1/6

Strength
4 x 4 Hang Clean
3 x 5 Front Squat

WOD
5 Rounds of 2 min on, 1 min off of:

3 Hang Cleans @ 135
6 Pushups
9 Air Squats

Post: Complete WOD Rounds.  Partial Rounds do not count...

Tuesday 1/5

Agility Drills
Four Cone Square Drill x 8
- You don't necessarily need cones... shoes, hats, baseballs will all work as cones
- Cones are in a 5 yd x 5 yd square
- Mix up movements, examples: do carioca across instead of shuffle, start from a different cone of different movement

Two Cone Wheel Drill x 6
- Cones are 5 yd apart
- On both these drills, similar to sprints, make sure you recover fully before starting the next

Strength
3 x 5 Weighted Pullups
3 x 5 Weighted Pushups or Bench Press (DB or Barbell)

WOD
5 Rounds:
10 Overhead Squat (45 lb bar)
10 Overhead Alternating Lunges (45 lb bar) (5 each leg)
- Keep the bar locked out directly overhead (don't let your arms bend and don't let the bar travel forward or backward)
...then...
3 x 8 Strict Knees to Elbows (no swinging)
3 x 8 Ab Rollouts w/wheel or barbell
and forearm work
- This portion of the workout is not timed

Monday 1/4

Strength
3 x 4 (each leg) Explosive Step Ups
3 x 5 (each leg) Bulgarian Split Squats

WOD
4 x 10 Step up to 1 legged RDL (4 sets of 5 each leg)
4 x 10 Pistols (4 sets of 5 each leg)
- Use the bench if you need support at the bottom of the squat, but only as support.
3 x 10 Renegade Rows (5 each arm)
3 x 20 Chops (10 each side)

Saturday 1/2 or Sunday 1/3

Running
(5) 40 yd Shuttles (5 yd, back, 10 yd, back, 5 yd, back)
(5) 30 yd Sprints (as soon as you cross the finish line, chop your steps and break down as quickly as possible)
- Full recovery on all sprints


Strength
5 x 3 Front Squat
5 x 8 1 arm/1 leg RDL

WOD

10 Swings
1    Burpee
9   Swings
2   Burpees .....
continue reaching a final round of:
1    Swing
10 Burpees