Powerhouse will benefit all JCHS athletes (05/10/03)

Community support has overflowed, and the Patriots Powerhouse should be ready for use no later than August. But perhaps the most important part of the project will occur after all the construction and fund-raising are over.

The main focus of the powerhouse is the improvements the Jay County athletes will see from its use.

“I’m excited as all get out,” said Patriot football coach Shane Hill, who is finishing his first year in Jay County. “It’ll be easier for me to get guys to come out to the weight room when they have a facility to take pride in. We’ll have the equipment we need to improve.”

And while it may have been the football team’s success — a 6-5 record, the first winning record since 1988, and the first ever Olympic Athletic Conference championship — which sparked the powerhouse project, the triumphs of the rest of the sports can not be overlooked.

The volleyball team won a sectional title in the fall, the boys and girls soccer teams each had their best records in school history, the girls soccer team won its first OAC title, and freshman cross-country runner Alyssa Johnson advanced to the state meet.

The winter was equally, if not more, impressive, with the boys and girls basketball and gymnastics teams winning sectionals. Freshman gymnast Hannah Williams placed 10th in the state on the balance beam, junior Sarah Miller placed 19th in the state in diving and senior Caleb Bye was fifth two weeks later in the boys event.

So far the baseball team is 15-1 and ranked seventh in the state, with a chance to clinch at least a tie for the OAC title for the first time since 1994.

With that in mind, everyone involved in the powerhouse project stressed that while it may have started because of the football team, it will benefit every athlete at Jay County.

“I hope this facility is utilized by everyone who wants to use it,” said Hill. “I feel as a football coach we have to use it to get better. But, it can help every athlete that walks our halls.

“We want to work together as coaches to make sure all of our kids have the ability to use this facility.”

“It’s being built for all athletes,” added Jay County girls swim coach and assistant girls soccer coach Bev Arnold. “I definitely feel one of the strengths of our swimming program and soccer team (recently) was because we lifted weights.”

Arnold and several other coaches agreed that weight lifting can help in a variety of ways. Not only does time in the weight room help athletes become more agile, faster and stronger, but it helps prevent injuries during the season.

The 40-foot by 100-foot building, which will be built in the corner of the current football complex closest to JCHS, will include $35,000 of new weight-lifting equipment. None of the equipment in the current weight room inside JCHS will be moved to the new facility, which will focus on power lifting.

It also will have a storage area for equipment which is currently housed the middle section of Harold E. Schutz Stadium. That area will be cleared out for the creation of a training room, and possible installation of more lockers for the growing football team.

Sophomore Mark Kelly, who plays football, basketball and baseball at Jay County, said he’s excited about the powerhouse.

“I think we should have it,” said Kelly. “I like it because it’ll have more stuff we can work out on. Plus, it’s going to be nice.”

Cameron Hummel, a senior who has been integral to the success of the football, basketball and baseball teams this season, said such a facility could have made a big impact during his four years. He said one of the main benefits of the powerhouse will be that the teams will be able to lift together as a group.

“It would’ve helped us tremendously,” said Hummel. “The weight room we’ve got is OK — we’ve gotten a lot of donations — but it’s not big enough.

“I think most of all (the powerhouse) will have people being competitive. We’ll be trying to outlift each other, and that’ll help us get better.”

JCHS basketball coach Craig Teagle said he thinks the quality of the facility is one of its biggest benefits.

“Overall, what it will do is — because it will be a nice facility — we’ll get increased numbers using it. That will help us in all of our sports.

“I think anytime kids take pride in something, it will help.”

It is something to be proud of. A $100,000 state-of-the-art weight-lifting facility is about to be constructed at JCHS.

And remember, it started as a pole barn.[[In-content Ad]]