Hammer Strength racks were retained and relocated to the center of the CNE Sports Performance Center, equipped with new plates from Rogue as part of a $50,000 investment in Clermont Northeastern High School’s weight room during the summer.
Photo by Sun Sports Reporter Jake Dowling
OWENSVILLE — The saying goes that sports are 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical. Clermont Northeastern is investing in the 10 percent.
This summer, the high school, under the direction of athletics director Andrew Marlatt, upgraded the CNE Sports Performance Center and introduced a strength and conditioning coach. A $50,000 fundraising effort, supported by a private donor, the CNE Athletic Boosters and the board of education, made these improvements possible.
“A strength and conditioning facility is an extremely important aspect of any athletic department — high school, college, professional — more important than the space and the equipment is the culture,” Marlatt said. “That’s where we started — just the concept and culture that we are going to train our athletes to be the strongest, most durable, the most powerful, the most explosive and the most mentally tough that they can be. We started with that.”
Improvements started with the floor, now covered with 75 wall-to-wall 4-by-6 horse stall mats, Marlatt said. After soliciting bids from various strength and conditioning equipment companies, Rogue Fitness, based in Columbus, was selected.
“Rogue did a good job,” Marlatt said. “They delivered what they promised, they gave us some good discounts and they delivered the product here. Everything we got, except for maybe one or two pieces, was all from Rogue.”
That included Olympic bumper plates, new bars, landmine attachments, Echo bikes, vertical skiers, a belt squat, a glute-ham machine, dumbbells, benches, kettlebells, and a cable machine.
The Hammer Strength racks were kept and rearranged to form two open rows, allowing student-athletes to push sleds or flip tires while others use the machines.
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