Event Draws Big Crowd and Much Appreciated Donations
By Brooke Holmquist
Yes, school is still out for summer but the student athletes at Aptos High School are always training hard.
Look no further for the pay-off of that hard work than the Football program success: Four consecutive SCCAL championships and two consecutive CCS Championships, not to mention many more trips to CCS Playoffs.
No, Head Coach Randy Blankenship doesn’t have the young men practicing in pads, scrimmaging, or walking through plays on the field year round, but they are living the code of what it means to be a Mariner student-athlete 365 days a year.
The Aptos High School Football Lift-a-thon was a major success again this June! The players sought sponsors who donated based on the amount of weight each athlete lifts.
The weight lifting competition was really more about team building and acknowledging each athlete’s self-improvement. The competition is broken into two classes: Varsity and Junior Varsity. The gym was set up with five lifting stations and the players were introduced as they took their place at the strength appropriate station. “The crowd really gets into it when they see a player reaching deep to keep going,” commented Athletic Director Mark Dorfman.
This year the strongest JV player was freshman Austin Thelander with a top lift of 225 pounds. “Well I’ve always been good at picking stuff up. It’s kind of cool to be appreciated for it,” said Thelander.
Top Varsity lifter Adrien “Fluffy” Galindo benched 350 pounds and used the Lift-A-Thon as motivation for his final season, “It’s all gone in a blink of an eye, but this (next season) is my fourth quarter and I’m going to give it all I have and then some,” said the junior Mariner.
They each received a donation from Sid’s BBQ on behalf of the Aptos Sports Foundation of a dollar a pound equaling a total of $575. Owner John Siddel said, “When I heard about the weight lifting program I had to support the kids. Especially, the linemen, after all they eat a lot of food!” In addition to the donation for the program, each of the top lifters was treated to an “all-you-can-eat” BBQ feast and Sid’s T-shirt.
So, as we head into fall sports and the start of a new school year, give the Mariners a high five if you see them around town for their hard work already this season!
It is important to note that the Aptos Sports Foundation supports all athletic programs at Aptos High, junior high, and Aptos youth sports programs.