Breaks Readiness Records

Editor's Note: Football Coach Dixie Jones has long been a leader in strength training at the high schoollevel. His athletes have produced prodigious totals for many years. Two of his athletes,' Kenny Allen! and Tim Bush, made our 1994 Southern ' States AJl-Sectiollal Team. Coach Jon¢si wrote to me abo).lt his young kids. They; have already achieved some remarkable .• results. The Trigg County Wildcats are 1 a vanguard for our nation'syoung' ath" letes. Once again I commend you, Dr. Shepard, and your staff on an excellent job of selecting All-Americans. It is quite obvious that every year the quality improves.

This is testimony to the job being done by many coaches across the nation. We, as coaches must all realize the tremendous influence we have on youth today, not only for their physical development but as molders of citizens for the future. This task is more important than wins or losses. I was especially interested in the 8th grade athlete recognized in the journal and felt compelled to write and "brag" on the accomplishments of some of our 71.h and 8th graders mvolved in our mIddle school readiness program. These results are accurate as our High School team has been competing in powerlifting for II years.

(Editor's note: Trigg County has finished in the top three at the Kentucky State Powerlifting meet for I I straight years and just recently won the 1993 championship with an enrollment of only 545 stUdents.) I included a chart that shows the final test results for our entire "Midcat" weight training program. Just look at the team averages for the 8th grade. Four of these eighth graders even qualified for the state meet and Cedric Bingham placed 5th competing against juniors and seniors. He was the only 8th grader in the state to place in the top five. We also had a 9th grader who placed 2nd in the 175 pound class who only a year ago was in our readiness program.

Tbis freshman really was "ready" \-vhen he got to high school. He started for us at linebacker and did a good job. As you can see, we have several individuals with outstanding maximums, including: Seven with a Bench Press of 165 or more. Two of those were 200 pounds. Six athletes have Squats of 225 pounds or higher. (Check out the two 8th graders with 315 and 350 pound Squats) Nine have a 300 pound Dead Lift or higher while eight Hang Clean with 150 pounds or higher. Five have 20-inch pins Vertical Jump and five have beller than 5.0 speed.

.' N:lIlie ... {1ass Wt. !Bench. Sauat b.Lift' Ir(" lean. -\T:J. 40. Dots: IN;lTle J.

Pellegrino Waldrop Alexander Skinner Quarles 134 125 99 125 217 136 8 • 126 95 8 . 155 95 8 : 153 145 121 175 8 8 ' 145 210 8 : 228 200 8 • 135 I15 145 195 8 129 115 8 145 190 8 8 8 8 '-'.'.

185 155 205 145 165 205 225 275 350 165 195 185 315 295 195 315 225 265 315 315 350 415 295 315 285 405 5.2 44 5.5 49 6.1 76 5.6 105 5.5 76 4.8 49 4.6 57 4.8 45 5.6 52 5.3 4.9 5.0 4.7 - Baker Ijames Curtis L Radford Cowbell Hensley Price Johnson Rush Ralldolnh Willis "

Needless to say, we are expecting great things from this group of young men. And how did we achieve results') It was a combination of commitment and hard work by the kids and the BFS Readiness Program with some modifications to fit our needs and situation. We have been using this program for 8 years now and our first 7th graders to go through the readiness program reached the state finals in football and won two state powerlifting titles. I am a firm believer in the program and the results it will produce. Our readiness program consists of the four core exercises: Bench, Squat, Clean and Dead Lift. We have other suitable auxiliary lifts.

We also begin with the BFS Dot Drill and include plyometrics in our workout. As a coach, T know that a player who has completed the readiness program has a good solid strength base and when he enters high school he is ready to begin the olympic lifts to really improve his athletic ability. Thank you for letting me "brag" on these guys. They have worked hard.

Dixie Jones, Football Coach Trigg County High School, Cadiz, Kentucky .In T .ift rlf"~n ,v l 153 168 130 97 150 93 177 7 112 154 7 , 14t 7 7 120 134 7 7 165 125 75 105 135 80 165 95 115 115 85 130 - Z9 ~.,.2' .JiJ, ' AYJj:M9E .

18 6.7 . 67 .~.:":

136 116 .)~1 . .. 277. >.

40 r'h"t~ 5.4 51 I'iA 68 5.9 72 5.5 55 57 5.5 57 5.4 60 5.3 56 5.5 62 5.3 49 6.6 RO 5.5 64 6.1 75 , .-:

From BFS Magazine — Fall 1994. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).