John Myhre 
Here at St. Thomas Aquinas, the coaching staff works to maximize their players’ training opportunities. The STA football team has been working on skill development and teamwork from January into late February. In order for the team to win states again and reach a 5-Peat, Saint Thomas has to keep grinding to get bigger, faster, and stronger. The football team has been putting in work on and off the field. On the field they’ve been working on speed, agility and footwork. The team does conditioning workouts almost every day, whether it’s on the bleachers or the field. On some days they work on their speed and agility by doing many quick feet drills, change of direction, and their techniques when running. In the weight room they do many different exercises. What they work on in the weight room depends on the day of the week. Mondays and Wednesdays include upper body exercises like bench press, dumbbell curls, pull ups, inverted rows, and more. On Tuesdays and Thursdays they focus on lower body exercises like barbell squats, weighted lunges, dumbbell squats, and more. After working out they usually have a finisher which depends on the day. One day it could be planks for 1 minute and the next it could be a squat hold for a 1 min. After practice they also get mentally prepared by doing meditation and stretches.
4 Star recruit, Earl Kulp DB, when asked “Do you think the training is paying off?”, replied “Yes, I feel that Coach Harriot is getting us mentally and physically prepared for the battles we are going to go through.” He was also asked, “What are you trying to improve during training?” He responded, “I’m trying to improve my speed, footwork, and endurance.” When asked, “Are you seeing results in the field?”, he said “Yes, I saw many improved things when we played in the 7on7 tournament, even though we came up short I still saw many good things.”
Another 4 Star recruit, Caleb Harris, OT, was asked “Do you think the training is paying off?” He replied, “Yea, I feel better than ever and ready to have another great season. ” When asked, “What are you trying to improve during training?” He said, “I’m always trying to get stronger because that is one of the most important things as an o’lineman. To the question, “Are you seeing results in the field?”, he responded “Yes I feel faster and lifting more than I ever could.”
Spring training helps take the team to the next level, and the amount of work they put in shows throughout their season every year.
