Gateway FB Conference
Powerful Penguins
YSU Sports Information
Mar 13, 2006, 23:04

Youngstown – The Youngstown State football team recently concluded an impressive eight-week pre-Spring Camp strength and conditioning session that culminated with 263 personal bests being set during the team's skills testing last week.

Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Todd Burkey said the Penguins worked extremely hard during each session and are in great physical shape entering spring ball.

"Since I have been here, the numbers this group established during testing are by far the most impressive," Burkey said. "Hopefully we can continue this momentum through spring football and work just as hard over the summer because this team has a lot to prove come September."

Five categories were challenged during the testing -- bench press, squat, clean, three-lift total (bench, squat and clean) and vertical jump. Of the 73 individuals who participated in the workout sessions, a total of 263 personal bests were established out of a total of 344 tests (76.4 percent). Some individuals were held out of certain tests for various reasons.

Setting position records were fullback Regis Edgerson, tailback Monquantae Gibson, wide receiver Tariq Goode, quarterback Vince Gliatta, defensive lineman Jim Phelan, defensive back Chris Goffer and linebacker Jeremiah Wright.

Edgerson set a running-back mark with his three-lift total of 1,205 pounds. He and Gibson tied the all-time position clean mark of 305 pounds. That record was previously set by Darius Peterson.

Goode, son of former Penguin standout John Goode (1980-83), tied the wide-receiver position record in the bench press with a lift of 345 pounds.

Gliatta established a new all-time best bench press mark for quarterbacks with a 350-pound lift. His mark broke the all-time bench record of 345 pounds set by Jared Zwick.

     Phelan crushed the all-time bench press mark for a defensive lineman by more than 30 pounds. Phelan had a lift of 475 pounds breaking the previous record of 440 held by Frank Kaydo.

     Wright set a new standard for linebackers with a 37.5-inch vertical jump. The previous best was 37 inches held by Chris DiMauro.

     Goffer tied the school record with a 40.5-inch vertical leap. Gibson had set the standard in 2004 with a leap of 40.5 inches. Goffer's mark set a new defensive back record eclipsing Jason Perry's leap of 40 inches, also set in 2004.

     The four individuals who saw the biggest three-lift improvement were defensive back Jarvis Richards (145 pounds), tailback Lenny Wicks (145 pounds), Gibson (140 pounds) and linebacker Nate Ward (140 pounds). A group of five increased their multi-lift totals by 135 pounds.

     Overall, 40 players lifted more than 1,000 pounds in the three lifts. Eighteen reached the 1,100-pound plateau while five went over 1,200 pounds (Leon Edwards, Tyler Booth, Pat Walker, Edgerson and Phelan). Fifteen individuals had 35-inch plus vertical leaps while three went over 40 inches (Goffer, Gibson and Perry).

     Edwards had the highest three-lift total of 1,300 pounds (615 squat, 380 bench and 305 clean) out of everyone who tested. Edwards had the highest squat, Phelan had the best bench and offensive lineman Pat Walker had the best clean (320 pounds).