The Crookston High School weight room will look a lot different when the kids come back to school after the Christmas break. The Crookston School Board approved the $60,000 upgrade for the equipment and flooring at their meeting on May 25.
The project wasn’t completed as fast as the district wanted because of COVID. “We were ready to act on it right before COVID hit in March and it got delayed because everybody was doing stuff and we got back to it in June,” said Crookston High School Activities Director Greg Garmen. “We finally got the equipment in here and got it set up and we have a few things to do yet, but it should be ready when we get kids back in the building and hopefully we get started in the weight room when we start our activities. It has been a long time coming.”
The weight room will have new equipment, including the following –
4 power racks (squat/bench racks)
4-way multi-machine (good for circuit training)
Glut/hamstring machine
Dip bench
Several dumbbell benches
Bike
Rower
Treadmill
New weights/dumbells
The new equipment isn’t the only thing that will stick out when you enter the weight room. There is new paint and a big Pirate head in the room. “We installed new flooring, painted the walls and the painting that Gary Stegman did is sharp with a 10 to 12 foot Pirate head,” said Garmen. “The old equipment was getting old and now everything is brand-spanking new.”
Tom Piche installed all the equipment in the weight room. Piche is an East Grand Forks School Board member and assistant girls soccer coach and as part of his job with BSN Sports, he outfits teams, installs weight equipment, and offers many other services for area high schools. “Tom put it together, our custodial staff was great and they took it off the truck,” said Garmen. “We received the shipment on Wednesday and it was 5,000 pounds on nine pallets so we had it unloaded in short-time and Tom came over and we got it put together.”
In the May 25 school board meeting, Crookston School District Superintendent Jeremy Olson said the following about the upgraded weight room. “This is one part of making a good-faith step towards improving our athletics at Crookston Public Schools,” said Olson. “Will this be the thing that gets us over the top? Probably not, but it is one strategy many districts are using to improve athletics.”
