PLYMOUTH — Coaches are fond of saying that games are won in the weight room but for a pair of Plymouth High School athletes, that is literally true.
Seth Grimmett and Tristen McMillen had already spent an enormous amount of time in the PHS weight room — all the way back to the eighth grade— preparing for their particular sports, and for each, it was football. Grimmett decided not to play his setnior season for the Rockies and that’s when PHS strength coach Curt Samuelson got involved.
“What started all this was Seth quit football,” said Samuelson. “I thought, here’s a strong kid, a good weight lifter who’s spent a lot of time training. He needs something to do. I didn’t like the idea of him going through his senior year and not being involved in athletics.”
Samuelson said, “I asked him if he wanted to try this. I told him, ‘You’re going to be sore all the time, and you have to do it for six months so you can compete for two hours.’ I asked him if he thought it was a good idea and he said he did.”
Grimmett had a simple reason for thinking it was a good idea.
“We got a chance to do this when it wasn’t a traditional sport. I always like to try things,” he said. “But if it isn’t difficult, I just get bored.”
The Plymouth senior then talked a buddy into joining him in his quest. McMillen signed on very shortly after Grimmett started.
“It’s something different that no one else does. As much as it sounds like it sucks it’s really great,” said McMillen laughing. “I know it sounds like a lot of work for just one day but it really was great. It feels good.”
The pair would lift nine times a week, starting in the early winter to prepare for that one competition.
“The whole idea when we trained was to go to the Indiana State Championships,” said Samuelson.
That meant the pair had to join USA Weightlifting, a division of the United States Olympic Committee, in order to compete. After that, it was just sweat — and learning the technique.
“There are two different kinds of lifts; the first is the clean and jerk,” said Grimmett. “The jerk is kind of like a push press. You jump with it and use your body movement to get it up rather than your arms. The other is a snatch where you are pulling the bar from a wide grip to above your head.”
After months of training the pair went into competition at Crown Point seeing just how they fared against some of the state’s best in Olympic lifting.
“There were guys in their 70s lifting; some were younger. There were all sorts of different levels of experience,” said Samuelson. “The guy who won their weight class — who really won the whole competition — was a national champion.”
Each lifter successfully completed four of their six required lifts. McMillen finished with a two-lift total of 203 kg. He finished in fifth place overall, and second in his age bracket (17-19 years old). Grimmett lifted a total 176 kg in his two-lift total. He finished in eighth place overall, and third in his age bracket.
Another “team” member didn’t compete at Crown Point but is excited about working toward future competitions.
“Sam Frias has spent most of the winter training with us, but he didn’t feel real confident,” said Samuelson. “He doesn’t have three years of weight training behind him like these guys and I think that’s why. These guys can get away with it because they are strong. You can tell they are retooled football players. That strength helps them get past the things they haven’t perfected in technique.”
Both McMillen and Grimmett want to see the “team” continue and both will continue themselves.
“I like to work out,” said Grimmett. “But you don’t really have to be a great athlete to do it. I’m not a real natural athlete, but I do have some natural strength. It just doesn’t apply that much in sports. It’s something I’ve always liked. I’m going to keep at it, independently.”
Grimmett plans on going to Indiana State University but hasn’t decided on a certain field of study.
McMillen will attend Trine University in the fall. He will play football and study marketing. He said, “This taught me that the little things mean a lot,” he said. “You might feel tired and like you’re not going to get a whole lot done that day and it turns into a great lift.”
