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June 21, 2008

Sunday Special: Union Hospital’s Sports Performance Plus gives Vigo County athletes a chance to elevate their game

By Andy Amey

TERRE HAUTE — A visit a few years ago by members of Terre Haute South’s high school track and field team to an Indianapolis sports performance enhancement facility has blossomed into a similar facility in Terre Haute.

Sports Performance Plus, an offshoot of Union Hospital’s Center for Fitness & Performance, has yet to celebrate its six-month anniversary. But athletes involved in its pilot program have already noticed results.

Zach Jenkins, a high jumper and middle-distance runner who recently graduated from Terre Haute North, was one of those chosen in January as sort of a test subject, and he said recently that he noticed differences in his performance “from the first track meet [of the spring].

“I jumped 6-feet [at that meet],” Jenkins added. “I’d gone 6-2 before, but in previous seasons I’d started really slow. [Training at Sports Performance Plus] made me very consistent … and it made me a lot faster. It really helped my knee drive when I was running. [Speed training] helped with my [running] form, and [plyometric training] helped me in high jump.”

“I immediately started seeing dropped times indoors [in early track meets],” said South’s Brianne Steppe.

Steppe recently completed a junior season that was the best of her career so far. “It helped my hurdling form the most. It had always been hard for me to transition from cross country to track, but [the training] helped my flexibility.”

“During track season this year, I could tell the [Sports Performance Plus] kids from the kids who had not been in the program,” said Rayetta Minton, who is Director of Wellness and Fitness Services at Union but who was also coaching at West Vigo during the past spring. “Only going through the beginning of Sports Performance … their performance was ahead of the game, from muscle strength and endurance to flexibility.”

Sports Performance Plus has two separate programs: a speed development program, directed primarily by Jeff Martin, and a plyometrics and agility program, directed primarily by Craig Gillaspy.

Using state-of-the-art equipment and computer analysis — both Martin and Gillaspy have studied biomechanics with Al Finch, Indiana State’s internationally known expert in that field — the two programs get results by improving the form and mechanics of the athletic movements involved in addition to improving strength and conditioning. There is also pre- and post-testing that shows the athletes how they’re progressing.

“There’s a lot of different equipment and a lot of proper technique work,” Gillaspy explained recently. “We’re going to improve [the athletes’] performance — mechanics is the biggest thing — and we’re going to make them stronger.”

“It’s a great opportunity for any level athlete to improve themselves,” said Martin. “We know it’s improving talent; we see it through the testing we do.”

Martin had trained at Acceleration Indiana while in high school, and worked at that facility while competing in track and field at Indiana State.

When he became South’s track coach a few years ago, he took a group of his athletes — including middle-distance runner Eric Doerr — to show them what the facility offered.

Eric Doerr’s father is Dave Doerr, chief executive officer at Union. He was impressed with what he saw at Acceleration Indiana, and asked Martin if he thought there would be a market for such a facility in Terre Haute. About a year ago the business proposal was written, and eventually approved by Union Hospital’s board of directors.

The pilot group of approximately 10 athletes, including Jenkins and Steppe, started working out in January, and the program is gradually expanding to include athletes throughout the Wabash Valley.

“Coach Martin handed out fliers [at South],” said Steppe. “I’d heard about the program at Indianapolis, but I figured, ‘If it’s local, why not stay local?’

“It’s not rudimentary,” she added, “and it’s customized to your needs. If you’ve had a hard practice [at school], for example, they’ll let you do a less strenuous workout.”

But if a hard workout is necessary, that’s certainly a possibility too. Gillaspy, also a former collegiate track and field athlete and currently an assistant track coach at North, mentioned that the pilot group — all chosen because they were pretty good athletes to begin with — often felt the need to have a wastebasket handy while doing their workouts.

“It’s not that much fun,” Jenkins agreed with a laugh.

But it seems to be working.

“Comparing the quickness and agility of the Sports Performance athletes versus the norm is where you see the Sports Performance program work,” Minton said. “From a coaching standpoint, I would have given anything to have this program in place for my volleyball and track teams.”

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