Mitch Ward
CFL.ca
TORONTO — Wilfrid Laurier running back Mike Montoya kicked Saturday’s E-Camp testing off in style by smashing an E-Camp record with 40 repetitions in the Bench Press.
The previous record of 33 was set back in 2007 by current Alouette J.P. Bekasiak. That mark was matched twice this morning by Manitoba’s Eddie Steele and Montreal’s Joash Gesse before Montoya decided to go seven better.
Montoya’s big effort in the bench was just one of many highlights during an exciting day of testing.
Bishop’s wide receiver Steven Turner came just a half-inch shy of breaking his former teammate Jamall Lee’s record in the vertical jump with a 43.5 inch leap. Turner also tied for the best broad jump of the day at 10 feet 4.5 inches and was the leading receiver with 20 reps on the bench.
Montoya carried his success on the bench into the afternoon session and led all running backs with a vertical leap of 35 inches. Anthony Woodson led the RBs in the broad jump at 9 feet 9.5 inches.
Amongst the linebackers Cory Greenwood led the way in the broad and vertical jumps with leaps of 10 feet 4.5 inches and 44 inches respectively. Joash Gesse led the LBs in strength testing by putting up 33 reps on the bench.
At QB Danny Brannagan from Queen’s pushed up an impressive 19 reps on the bench while Erik Glavic led the way in both jump tests.
Montreal Carabin Hamid Mahmoudi led the DBs with 20 reps on the bench but did not participate in either of the jump tests. Cauchy Muamba of the St. FX X-Men led the way there with a 10 foot 1.5 inch broad jump and a 39 inch vertical.
The big men also had some impressive feats of athleticism as Wilfrid Laurier’s Chima Ihekwoaba had the second best vertical leap of the day at 41 inches and a 9 foot 7.5 inch broad jump to lead all defensive lineman. Steele was the top D-lineman in the bench press with 33 reps.
As for the biggest men in attendance 309-pound Joe Eppele out of Washington St. led the Offensive linemen in the bench with 28 reps and in the vertical leap with a 36” jump. Waterloo’s Joel Reinders was the O-line’s top performer in the broad with a 9 foot 1 inch leap. Not bad for the heaviest man at E-Camp at 316 pounds.
If today was any indication of things to come tomorrow should be just as exciting as the players will test in the 40-yard dash, the shuttle and one-on-one drills.
