Two days after defending his Class 6A state powerlifting title, Justin Verner moved swiftly through the hallway in the Columbus High School field house, working his way to his locker.
“Gotta get to track practice,” he said before ducking around a corner.
The district track meet starts today, and Verner wants to throw the shot put at least 45 feet.
What, no day off?
Not for the school”s strongest student, a three-sport athlete. He”s as busy as ever, and he likes it that way. It keeps him focused on the right things in life, and gives him another reason to make the right decisions in life, in the classroom.
Minutes later, he emerges from the locker room in new clothes and is bouncing around the infield, joking with teammates and preparing for the debut of his third sport of the 2010-11 school year.
It”s this dedication and commitment to Falcons” sports that allowed Verner to be named The Dispatch”s Player of the Week.
Verner, a junior, has become one of the major faces of Columbus High athletics, a leader in the weight room and locker room, on the football field and in the infield.
“He”s one of our better athletes, no matter what sport he participates in,” Columbus High football coach Tony Stanford said. “He”s on that top level.”
He”s no gentle giant, but Verner doesn”t flex his biceps around the school, either. He comes off as reserved, knowing that in front of his teammates and at home he”s quite the prankster. He”ll run and jump into his mother”s bedroom and ask her, playfully, “Hey momma, what you doin”?”
“Yeah, he”s a jokester,” said his mom.
In the school”s hallways, curious schoolmates peck him with questions:
“How do you do it?”
He just does, thanks to hard work.
“How much do you lift?”
Pick several appliances around your house and put them all on a metal rod.
“What are you taking?”
“I don”t take anything,” he says. “I just work hard and do what I got to do.”
Verner, 17, has worked to transform his baby fat into muscle. Three years ago, he was a chubby, 240-pound eighth grader, his mom said.
“Then he started losing the weight and slimmed up,” Renee Verner said.
He started from scratch, lifting just 125 pounds on his first bench press. On Saturday, he bench pressed 340.
Even his powerlifting coach learned something about Verner last weekend. Verner attempted 600 pounds in his third and last squat attempt. Something happened, and he slipped, the weight nearly fell on him.
“Everybody thought he was out for the rest of the meet,” coach Brandon Brown said.
Not a chance.
“Coach, I”mma finish this,” Verner said. “I”mma win it.”
Verner then increased his bench press and dead lift to earn a combined lift of 1,520 pounds and another gold medal.
Two down, one more to go.
“The most impressive thing about him is he stays hungry,” Brown said. “When a young guy sees success early, sometimes success makes them lazy. They get complacent. With him, I never saw it in him. He”s hungry. He”s thirsty for more.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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