ELON, N.C. — The Elon baseball team recently completed its 2022 Omaha Challenge, a four-day competition featuring various strength and conditioning challenges led by program strength and conditioning coach Andrew Behnam.
The competitions were held from Nov. 14-17 at Alumni Field House, Hunt and Tucker practice fields and Walter C. Latham Park. Joe Savino captained his team of Spencer Bauer, Tristan Corcoran, Sam DiLella, Andrew DiMisa, Christo Garrelts, Parker Haskin, Justin Mitrovich and Lawson Wheeler to victory, rallying from a last-place finish on Day 1.
DAY 1
The competition started off strong Monday, with teams being tasked with carrying a trap bar (315 pounds), a sandbag (125 pounds), a kettlebell (100 pounds), four plates (25 pounds each) and a teammate as they traversed roughly a mile from Alumni Field House to Latham Park and back.
The team that posted the fastest time earned 20 points, while the teams that took second, third and fourth received 15, 10 and zero, respectively.
This challenge was both physically and mentally taxing and emphasized communication. Ultimately, the team of Nicholas Carr, Liam Dabagian, Alex Duffey, Matt Haggerty, Bryce Jeske, Troy McGirt, Sean O'Connell, Connor Offshack and Will Vergantino worked together the best and came out on top.
DAY 2
The most grueling day of the Challenge by far, Day 2 began with a pancake race in which every player on each team carried two 10-pound plates, two 25-pound plates and four 45-pound plates to the opposite end of the Alumni Field House strength and conditioning room and stacked them.
After a brief rest, the teams then hopped on airdyne bikes to see which group could burn the most calories in 10 minutes. Every team member had to bike at least one minute each, although not consecutively.
When the day was all said and done, Savino and Co. came away with a massive doubleheader sweep.
DAY 3
The teams returned to the Alumni Field House strength and conditioning room on Wednesday, where they opened the day with a push-up challenge. Mason Abromitis, Justin Cassella, Ethan Haislip, Sam Nomura, Cole Reynolds, Ben Sieracki, Ben Simon, Shea Sprague and Carson Wehner emerged victorious after reaching the assigned benchmark of 550 team push-ups the fastest.
After that, each team picked one player to participate in a surprise event – which turned out to be a 90-degree-hang challenge. Willie Havens earned his team its first win by hanging from the pull-up bar the longest.
Things then got really interesting. After walking out to Hunt and Tucker practice fields, the teams gathered in a circle and each sent one representative into the middle, where they put on taped-up goggles to shield their vision. Agility bags were subsequently scattered throughout the circle, and on Behnam's whistle, the players were tasked with finding a bag and hitting one of their opponents with it, securing a team point in the process.
The challenge went 10 rounds, with Vergantino's team ultimately prevailing in sudden-death overtime.
The Omaha Challenge isn't just fun and games, though. Upon the completion of the agility bag game, teams participated in an isometric lunge challenge. All nine players on each team competed simultaneously, trying to keep their back knees one inch off the ground and their hands on their heads for as long as possible. The team whose player(s) stayed in that position the longest won. As it turned out, it proved to be a member of Team Savino both times, as DiLella won the initial bout and DiMisa took the second to put the group way out in front entering the Challenge's final day.
DAY 4
The fourth and final day of the Challenge also marked the earliest, as players reported to Alumni Field House at 6 a.m. Thursday. With the temperature hovering around 30 degrees, they then headed back to Hunt and Tucker practice fields for their last test: the prowler moving company challenge.
Each team started with an empty sled and pushed it back and forth across the field twice before running up the hill toward Rudd Field to grab a plate and then placing it on the sled. Teams repeated this activity nine times. When getting the plates, all nine team members had to be touching each other, further ensuring they all work together.
Despite its nearly insurmountable lead, Team Savino did anything but coast. The group led almost wire to wire, putting the finishing touch on an incredible week.