Grace VanderWaag ’26 Ryan Wen ’27
This year, Episcopal Academy’s athletic department has undergone several updates in both the weight room and athletic training office to provide student-athletes with better tools to maximize their potential. Episcopal is home to an extremely competitive student-athlete body. However, their success doesn’t solely depend upon their sport-specific training. As athletes push their bodies to perform at their best, proper strength training, nutrition, and recovery outside of practices become increasingly essential to stay competitive at the highest level. Not only are they crucial for an athlete’s performance, but they also ensure athletes can stay injury-free. As the level of talent and competition continues to rise in the Inter-Ac, so too will the need for top-end facilities that will allow athletes to perform at their best year-round.
Students across all teams at EA have long recognized the importance of proper strength training and recovery. Co-captain of the girl’s soccer team, Caitlin McCarthy ’26, shares how the things she does behind the scenes have helped her excel as an athlete, as well as her thoughts on these new updates, stating, “I really do think that things like strength training have helped me a lot. I also spend lots of my own time making sure I’m recovering the right way, so having more options at school has been really nice.” McCarthy, like many other athletes at Episcopal, views recovery as a vital part of her training rather than an added bonus.
The appreciation for doing all the little things right, like recovering efficiently, is a sentiment that Curtis Conner ’26 also shares. “When you are practicing daily, it really is important to do the small things—stretching, ice baths, and sleep—so that you don’t get injured. If I don’t do those things, I’m left feeling drained and fatigued. My training then feels like it is not making as much of an impact as I would like it to, and it becomes much harder to perform at my best when it really counts,” he says. Needless to say, taking the steps to recover before an injury occurs will ensure the longevity of an athlete’s performance and career.
One step the athletic department took this year takes place in the athletic training office with the addition of the recovery room. This project involved a partnership with Hyperice, a company that specializes in muscle recovery. From electronic foam rollers to compression boots, the new additions provide athletes with some of the very same tools that world-class athletes incorporate in their own routines. These tools aid an athlete’s recovery process in a myriad of different ways. Athletic trainer VJ Crouse explains, “Some tools are specialized in heating and massaging different areas, and others are specialized in helping the blood return to the heart via compression, which helps with lactic acid buildup and in turn helps students recover quicker.” These advancements not only aid performance but also teach athletes how to take care of their bodies as the intensity levels rise throughout their careers.
Although the recovery room is a recent addition, its new amenities have already received positive feedback from athletes and coaches alike. Crouse shares, “Many people who use it have told me and Julia that you know they feel better afterwards and feel like their legs are back under them quicker.” Similarly, McCarthy says, “I’ve already spent a lot of time there. I definitely notice a difference during games and tougher practices.”
Another way the athletic department is supporting the needs and goals of the athletes is through a complete makeover of the Weight Room. This renovation includes brand new squat racks from Hammer Strength, new dumbbells, and new cardio equipment machines. Along with updated equipment, the space was rearranged to maximize functionality, ensuring that numerous athletes can reap the benefits of our strength and conditioning program. The Director of Strength and Conditioning of Atlas Peak Performance, Alex Diggory—whose company oversees all EA varsity team workouts—claims, “It’s really gonna start to look and feel like a top-tier strength and conditioning facility here.”
Athletic Director Todd Fairlie describes the goal of the project, stating, “For quite a while, we were looking to upgrade just based on a couple of concerns. One was just the age of the equipment… and we felt like we could maximize the space a little better with a different setup and then be more productive in terms of how many kids we can get through there.” Diggory adds, “while the racks that were here were good, they were just set up in a way that wasn’t really conducive to having large groups in at one time.” Head Boys Track and Field Coach, Zachary Richards, shares his thoughts on the new space and what it will do for our teams, stating, “The new weight room can definitely handle more kids at a time, so you can bring your whole team in. So, from a whole team perspective, I think it’s awesome.”
These recent improvements reflect the care that the athletic department as a whole, from weight room trainers to athletic directors, has repeatedly demonstrated towards optimizing athletic performance. In the weight room, workouts are carefully tailored for each team’s specific needs. “You’re not going to train a cross-country runner how you train a football player and vice versa,” says Diggory. This level of customization ensures that every athlete receives training that is both relevant and safe, ultimately reducing injury risk and improving results.
With every sport, trainers not only take into consideration its specific needs but also the training load athletes already experience. For instance, when creating a workout routine for the water polo team, Diggory says, “We have to take into account the fact that they’re using their legs to tread water, so we’re not going to do too much in terms of volume load with them because they’re already using their legs a ton. With them, we might only be doing 10 total reps in a squat. Maybe it’s six. It’s not going to be anything crazy.”
Similarly, weight room coaches work with team coaches to ensure athletes are tapering properly for important events. When the girl’s cross country team had a major race scheduled for the coming weekend, for instance, weight room coaches pivoted from their planned workout to one without weights instead. These kinds of adjustments are crucial for both avoiding injury and burnout.
Changes in the weight room and athletic trainers’ office alike serve as a reminder of the athletic department’s continued dedication toward developing high-performing and well-rounded athletes. Crouse concludes, “The message that we’re trying to send is that we really are big on mind, body, and spirit at Episcopal and helping students achieve all their goals, whether that’s on the field or off the field. We’re big believers in making sure everybody has equal opportunity to reach their potential.” Episcopal is positioning its athletes to not only compete but also thrive. These updates will not only serve current students, but they also lay the foundation for the future.
