Hokie ClubMike Gentry, Tech’s associate ADfor athletic performance, and his staff concluded strength and conditioningtesting for the football team before spring break, and James Gayle earned thehighest honor handed out by the staff.
Gayle, a rising redshirt sophomorefrom Hampton, Va., earned the Excalibur Award, which takes into account hismarks in the four major lifts (bench press, front squat, power clean and pushjerks) and five conditioning tests (40-yard dash, 10-yard sprint, 20-yardshuttle run, sit-reach test and vertical jump). The 6-foot-4, 251-pounderrecorded a 420-pound bench and a 420-pound front squat. He finished with a341-pound push jerk, and he set the defensive ends record in the power cleanwith a 366-pound lift. He had a 38-inch vertical jump and ran the 40 in 4.45.
Gayle was one of 11 Hokies to earnSuper Iron status in the strength and conditioning program. The rest includeVinston Painter, David Wang, Josh Oglesby, Riley Beiro, Joey Phillips, MarkCarter, D.J. Coles, Marcus Davis, Telvion Clark and Wiley Brown.