After sweaty morning workouts in the sun, athletes fill into the weights room to work on building endurance for the demanding outdoor training. Inside, teens sprint down a newly added turf course and pass a newly painted mural. Peering into the workout room, pounds of metal plates burden football junior Devyn Davis’ back as he lifts unprecedented M-tailored weights, a recent staple of the summer weight room renovation project.
The wall mural, turf hallway, and weights are pieces to bigger aspirations that President Phil Baniweicz has to enhance the school’s public perception.
“Bishop Miege has such a great reputation around excellence and championships, but then if you walk into some of our things, like the locker rooms for instance, they don’t look very championship level,” Baniweicz said. “They were kind of in need of some upgrades.”
All athletes and students in fitness classes get the chance to utilize the additions. As a school team lineman, one of the ways that Davis has taken advantage of the equipment is by building strength with preferred rubber plates.
“I have enjoyed the new weights most of all because I love metal plates and all, but I just have a better lifting experience with rubber plates,” Davis said. “It’s easier to handle and I have a better grip on them.”
Davis prioritizes muscle building for his position, but football boys can also work on their individual position-based training with the synthetic turf built into the hallway this summer. The stretched-out lines provide space to do yard dashes and weighted sled pulling without the implication of hot temperatures or rainy days getting in the way.
“It was definitely necessary to add the turf so that we can work on just getting off the ball with a good push against other defense,” Davis said. “We are trying to break the line of scrimmage, and then speed-wise for our skills, it helps the guys’ quads and hammies when they train with better force, regardless of the weather.”
Another area of the fitness renovations falls under visual aesthetics with the intentional wall mural right outside of the locker rooms.
Football senior captain Finn Cusick took time to acknowledge the Miege alumni pictured.
“I feel like sometimes people just focus on the big stuff instead of big people, like the ones on the wall,” Cusick said. “All of the guys painted are considered some of the all-time greats, and they show how far Miege can take you further in life.”
The four athletes featured include former MLB star, Minnesota NFL prospect Danny Jackson, Stanford NBA prospect Spencer Jones and Notre Dame player Carter Putz. Featured above these players is coach Dave Doeren, who has Miege alumni connections and is going on his 13th season of coaching.
According to Banieweicz, building onto both interior and exterior facilities is intended to persuade considering Miege students and families.
“When people drive past our school or go to one of our facilities, I want them to go, “Wow, this is a great place,” Banieweicz said. “If you walk into our gym right now, you walk in and think we need to have that all over the place. So there are multiple things I want to do overtime to have the entire school have that feeling all over the place.”
Improvement recommendations filter from staff and coach requests that then get discussed by the Board of Trustees. Banieweicz prides himself on orchestrating these wants with granted funding and turning them into reality.
“What I’m all about is that it doesn’t matter how good we are right now,” Baniewicz said. “Can we take another step forward, can we get better? If so, I’ll always keep pushing for the future.”
