Augusta, Ga- When the Alvin and Paulette Harris Sports Performance Center opened before the start of the first semester at Augusta University, most everyone knew it would be a game changer for student-athletes. They now had a dedicated space for them to get faster, stronger and more fit for their athletic seasons. Now, after a full semester of its utilization, the student-athletes are seeing the dividends.
 
Under the director of Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Jacob Topple, the hard work of adding to the current program they had is paying off. It wasn't difficult to sell the student-athletes.
 
"Our job in the sports performance department is to build the athlete right," said Topple.


 
He also said there's been buy in from everyone from the top down from day one. He likes what everyone's been able to accomplish so far and knows there's more to come.
 
Topple added most athletes came in with a basic understanding of strength and conditioning. For those who might not have, at this point you would be hard pressed to tell them from an experienced competitor as they've learned the proper way to use the facility to their advantage.
 
"It's like they get it, but they don't. And over time, it's like one day they come in and it just clicks," said Topple. "It's like riding a bike. Now, they'll never forget it and they kind of don't realize that they had it in them."
 
For the athletes themselves, they can see a difference the performance center has already made.
 
"I think every other sport has noticed differences," said baseball player Jake Vachon. "My performance numbers have gone up drastically. I feel a lot healthier after a big lift compared to previous years."
 
Topple has also talked about how student-athletes now realize you need to build up during the entire year, both in season and off season, so you can be at your peak when it's championship time.
 
While there is an overall level of building the athletes up, there are also specific nuances for each sport that need to be in focus.
 
"The differences are going to be maybe some of the prehab exercises that we do. So, there's going to be a lot more attention to the foot, ankle and knees stability component for a volleyball player than there is for a golfer, where we may be paying a lot more attention to the hips," said Topple. "For our baseball players, there may be very general terms of what we are doing on the lifting side, but our warm-ups and speed development might look a little different."
 
"He gives us a structured plan, coaches us on eating properly and encourages us to get stronger, get our weight up and that's amazing," said Vachon.
 
As the year goes along, he knows things will even get better.
 
"We've added some new technology that we're really excited to break out next semester that's going to take our training and our testing and our athlete management to the next level," said Topple. "To be able to dial in and dive deeper into some recovery and programming and load management things, and the addition of the nutrition station that's being put together, will build up to making it really what it needs to be to operate at the highest level."
 
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