Geoff Folsom / SpokesmanRidgeview students stretch in preparation for Guy Millington’s strength and agility class.

Guy Millington would put Ridgeview High School’s weight room against any facility in Oregon. It allows up to 60 kids to work out at a time with room to move around.

But the school still needs to get athletes to use it, and their time can be short with after-school practice schedules, said Millington, the school’s physical education and health teacher. So 165 students, most of them athletes, work out as part of four daily classes.

“The biggest difference is that kids can come in here and do their workout and they don’t have to put time in after school,” Millington said.

Students lift weights using 21 Olympic bars and nine training bars, but weightlifting isn’t all they do. They also are required to take challenges in running and other activities.

Last week, students completed the “teen Murph,” which begins and ends with 800-meter runs. Between the sprints, they have to complete 50 pullups, 100 pushups and 150 squats. They will have to complete the full Murph — a workout popular in CrossFit — at the end of the 12-week trimester, which doubles those tasks.

“It’s all high-intensity training we do,” Millington said. “I’m not looking to build bodybuilders, I’m looking to build the best athletes we can.”

The strength and agility classes allow Ridgeview to maximize its resources, said Andy Codding, the school’s athletic director and head football coach.

“I consider him to be the best strength and conditioning coach around,” he said of Millington. “We’ve got a great facility and it’s just a matter of getting kids to use it.”

The program has shown results — most notably with the Ravens’ 2013 Class 4A football state championship in the school’s second year of existence, Millington said.

“We had a core group of 15 to 18 guys who were continually in here all the time,” he said. “It made a big difference when those guys are bigger, stronger, faster on the field.”

Current athletes also find the training effective. Senior basketball player Garret Albrecht, 17, said he has increased the amount of weight he can bench press by 30 pounds, his squats by 50 pounds and his vertical leap by 4 inches just since the last trimester.

“I’ve definitely gotten a lot stronger this year,” he said. “Some of my teammates are in the class, and we can definitely see the improvement. It definitely helps with confidence and the ability to compete out on the floor.”

Freshman Emma Salka, who plays volleyball, basketball and softball at Ridgeview, appreciates being able to train during the school day.

“If I had to do it after class, I wouldn’t do it,” said Emma, 14. “This class motivates me and keeps me going.”

“And you compete with people,” added junior softball player Alex Spencer, 17.

The class offers a change of pace from the rest of the day, said football wide receiver and linebacker Shayne Sensenbach, a 17-year-old senior.

“It gives me something to look forward to because it’s kind of a stress reliever, it helps me relax,” he said. “I don’t have to focus as hard as with an English class or something.”

Millington is an effective teacher, Emma said.

“He pushes us to our breaking point and past that,” she said. “He definitely makes the class a lot more fun.”

Though Emma could do without the music played in the class, which Millington describes as a mixture of ’80s metal, cleaned-up rap songs and some classic rock like Creedence Clearwater Revival and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

“It’s not motivational music,” Emma argued. “It’s just noise.”

— Reporter: 541-548-2186, gfolsom@redmondspokesman.com