Yaple Earns "Iron Warrior of the Year" Award
Honors Lycoming Football's Best All-Around Athlete

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. --- Lycoming College sophomore Ryan Yaple (Stillwater, Pa./Northwest), a linebacker on the Warrior football team, earned a unique honor during the squad’s most recent off-season conditioning program.  In a competition open to all of his blue and gold teammates, Yaple was tabbed the 2006 Iron Warrior of the Year.

The award is based on a series of points throughout several sections of the Warrior off-season program including weightlifting, running, and agility drills.  The system is set up to reward all-around athletes, not just the fastest or strongest.

Listed at 5’11”, 210 pounds during the past season, Yaple’s results are quite impressive.  Lycoming monitors three lifts for the competition: the bench press, squat, and clean.  He smashed the 1,000-pound barrier lifting 340 pounds on the bench press, 565 pounds on the squat, and 305 pounds in the clean for a grand total of 1,210 pounds.

His running and agility marks were just as impressive.  He ripped off a time of 4.7 seconds in the 40-yard dash, and jetted through the shuttle run in 4.25 seconds.  He capped his performance by posting a 32.5 inch vertical leap.

“Ryan is one of our hardest working player’s with great potential,” said assistant coach A.C. Cruz who also runs the Warrior off-season program.  “I usually have the other players watch him lift so that they realize what form to use while working out.  He is what I would call a ‘total athlete.’  He can run, jump, and lift.  His improvement from his freshman season to last year proves that he transforms his efforts to the playing field.”

Yaple worked his way into the linebacker rotation on the Warriors’ defense this past season.  He made 12 total tackles with five of them coming from behind the line of scrimmage.  He also picked up a half a sack in the Warriors’ season-ending victory over Susquehanna University.

The graduation of Luke Sterling and Kevin LeSage leaves two openings in the Warriors’ linebacking corps.  Yaple’s hard work just may earn him one of those spots.