Program Gets Results

New Training For Runners Focuses On Winning

Hannah Sharum, from right, 16, of Springdale, Amanda Dillon, 16, of Springdale and Laura Arnold, 17, of Springdale, exercise on Jan. 10 at Power Up.
Hannah Sharum, from right, 16, of Springdale, Amanda Dillon, 16, of Springdale and Laura Arnold, 17, of Springdale, exercise on Jan. 10 at Power Up.

— Gwynth Gifford sat on a plyo box with her feet dangling above the ground and a permanent grin on her face.

“I use to only be able to do the second box, but now I can jump on the third,” said the 10-year-old tennis player, beaming with pride. “We do fun exercises.”

This is a typical evening at the Power Up Club in Fayetteville. Children as young as eight years old jump over mini hurdles, practice quick feet on the agility ladder and much more while having a great time.

Mike Trexler opened the Power Up Club in July for athletes from eight years old to 18. But this isn't your typical after school recreational center.

“We provide high level sports training that's safe and effective for kids,” Trexler said. “Instead of just learning how to play sports through doing drills, we do skill development where they can run faster, jump higher and last longer.”

Three years ago at age 50, Trexler earned All-American honors in the USA Track and Field Master's Division in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.73 seconds. Incorporate that with a master's in exercise science from Georgia Southern University, a Ph.D. in health promotion, education and wellness from the University of South Carolina, and Liz Dillon says Trexler is the perfect trainer for her 12- and 15-year-old daughters.

“You just don't find that kind of experience very often,” Dillon said. “He understands the athletic side and the scientific side. And he understands that kids have to be encouraged. So you put all that together and you have the right combination.”

Trexler is also constantly looking for safer and more effective ways to train the youth. And because he can't always find it, he is currently working on redeveloping the equipment to do so.

“It's going to revolutionize sports training,” Trexler said. “I've been doing this for a long time, and the equipment isn't appropriate for kids.”

Trexler also works hard to make training programs that are unique to each child's sport.

“He tailors some of the exercises to her sport for tennis,” said Michelle Gifford, Gwynth's mother. “Since Gwynth has been here, she has been in two tennis tournaments and has performed fantastic in both tournaments.”

While Trexler's greatest passion is training kids to become the best possible athletes, his love for track and field isn't far behind. Because of that, he has also made the facility home to the Power Up Club track team.

In the short time the team has been in existence, it has already found success. The club recently traveled to Oral Roberts University in Tulsa and won every event it was entered in.

A few weeks ago, Amanda Dillon, 15, placed fifth out of 168 girls from all over the country in the 400-meter race at a track meet in Texas. She also had the fastest time of any girl from Arkansas in the past nine years.

“The girls have had other coaches and trainers,” her mother Liz Dillon said. “We started seeing real success when we got with Mike.”

Trexler admits that Power Up isn't for everyone, but it isn't limited to natural-born athletes. With Trexler's training, he believes anyone can become a great athlete.

And while the goal is to become stronger, faster and increase endurance, Trexler says there is still an overall theme he adheres to.

“We focus on winning,” Trexler says. “If they want to be in a rec center program, they don't join this program. If they want to say, 'Let's go play for fun,' that's fine.

“You know what I say is fun? Winning.”

Know of an interesting community sports story? Let us know by emailing the Northwest Arkansas Newspapers sports department at [email protected].

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