Charger football team smashes record at 40th Annual Lift-a-thon

After 40 years of holding their annual Lift-a-thon fundraiser, you'd think the Hillsdale College football team would be hard-pressed to see it continue to grow, year after year.

Even with its long history as a successful fundraiser, however, the Lift-a-thon has done nothing but get bigger and bigger over the last few years, and the 2020 edition, held on Saturday in the JAM Weight Room in the lower level of the George C. Roche Sports Complex, was no exception.

The Chargers' original goal for 2020 was to match the record-setting total of roughly $35,000 set in 2019, but thanks to generous donor support, the team blew past that goal days before the actual event and had raised over $45,000 when the Lift-a-thon started on Saturday. 

With donations still coming in at the time of writing, the Chargers have raised $48,280 to go toward helping to maintain the Hillsdale College football program, shattering the previous record of $35,738 set last year.

The massive increase in donations has its roots in both increased alumni support and in technological advances over the last few years, said Nate Shreffler, who's the offensive coordinator for Hillsdale College and also in charge of the Lift-a-thon.

"Adding the ability for people to contribute online has really helped in the growth of the Lift-a-thon," Shreffler said. "Before, all the donations were solicited by players and collected either by mail or by hand, and making that process easier has allowed us to get more people donating than in years past.

"Streaming the event itself live online has also helped grow the event. It's a lot easier for people to follow along and be a part of the excitement even if they're not here in person, and I think that's created a lot of additional enthusiasm over the last couple of years."

Many of the donors are former Hillsdale College football players themselves, and that alumni support is something the Chargers don't take for granted, Shreffler said.

"It's really great to see guys who've graduated from here who still feel a connection to the program and who want to give back to the guys who are currently on the team," Shreffler said. "It means a lot to us as coaches to see that kind of support, and it's a sign of a healthy program to have that kind of link between former and current players."

Beyond the money raised, the event itself was a success in other ways for the Charger football team.

Coming in the time between winter break and the start of spring practice, the Lift-a-thon provides a chance for Charger players to showcase the work they've put in over the winter months.

Of the 67 Hillsdale players who participated in the event, 57 set or matched a personal best lift in the power clean, with 85 percent reaching or exceeding their PRs.

"Ever since they got back in mid-January, these guys have been killing it every day in the weight room," Shreffler said. "Having a chance to go out and show how far they've come thanks to the work they've been putting in definitely gets them fired up for this event."

More than half of the Chargers who participated lifted 270 or more pounds in the event, while 16 Hillsdale players had a lift exceeding 300 pounds.

Among those was redshirt freshman defensive back Josh Peroni, who had an event best lift of 310 pounds in the power clean to set a new Lift-a-thon record among participants weighing 185 pounds or less.

Defensive end Kyle Parran, competing in the 226-250 pound weight group, had the best overall lift of the day for the Chargers at 345 pounds.

The Lift-a-thon began in 1980 under legendary Hillsdale College football coach Dick Lowry, who saw it as a way to both raise money for the program and to help build team chemistry and trust between players during the long winter months between seasons.

Even with new technology and more money being raised, that inital goal still plays an important part for the Chargers in the event.

"I think the thing that stands out the most to me every year, more than what any guy lifts or whether or not a record is broken, is the energy in the room," Shreffler said. "The event ran for two hours on Saturday, and the team was cheering just as loud and with just as much intensity for the last group of guys as they were for the first.

"To have guys that care about each other and support each other like that, it's really important, and to see that every year from our players is special."

A list of weight class winners at the 2020 Lift-a-thon and important stats from the event are below:

2020 Liftathon Winners:

Photo: MaryKate Drews