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Rice University Athletics
Owls Honored for Off-season work
8/5/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 5, 2007
Brian Raines took home the top prize, but as a team, the Rice Owls head into the start of preseason football practice as a stronger and more explosive unit, thanks to a dedicated approach to their summer conditioning program.
| Rice 2007 Power Index All Americans | |
| 718 | Brian Raines |
| 706 | George Chukwu |
| 700 | C.J. Ugokwe |
| 682 | Terrance Garmon |
| 668 | Jon Turner |
| 667 | Jarett Dillard |
| 657 | Tommy Henderson |
| 654 | Dietrich Davis |
| 639 | Chris Ptaszek |
| 638 | Andrew Sendejo |
| 637 | Tyler Smith |
| 637 | Bencil Smith |
| 631 | Travis Mason |
| 629 | Bio Bilaye-Benibo |
| 628 | Todd Mohr |
| 623 | Marcus Knox |
| 622 | Will Moss |
| 622 | Bubba Heard |
Yancy McKnight, Rice's Assistant AD for Performance Enhancement, handed out awards to recognize the top performers among the team during the summer conditioning work during a team meeting on Sunday in advance of Monday's opening practice.
The awards were based on a Power Index that is computed using each player's totals in three lifts (power clean, back squat and bench press) and his bodyweight . Any player who scores an index of 620 or better is named an All American, those who score from 570-619 are designated as All Conference.
The player with the highest score earns the title of "Elite Owl", and Raines took home the honor after posting a score of 718. The junior from Missouri City, bettered the mark of last year's Elite Owl, Quinton Smith, by 40 points, as did George Chukwu (706), C.J. Ugowke (700) and Terrance Garmon (682). All told, 18 Owls earned All American ranking, compared with just eight in 2006.
Raines cleaned 340 pounds, squatted 602 and bench pressed 352. He increased his combined total in the three lifts by 127 pounds while increasing his bodyweight from 210 to 225. Garmon and fellow sophomore Andrew Sendejo were singled out for their improvement over their freshman efforts.
Garmon increased his three-lift total by 271 pounds, improving his clean from 234 to 308; his squat from 405 to 517 and his bench press from 227 to 312 while added 12 pounds of bodyweight. He increased his Index score nearly 200 points (489 to 682). Sendejo increased his total in the three lifts by 208 pounds from his totals as a freshman, including increasing his clean from 252 to 330 and his bench press from 242 to to 317. His increased his Index score 106 points, from 532 last year to 638.
Junior defensive end Dietrich Davis increased his three-lift total by 117 pounds and raised his Index total 60 points, while sophomore running back Marcus Knox upped his total in the lifts by 115 pounds and his Index score by 47 points.
Also notable was the performance of incoming freshman Tyler Smith, who came within 41 points of his brother Quinton's team-leading total from last year, earning All American ranking. While weighing in at 189 pounds, he cleaned 252, squatted 502 and benched 302, posting an Index of 637.
McKnight noted that as a team, the Owls have 23 players who now clean over 300 pounds, compared with just 13 last year and 13 players recorded squats of better than 500 pounds, including a pair (Raines and Chukwu) who topped 600. Last season, only six players were able to top 500 pounds.
