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The University of Montevallo announced that its athletics weight room, Old Gym, recently received six weight racks and new turf to allow teams to train simultaneously in the facility for the first time. (Contributed/University of Montevallo Athletics)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MONTEVALLO – University of Montevallo student-athletes will now have new ways to train to be their best right from the comfort of campus.

The Montevallo athletic department announced that upgrades recently finished in the student-athlete weight room, known as the Old Gym, which help the facility stand out as one of the top spaces in Division II college athletics.

“With over 600 athletes, expanding the weight room was a must on our list,” Montevallo vice president for athletics and special programs Mark Richard said. “Thank you to our donors and university administration for helping us continue to excel and provide one of the best weight rooms in Division II.”

The strength and conditioning program added six new double-sided UM-branded weightlifting ranks to Old Gym, doubling its previous six racks for a total of 12 racks across the facility.

The university also took 2,500 square feet of unutilized space within the facility and added turf on it, which is also Montevallo purple. The addition allows for more field sports to train inside Old Gym as part of their strength and conditioning regimens.

With Montevallo now offering 21 men’s and women’s athletic programs thanks to the recent additions of men’s wrestling in 2023 and women’s acrobatics and tumbling in 2025, the university has more demand for student-athletes to use its facilities than ever before.

The additions to Old Gym allow multiple Falcons teams to simultaneously train in the facility for the first time ever. The university says the added capacity will help with more effective training and better scheduling since more athletes and teams can utilize Old Gym at once.

“These upgrades are going to be essential in our ability to effectively train all our teams,” Montevallo head strength and conditioning coach Blake Klotz said. “We can now train multiple teams at the same time, something we have not been able to do previously.”

The upgrades are now available to all Montevallo student-athletes as they work to become their best in their quest to add to the university’s growing trophy closet of national and conference championships.

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