As we all know, Elder grad Kyle Rudolph, just signed his five year, $36,500,000 contract at the end of July. After signing the contract, he plans to renovate Elder’s strength and conditioning room. Elder’s strength and conditioning coach Adam Rankin told me that a few years back he told Rudolph he wanted to make some changes in the weight room. Immediately after Coach Rankin said this, Rudolph was quick to respond with a “Once I get my contract, I’ll take care of it.”

This was a shock to Coach Rankin and it took him by surprise. Coach told me he thought that Rudolph was joking with him. He also stressed that he did not push Rudolph into doing this because “Kyle is an amazing kid and loves Elder.”

Rankin then went on to say that he has 4-5 different price packages that Rudolph can choose from. I asked Rankin how long this will take and when this will take place and he said, “Probably next summer and it may take from 1-2 months.”

After being asked if the weight room will be moved, Rankin told me it will not be moved. I asked one of my fellow classmates, Jake Smith, who is in the strength room frequently on what he thinks of all this and he responded with , “I think it’s cool that an Elder grad would give back to his alma mater like he is doing.”

And then he added, “We are very lucky to have Kyle in the Elder community because he is and can be a role model to us all.”

The weight room is a place for Elder’s student athletes to come together and get stronger physically and mentally preparing for their opponents. With the new equipment and renovations taken place, it will enable all Elder students to get a better, safer workout. It will help us achieve our ultimate goal as we pursue Altiora and strive for the higher things.