The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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  • Owatonna hockey player Aimee Goodew tries the Sports Institute’s hockey treadmill for the first time as Jake Heisler (left) coaches her through the process. Waiting their turn in the background are Taylor Disher (left) and Chris Goodew. Pat Christman

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  • Former University of Wisconsin hockey player Jake Heisler demonstrates the hockey treadmill at the Sports Institute athletic fitness center at Madison East Center. Pat Christman

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May 10, 2007

Sports Institute to keep athletes skating

Training facility focuses on fitness, performance enhancement

Shane Frederick

MANKATO — The machine almost looks medieval, with the racks and harnesses and all. But any torture taking place on southern Minnesota’s first hockey treadmill is strictly voluntary.

“Shane (Bowyer) hit it on the head when he found this,” said Craig Fritz, performance director for Sports Institute, an athletic training center opening this week at Madison East Center.

Bowyer, the Sports Institute’s majority owner, said he’s had an interest in starting a training facility in Mankato for several years.

“Finally, the timing was just right,” he said.

For one thing, there was a need for the hockey treadmill, he said. Several area hockey players have traveled to the Twin Cities to use similar treadmills in the offseason. The machine’s skating surface is made of synthetic material that allows users to wear their regular ice skates as they work on endurance and stride technique.

“One parent told me he spent over $400 just in gas going to the Cities last summer,” Bowyer said.

Several local hockey coaches got a demonstration recently of Sports Institute’s treadmill and programs.

“It’s going to be very nice to have around here,” Waseca boys coach Aaron Anderson said. “For high school athletes who have that drive or are thinking about being college athletes, it will be nice. ... If I were a hockey player, I’d be paying my money already.”

While the hockey treadmill is the 6,000-square-foot facility’s centerpiece, the business will focus on many activities, with general and sports-specific programs that emphasize athletes’ speed, power and agility.

This isn’t personal training, said Fritz, who was a trainer and physical therapist at Queen of Peace hospital in New Prague and put on performance camps in Le Sueur before joining Bowyer.

“It’s designed on athletic performance,” Fritz said. “It’s not about how your body looks; it’s about making you more powerful and quicker.”

Sports Institute has free weights, running treadmills, a batting cage, a half basketball court, golf swing platforms and artificial turf. It also features a video analysis program called Dartfish that gives before-and-after looks at various athletic skills.

Bowyer and Fritz said their programs are geared toward college and high school athletes, as well as “average Joes and weekend warriors.”

“We can analyze your golf swing or help you hit a softball farther,” Fritz said.

On May 19, Sports Institute will hold a High School Football Combine that will measure different benchmarks and send the results to college coaches around the Midwest.

Anderson expects that hockey players won’t be far behind, lining up to get on the treadmill.

“I have five or six kids that will probably come look at it,” he said. “It’s pretty cool.”

Sports Institute will have its official grand opening today.

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