By Frank Rajkowski, SJU Writer/Video Producer

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - Collin Trout has always had a pretty high threshold when it comes to what he's been able to physically absorb.

As a sophomore at Saint John's, the Cloquet High School graduate and current SJU senior, sprained an ankle just days prior to the MIAC Indoor Championships.

He competed in the triple jump nonetheless, placing third overall.

"I just taped that bad boy up and got after it," he recalls with pride.

That resiliency is why, with his senior season approaching, SJU jumps coach Joe Vardas elected to really challenge Trout this past offseason, reaching back into the Cold War to pull out a rigorous Soviet-era training program from behind the Iron Curtain.

The rigorous workout regimen called for Trout to lift over 32,000 pounds in a given week – almost entirely through jump squats.

"It was a lot of work at first," said Trout, who split the amount across four days, doing 225 pounds 36 times in each.

"I remember the first time I did it, my back felt really wobbly. But I just trusted in the process. It was a nine-week program and I actually did it twice, When I started the first time in October, it was really tough. But by the second time, I knew what to expect. So that made it a little more feasible at least."

The work has already proven worth it. 

Trout, who four times has earned All-Central Region distinction as a triple jumper, has finally cleared the big hump that remained in his path – qualifying for this weekend's NCAA Division III indoor national meet.

It marks his first nationals appearance indoor or outdoor. And he enters the competition ranked 13th in the nation with a leap of 14.52 meters recorded at a qualifying meet held at Wartburg (Iowa) March 7.

"It's a really nice feeling," he said. "I've been trying to do this for four years now. So it's great to see all that effort finally paying off."

Trout is one of five Saint John's athletes who will be competing at the national meet – scheduled for Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14 at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Sophomore Michael Wallace will join Trout in the triple jump. He is tied for 18th nationally in the event with a leap of 14.39 meters.

Junior Ryan Miller will compete in the 60-meter dash, an event in which he is tied for 16th nationally with a time of 6.90 seconds. Freshman Maguire Petersen will compete in the high jump. He is tied for fifth in the nation with a leap of 2.10 meters.

And junior Drew Dockendorf is tied for second nationally in the pole vault with a height of 5.03 meters.

The Johnnies are building off the momentum they established at the Division III national outdoor meet last May when the 4X100 relay team of Miller, Nick Gannon, Drew Schoenbauer and Brady Labine won a national title.

Miller finished second in the 100-meter dash and Kai Barber finished ninth in the shot put.

"We had guys who saw the success that especially our sprinters had last spring," SJU head coach Jeremy Karger-Gatzow said. "And they got excited about that. They thought 'I can do that.' And Collin is a prime example. He's really been willing to put in the extra work he needed to put in to be successful."

Trout said that additional work, which actually continued throughout much of the indoor season, has made him much stronger.

"I feel like I have so much more power now," he said. "And that's helping me jump farther than ever."

Trout, a biochemistry major and honor student in high school, is already set to attend the University of Minnesota's pharmacy school post-graduation. He's getting an early leg up on his future career by working at a pharmacy in Waite Park this semester.

But a career in the pharmacy is in the future. His present focus is on making an impact at nationals this weekend and carrying that momentum over into the outdoor season to follow.

"I want to use this as a springboard," he said. "There are still a lot of big things I want to accomplish."