In less than two months, bats will crack and leather will pop for collegiate baseball teams nationwide. Though opening day for the Radford baseball team isn't until Feb. 20, at UAB, the season is well under way for the Highlanders.

While the autumn months didn't include any real games, any travel, or any opposition, there wasn't a lack of competition.

In fact, that competition never took place between two lines of chalk: it was teammate vs. teammate in battles of strength and endurance, in the second-annual Highlander Challenge.

The Highlanders, divided into teams led by senior Nick Minter and junior Reggie Keen, went repetition-for-repetition, pound-for-pound, and second-for-second in battles such as the bench press, sand-bag carry (25 lb. bag), shuttle run (from sprint, to crawls, to running with chains, to a sprint), truck push (six pushers per team), and the sled pull (70 lb. sled).

If the lineup sounds like a tough one, it was. Radford strength and conditioning coach Max Appleby created more difficult tasks for this year, and Minter, the captain of the winning team (185-89 over Team Keen), noticed the difference.

“This year's challenge seemed a lot tougher because of the competitions Coach Appleby pulled out of the strong man competition magazines,” said Minter. “But the freshmen and transfers really stepped it up, along with the older guys, and I think that's what our team will need to be successful this season.”

While Appleby threw his share of curveballs at the Highlanders, an old training staple, the sand bag carry, was the one event that everyone dreaded most.

“Knowing it was so cold and carrying those bags up and down hills was going to be tough on our legs and hands,” Minter said.  “Nobody could feel their hands at the end and the little bit of snow in our faces didn't help. But, it was a funny experience watching guys collapse 20 steps away from the finish line.”

Make no mistake: the pulls, carries, and added weights were part of Appleby's plan to make the team not only get physically stronger, but to develop mental muscle as well.

“This was about not just getting stronger in the weight room, but developing experience and strategy to meet any challenge,” said Appleby. “It's about developing the right frame of mind for competition and a lot of the drills were developed to create a stronger sense of unity and teamwork.

“It was a chance to see who bought in, see who's motivated and see what they're made of.”

While it was a time to develop teamwork leading into the 2009 season, it didn't mean bragging rights weren't on the line. And Minter knew that after picking the teams, the mile run on the first day was going to be his team's time to “do work.”

“I knew going into the run we were going to dominate them,” Minter said. “When picking the teams, it looked like he had the stronger guys, but my team had endurance and intensity. After the mile and day one of the competition I knew my team was going come out on top.”

Minter backed up his confidence: his mile time of 5:24 was 24 seconds better than the next clocking, and his team put four players in the Top 5 of that competition.

For Team Minter, bragging rights were the fun part, but he and his team also recognized what the competition meant in terms of laying the ground work for Radford's success in 2009.

“Our team has been working hard in the weight room and during conditioning, and it showed because how well we handled the challenge,” Minter said.  “It does set the tone for us going into practice this winter because if we work hard in the weight room and take that into every practice, were going to be a tough team to beat every single game this season.”