DAPHNE, Ala. — Raising the bar. The Daphne High Trojans checked off another preseason football benchmark Tuesday with their annual Lift-a-Thon at Trojan Hall.

Incoming freshmen and seniors went for their best bench-press lifts before a packed house of parents, classmates and fans. The team hits the field Monday for their first official practice of the 2013 season.

“This kind of signals to us the end of summer running and weight training stuff for the kids and marks the beginning of real football practice,” said Daphne head coach Glenn Vickery. “You know when August gets here, it really is football time around here.”

As the lift-a-thon drew to a close, the crowd raised the roof when 6-foot-4, 340-pound junior offensive lineman Chris White pushed a team-high 415 pounds off his chest.

“My best bench ever is 425,” White said. “But I didn’t want to take a chance and strain my shoulder. I’m happy with 415. It works for me. It’s all about getting ready for the season. The weights are just part of it.”

Other top lifters in the higher weight category were: Gabe McMillian (350), Myles Pierce and Devonte Young (330), Khael Sanford, Sheffield Washington and Khalil Yelding (320).

Daphne strength and conditioning coach Tim Massengale said weight training is an important tool for playing the sport at a high level and an indicator of a player’s progress.

“This time of the year, we like to measure how much stronger they have gotten since the spring or last year with max lifts and this is just a fun way to do it. But weight training, it’s an important part of football conditioning for sure. It helps prevent injuries and helps recover from injuries, but you have to learn the proper technique or you can do more harm than good. We’ve had a great summer and made a lot of progress. Now it’s time to put it all to good use on the field. Chris is a great young man, just a junior. Every-game starter for us last year and he will definitely be a big (college) prospect. Does a great job for us. Great team player, works hard and tonight he got to show it off a little bit.”

Linebacker coach Jacy Todd, who suffered severe injuries in a two-vehicle collision on the first day of practice last year, was also encouraging the players to make their max-lift goals. He too has been working with the weights along with therapy, getting stronger and looking forward to practice Monday.

“Very excited about the season,“ he said. “We have some great kids coming back and some really good younger players who will be contributing. I think we will have a good team and a great defense, as usual,” he added with a big grin.

“‘Vonte Young, Myles Pierce, Luke Broadus, Tevin Dailey, Trent Ellis are just some. They can play and are just a great bunch and will be big leaders for us. They have fun, but work hard all year and set a good model for the others. Very proud of them and looking for great things this season.”