Conway Wins Title of Most Fit Athlete
March 25, 2003
Runner Nick Conway of Albany captured "The Capital Region's Most Fit Male Athlete of 2003" competition at Hudson Valley Community College on Monday.
Conway scored 46 points on the testing equipment in Hudson Valley's new exercise physiology laboratory, placing ahead of soccer player Dede Lieshi (33 points) and football player Adriel Linyear (19 points).
Eight area athletes were nominated to participate in "The Capital Region's Most Fit Male Athlete of 2003" competition.
The three competitors were chosen by the public, who registered 3,598 votes on the college's Web site, http://www.hvcc.edu.
Members of HVCC's physical education department tested the athletes in six events, for which the competitors were given points.
Conway, 27, checked in with a body fat percentage of 2.6, lowest in the competition.
The 4:08-miler who runs for the Willow Street Athletic Club took first place in the curl-ups (sit-ups) test, the sit-and-reach test (which measured flexibility), and the metabolic cart, also known as a VO2 test.
On the metabolic cart, Conway attained 84 milliliters per kilogram, which is near the caliber of an Olympic athlete.
A 25-year-old midfielder for the New York Capital District Shockers, Lieshi placed first in the push-ups test, doing 32 push-ups to the rhythm of a metronome.
Linyear, a 23-year-old wide receiver/linebacker for the af2's Albany Conquest, finished first in the grip strength test, which utilized a hand dynamometer to secure an index of general body strength.
"This is the first time I've ever been through this kind of testing," said Conway, who has clocked a 2:31:16 marathon.
The only other New York state labs that have capabilities similar to HVCC's are at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and at the Buffalo Bills' training facility in Orchard Park.
Hudson Valley's students began using the lab this term to measure how exercise affects the body.
The lab helps students at Hudson Valley and The Sage Colleges earn a bachelor's degree in physical education on the Hudson Valley campus.
Courtesy Times Union Staff Writer
