It didn’t take long for Greg Harper to take a slumping weightlifting program at University High School and return it to the head of the class in Orange County. Last week the Cougars, who hosted the Metro Conference Tournament, had two individuals earn top honors in their respective weight classes and three others take runner-up en route to dominating the competition.
Not since current coaches at Timber Creek High School were involved at UHS, helping bring two Metro titles to the school in 1999 and 2000, has University reached such a level of success. At the meet, University compiled 49 points in all to best challengers from Dr. Phillips (29), TCHS (23), Boone (19) and Colonial (17).
The Cougars also won Metros in 1993. “I couldn’t have written a better script,” said Harper following the competition. In just his second year as an assistant football coach and head coach of the boys and girls weightlifting teams, Harper has added some new life to the programs after coming over from DeLand.
“When I came over I thought that maybe something like this could happen,” he said. “But the kids are really the ones that made this a reality. They’re the ones that put in the hard work. If they don’t buy in, if they don’t do the work, then it doesn’t
