CORRECTION: A previous version of this article stated Skip Mueller is the JV baseball coach. Skip Mueller is actually the varsity baseball coach.

Two years ago, the weight room would deafen any casual passerby with each crashing plate and bumping beat. Now-retired paraeducator Tim Deegan would chaperone this chaos, opening the room Monday through Thursday for off-season enthusiasts and athletes alike. Then he retired, and strength and conditioning coach Justin Yu was hired. After a year of creating personalized workouts for each sports team, Yun left MVHS to pursue a job outside the district. Now, two new faces are opening up the MVHS weight room. And it seems like their system is going back to an arrangement that hasn’t been seen in three years.

From Monday to Thursday, guidance counselor Clay Stiver and math teacher and varsity baseball coach Skip Mueller open up the weight room. Stiver opens up the room Mondays and Wednesdays from 4pm to 6pm, and Mueller opens up the room Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:15 to 5 pm. After the last two years of having individual staff members open up the room all four days a week, this alternating system is a breath of fresh air for both staff members.

“[Yu] was really committed to the term strength and conditioning coach. Mueller and I kind of just open up the weight room,” Stiver said. “I think it’s just hard for teachers to commit to things after school.”

After Yun left MVHS, concerns were raised about whether or not the weight room would be open after school. For offseason athletes and MVHS students who weren’t a part of a sport but were interested in lifting weights, the prospect of lifting after school seemed to disappear.

However, athletic director Nick Bonacorsi reached out to MVHS staff before the school year started and Mueller and Stiver answered the call. Both admit that Yun had set the standard much higher than what they could bring to the position.

“I’m not sure if I’m all that qualified or anything,” Mueller said. “I know much more about baseball than I know about strength and conditioning, so for right now I feel like I’m someone in here to keep it open and available.”

For some students, like junior Bryce Nevitt, the change hasn’t been noticed much. He’s just glad that this year the weight room has quieted down, and that the room is still open.

“It’s definitely nicer that you can do whatever you want to do,” Nevitt said. “And you’re able to have the bench press open and to go to the free-weights. Everything is more open which is cool.”

Right now, about ten to 15 students show up on average when Stiver opens up the room. And around 30 students show up on Tuesday and Thursday when Mueller opens up the room. However, Stiver hopes by the end of the year more students will take advantage of the free weight room on their campus.

“I wish even more non-athletes would come in and lift and what not,” Stiver said. “I know the music is blasting and it’s usually heavy metal or something, but I try to make it a friendly place for people to come in.”