VANCOUVER, BC – The results are in.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC underwent their annual preseason testing earlier this week and according to head coach Carl Robinson, the players reported to camp in tip-top shape.
“They’ve come back at a much higher standard than they did last year,” Robinson told reporters. “I told them at the end of last year, if you come back and you’re not up to the levels I require then you will be doing certain work without the ball. I think they took that on board because they’ve come back and the levels of fitness are a lot higher. And they need to be if we’re going to be competing with the top teams.”
So which players stood out?
We already know Kekuta Manneh turned some heads, but he wasn’t the only one. Other standouts include rookie centre back Tim Parker, who had the fastest 20-metre and 30-metre sprints, Residency graduates Jackson Farmer (who wore a camera for us in the video you see at the top of this page) and Mitch Piraux (who reached level 23.2 of the Yo-Yo Intermittent Test), and striker Erik Hurtado.
Here are the top five performers from each category.
ENDURANCE (YO-YO INTERMITTENT TEST)
1. Mitch Piraux
T2. Nicolas Mezquida
T2. Sam Adekugbe
T4. Steven Beitashour
T4. Jackson Farmer
T4. Jordan Harvey
10-METRE SPRINT
1. Kekuta Manneh
2. Kay Banjo
T3. Steven Beitashour
T3. Mauro Rosales
5. Jackson Farmer
20-METRE SPRINT
1. Tim Parker
T2. Kekuta Manneh
T2. Erik Hurtado
T4. Kay Banjo
T4. Jackson Farmer
30-METRE SPRINT
1. Tim Parker
2. Erik Hurtado
3. Jackson Farmer
4. Kekuta Manneh
5. Kay Banjo
AGILITY (LEFT FOOT)
1. Mitch Piraux
2. Erik Hurtado
3. Jackson Farmer
4. Caleb Clarke
5. Ben McKendry
AGILITY (RIGHT FOOT)
1. Erik Hurtado
2. Mitch Piraux
3. Caleb Clarke
4. Sam Adekugbe
T5. Jackson Farmer
T5. Tim Parker
COUNTER MOVEMENT JUMP (START FROM UPRIGHT STANDING POSITION)
1. Erik Hurtado
2. Sam Adekugbe
3. Mitch Piraux
4. Jackson Farmer
5. Caleb Clarke
RUN UP JUMP
1. Erik Hurtado
2. Jackson Farmer
3. Mitch Piraux
4. Marco Bustos
5. Tim Parker
Note: Christian Dean (late arrival due to U.S. men’s national team camp), Kianz Froese (quad strain), Andre Lewis (knee), Darren Mattocks (arrived late Sunday), Pedro Morales (arrived late Sunday), Octavio Rivero (missed training as he was at the embassy), Ethen Sampson (will join team later this week), and Russell Teibert (foot strain) did not test.
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