Oxford High School students are all pumped up mentally about their new place to get pumped up physically.

The Wildcat weight room has 12 brand new racks, plus all new benches, platforms, bars, weights and clips.

“This is top-notch stuff right here,” said Athletic Director Cole Andrews.

Approximately $40,000 was spent to modernize this place where iron and muscle mingle to create strength and power.

The project was paid for by a combination of monies from the athletic department; the football program; the Oxford Wildcat Athletic Booster Club; the family of former Oxford football players Zach, Prescott and Ben Line; the Oxford Jr. Wildcats and AQUA Club.

The Booster Club alone donated $8,400 to the cause, which was just about enough to pay for three weight racks. They cost $2,850 each.

“It was a team effort,” Andrews said.

But Bud Rowley, head coach of the varsity football team, felt the athletic director was being much too modest.

“Without Cole Andrews, who ramrodded the whole deal, we would never have this,” he said. “He picked up the ball and ran with it. He did a great job.”

Rowley is grateful to all the donors who immediately “dove right in” when approached for help.

“Nobody questioned it,” he said. “They just stepped up. We’re very, very fortunate.”

According to Andrews, the new weight room is safer for users, more efficient, more open and more inviting than the previous one.

“The kids are taking a lot of pride in keeping it clean,” he noted.

Rowley agreed.

“There are small colleges that don’t have it this good,” he said.

The old weight room was stocked with a hodgepodge of equipment that was 15 to 20 years old.

“Everything was worn out,” Rowley said. “It was time for a facelift.”

Use of the weight room has increased dramatically thanks to the new equipment and fresh layout. Andrews and Rowley estimated the number of students in there has doubled or tripled. They’re pumping iron from morning to night.

“There’s always kids in here,” Andrews said. “This is one of the most used rooms in the district.”

The new room can also accommodate a lot more users, so there are no long waits, overcrowding or feelings that one group of athletes is monopolizing the equipment, all of which can serve as deterrents.

“The kids want to come in here now,” Rowley said.

Andrews believes the new weight room will help attract student-athletes from elsewhere and entice them to put their prowess to work for Oxford.

“It’s a recruitment tool,” he said.

Andrews noted the new room is designed to benefit all Oxford athletes, both male and female from every sport.