The K90 Nordic Ski Jump at Utah Olympic Park is also known as the “large hill.” That seems like an understatement. From the top of the jump at an elevation of more than 7,500 feet, there are soaring views of the Wasatch Mountains. You almost have to squint to see the ground. 

Constructed for the 2002 Salt Lake games, the facility has served as the Olympic trials site and a training hub for Olympic hopefuls. During the summer, it doubles as an extreme tubing destination where riders, who must be at least 13 years old, can hit speeds of up to 50 mph. They reach the top of the landing hill via a chair lift. 

A handful of Archers LC members had other plans last Friday. They summited K90 on foot. Twice. 

“The first time, we let everyone go at their own pace,” said Archers attackman and 2019 PLL All-Star Will Manny. “The second time, we did a group run where the guy at the end would have to sprint to the front, then the next guy would go.”

They made it to the top in six minutes. “Footwork Friday,” Manny captioned a picture he posted on Twitter of the crew at the peak of the jumping ramp. 

Like Manny and his Archers teammates, Premier League Lacrosse pros across the country have had to get creative during quarantine to prepare for the league’s Championship Series. They’ve trained in garages, backyards, basements, local parks and almost everywhere in between. They’ve pushed trucks and raced down sand dunes, and they have been kicked off their fair share of fields. They’ve worn weighted vests and built their own bench press bars. They’ve gotten a little help from man’s best friend and their girlfriends.

Tom Schreiber dished out the second most assists in the PLL last season, including several to Manny. But over the past couple months, the 2019 midfielder of the year has turned to his fiancé, Kathleen Sharkey, a member of the US National Field Hockey team that placed fifth at the Rio Olympics, for a passing partner. 

“Her lacrosse skills are getting there,” Schreiber said. 

In previous years, the shifting starts of the indoor and outdoor pro leagues prevented overlap, but also hindered Schreiber’s recovery process. He spent the majority of his time rehabbing from knee surgery and then a rotator cuff injury he sustained after a hit by Garrett Epple during the Archers round one playoff loss to the Redwoods. But with the cancellation of the NLL season and the PLL Championship Series slated to run from July 25 to August 9, Schreiber is no longer in a maintenance phase.

“I've really been able to get back to 100 percent for the first time in two years,” he said. 

That sentiment was echoed by most of the PLL pros interviewed for this article. 

“I feel like I am in the best shape of my life,” said Redwoods midfielder Joe Walters, who noted that he now looks forward to training every single day. 

“A lot of guys are saying it's the best they've felt in a really long time,” said Whipsnakes LSM and captain Michael Ehrhardt. He called the added time to prepare for the Championship Series a luxury.

Ehrhardt holds training sessions with a group of Whipsnakes, including Mike Chanenchuk and Ty Warner on a 35-by-25-yard turf field in the Long Island town of Mineola. 

“It’s enough to get the job done,” Ehrhardt said. 

Redwoods attackman Matt Kavanagh and his younger brother Brendan join in, too. Three mornings a week, they perform speed, agility and conditioning workouts. They shoot around the other two days. When quarantine started, Ehrhardt’s cardio work consisted mostly of Peloton group rides during which he tried to outpace fellow Whips Tim Mueller and Kyle Bernlohr. Now Ehrhardt gets his competitive fix at the end of the morning workouts when they hold a variety of conditioning races. 

While the Whipsnakes share ideas with each other constantly in their team group chat, you probably won’t find many pictures or videos of them training on social media. 

“Our mantra is we work the shadows,” faceoff specialist Joe Nardella said. “People underestimate us a little bit, and that allows us to train with a chip on our shoulder.” 

“We're working off each other to try to figure out the best method to prepare for the Championship Series,” Ehrhardt said. “Some of us have had the benefit of playing in a tournament like this before at the [2018] World Games, so we do know what to expect, but we think it's going to be a lot harder than the one we did play in.”

The number of close results last season underscored the intensity and parity in the league. There were nine overtime games, including the championship game in which the Whipsnakes prevailed over the Redwoods. The final two playoff spots were decided in Week 10, based on score differential. 

But instead of one game a week, teams this summer will compete in four group play games in a span of nine days that will determine seeding before the single-elimination round. The team that prevails in the championship game will have played at least six games in two weeks. 

“The biggest thing is injury prevention,” Redwoods attackman Jules Heningburg said. If you can't stay healthy, nothing else matters. That’s a lot of miles on your body.” 

Although Chaos midfielder Jake Froccaro played a crucial role on the No. 1 transition offense in the league last summer, he admitted that before quarantine, he never ran longer distances as a form of exercise. He’s adapted. He started out on a Peloton treadmill, but when the weather warmed up, he ventured outside. He enjoyed that even more. He bought a pair of Clifton 6’s — maximally cushioned shoes by the brand Hoka One One. He now logs five miles along the streets of Port Washington, N.Y., most days before breakfast. 

“I can honestly say I love to run now because quarantine shaped me to learn how to like it,” Froccaro said. “That is the most important thing I’ve been doing.”

That aerobic work should come in handy when the Championship Series takes place at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah. The PLL announced the location of the fully quarantined and fanless tournament last week. 

“It pretty much feels like playing in the backyard,” said Manny, who lives less than 30 minutes from the facility and like fellow Archers Marcus Holman and Adam Ghitelman, works as an assistant coach at the University of Utah. “I think it is just so good for the sport. Obviously no one will be able to watch it in person, but the amount of times they're going to say Salt Lake City on NBC and NBC Sports is going to be huge.” 

When teammates Grant Ament, Mike Simon, Curtis Corley, Ian MacKay and Eli Gobrecht visited Utah for “Archers Week,” Manny let them in on a little secret. The adjustment to the elevation change never goes away. Last summer, Manny felt like he could play another game immediately after the final horn sounded. But when he returns to Salt Lake City after as little as a weekend away, he’ll find himself out of breath after walking up the stairs in the house that he shares with Holman. 

“It's definitely a factor,” Manny said of the altitude in Herriman, which is around 5,000 feet. “I take it to my advantage, because we train here and these guys are not going to be used to it.”

Another advantage for the Utah trio is that for the past two weeks, they’ve had access to a gym at CrossFit Miners Town in Park City and a full field at Matt Knopp Memorial Park. After the University of Utah facilities closed, Manny performed most of his workouts at home. Like most pros, he’s prioritized flexibility. He incorporated mobility sessions into his routine right when he gets up and before he goes to bed. 

“Everyone is going to get tight and sore, so being able to adjust to that is the biggest piece,” he said. 

Entering his eighth year of professional lacrosse, Manny knows how to listen to his body, and he knows how much work he needs to put in to be successful. He has tried to keep a positive outlook and believes he’s gotten better during this time since he’s incorporated different exercises without the weight room at his disposal. He’d use a bucket full of lacrosse balls for kettlebell swings and squats. 

Still, there are plenty of resources. Manny said he received some pointers from Parker Teagle, Utah Lacrosse strength and conditioning coach, and the US Lacrosse Team training staff.  

Mike Giunta, the PLL’s medical director and owner of Evolution Physical Therapy in Los Angeles, even created a training and conditioning program filled with injury prevention exercises that’s specifically tailored for the demands of the Championship Series. The league distributed it to all the players through an app called TrainHeroic. 

Many PLL pros said it’s been a valuable resource. 

“The great thing about it is that you don't need much equipment for these workouts,” Ehrhardt said. 

Chelsea Ortega, DPT, a physical therapist for the PLL who works at Evolution, also holds a “PLL Mobility” class over Instagram Live on Tuesday afternoons. 

Manny has attended the sessions for months. 

“They are really trying to help us be the best athletes we can possibly be,” he said. “The best part is if you don't want to do it, you don't have to, but they're there for you and the people that are doing it are the ones that are going to be successful.” 

We will find out soon enough.