With summer in full swing, many high school students are either going to the mall or going to the beach with friends. 
But one Long County teen finds himself training to compete for a national strongman title.
On July 1, Long County High School sophomore Nick Stock and his family will travel to Lancaster, Ohio, where the 14-year-old will vie for the 2011 North American Strongman National Teenage Championship. 
Stock qualified for the national title with a third-place place finish and three second-place finishes in the four North American Strongman events he has entered this year. 
Stock has been competing for a little over a year and competes against opponents as old as 19. He first began training and competing in weight-lifting competitions in 2009, but found that he enjoyed strongmen events more than the traditional weight-lifting meets. 
As a result, Stock began focusing on individual events with names like the log clean and press, the keg carry, the farmer’s walk the Atlas stones, and the truck-tire lift. 
 “My Dad’s boss did it, and I went to a competition and saw him, and then I wanted to try it,” Stock said. “When you go to these events it’s just like what you see on TV at the World’s Strong Man competition.”
Since then, Stock has competed at events in Georgia, Florida and North Carolina.  Stock, who also plays football and runs track, said he trains five days a week for two or three hours a day. 
His workouts consist of traditional weightlifting such as bench pressing, inclines, and dead-lifts, but also include unique training techniques such as pulling a weighted keg and lifting a concrete sphere called an Atlas ball.
Stock said he not only enjoys competing in strongman events, he also enjoys watching them on TV and roots for Derek Poundstone to take the gold.
Standing behind Stock are his dad, Adrian, and mom, Kim.
 “I am just so proud of him, seeing him out there competing and beating grown men, guys four or five years older than him,” Kim Stock said. “Me and his dad are both very proud.”
She said they will continue to back their son all the way to Lancaster, but it won’t be cheap.
 “It’s going to cost somewhere between $1,200 and $1,500 for him to go to the nationals in Ohio,” Kim Stock said. “We’ve got a couple of sponsors, but we’re hoping a few more people or organizations will want to sponsor Nick.”
Anyone interested in sponsoring Stock at the national championship can contact Kim Stock at 912-256-2674.