Video: Ex-Kennedy all-stater Ben Lamaak shines in front of NFL scouts (with Iowa State results)

AMES - Former Iowa State center Ben Lamaak has kept his focus strictly on the task at hand.

For the last four months that meant training six days a week for Iowa State's pro day, which was held Tuesday. He cut 10 pounds to increase his speed and reshape his body. After seeing his totals, he was happy with the results.

"This morning 302 (pounds). I haven't seen that number for a while now," Lamaak said with a laugh. "I was probably playing at 310, 312. I don't have school or anything else. I have a lot of time to cook my own meals, and I think that was a big factor in losing a lot of the weight."

Lamaak, a former Cedar Rapids Kennedy all-stater in football and basketball, hit many of his goals during Iowa State's pro day, which was open to media. He bench pressed 225 pounds 26 times, ran the 40-yard dash in 5.13 seconds, hit 8 feet, 7.5 inches in the broad jump and lept 27.5 inches in the vertical jump.

He prepared for the pro day by spending five weeks in Cincinnati and the last month or so in Ames.

"Obviously we knew the set drills and the things that we have to do for this so we focused on our training on that," Lemaak said.

"Definitely there were some nerves. We'd been working out eight or nine weeks for this one day and some of the drills we only got one rep on them. So we like did these (drills) thousands of times for only one rep. I think it went well and a lot of teammates did very well, too."

Eight Iowa State players - Lamaak, Mike O'Connell, Austen Arnaud, Alexander Robinson, David Sims, Bailey Johnson, Colin Franklin, Alex Alvarez - and Drake All-American defensive lineman Dain Taylor participated in the workout, which was attended by at least 16 NFL scouts.

ISU Pro Day Results

"I talked with everyone of them afterwards," Lamaak said. "I filled out a lot of paperwork for the teams, and Reggie got drafted last year in the seventh round. So hopefully I'm in the position that he was, lucky enough to hear my name called.

"It's a job interview, and it's my future. It's something that I want to do. I'm going to take it very seriously and hopefully get a chance to take some visits."

Lamaak's numbers could help him earn a chance at an NFL roster. Of the 22 guards and centers that worked out at last month's NFL combine, only three posted a better 40 time than Lamaak. He started 43 games along the Cyclones' offensive line at three different positions.

"I can play tackle," he said. "I played it the last game against Missouri. I played it my freshman year. So hopefully teams look at that and see the versatility and see that I moved around and hopefully that creates some interest."

With his first task complete, Lamaak now can focus on his next adventure - Las Vegas with 11 of his closest friends this weekend. Then it's back to more NFL draft preparation.

"It's a like a checklist," Lamaak said. "The first thing is the training and this day and then we go from here and see what happens."