MARYSVILLE — Almost 70 area students took Marysville-Pilchuck up on their bargain sports physical, raising about $2,400 for the school’s scholarship fund.

For $35, area athletes were escorted through multiple stations at Jim Linden Fieldhouse Aug. 18, being tested widely including muscular skeletal strength, urinalysis, heart and lungs and for exercise-induced asthma, among other conditions.

“We’re probably the only exam that has kids run a mile and we check them for asthma. We make them exercise and check for exercise-induced asthma,” said Dr. Gerald Yorioka, who helped begin the sports physical program in Marysville in 1992, when Linden ran the school’s athletic program. “He helped us get the thing rolling, because it’s really hard to start a project like this. You have to get the administration, supporting medical community and parents — everyone has to buy into it. Often, they are the same doctors who help out every year.”

Among the local medical professionals volunteering their time and expertise were Dr. Hal Clark, Dr. Mike Jenks and the Marysville Fire Department. Another, intern Blair Becker, grew up in Arlington and attends Georgetown University. His family now lives in Mercer Island.

Kids are rarely eliminated from participation in sports by any findings in a physical, but the exam helps identify conditions requiring treatment or monitoring. Yorioka estimated that about 10 participants at Marysville’s physical were identified as possibly having exercise-induced asthma, an exam that might otherwise cost $100 to detect at a doctor’s office.

“The main reason it’s included in the exam is I think it’s one of the most significant things that you could detect. Because some of the other findings, like a hernia, it might not make a difference in the ability to do well,” he said. “If you have asthma, it really needs to be treated.”

The money raised goes into a scholarship fund for the school’s Male and Female Athlete of the Year.