Months spent in the weight room paid off for Thursday’s contestants at Mr. and Ms. Ball State.
Mike Breitung, a sophomore exercise science major and Ana Martinez, a junior psychology major came out on top out of 22 competitors who went head to head in Emens Auditorium for the title of Mr. and Ms. Ball State.
For Martinez, earning Ms. Ball State felt surreal, even though she said she envisioned the moment her name was called as a winner while she was still training for the event.
“I couldn’t stop smiling. I thought I was going to cry just because I put so much work into this,” Matrinez said.
RELATED: Contestants gear up for Mr. and Ms. Ball State competition
Breitung also didn’t think he was a guaranteed win.
“It was kind of a surprise, but I’m really excited as well,” Breitung said.
Afterward, both winners said they were happy, but hungry after weeks of “cutting,” a way of restricting a diet specifically for an event like this.
Breitung said he had plans to eat pizza and ice cream after he left Emens.
“I am pretty tired. I have a headache — pretty sure it’s from dehydration,” Breitung said. “I am excited, but very hungry.”
On top of the title, both won a trophy and a duffel bag full of supplements, with everyone else earning a medal for being in the show.
An audience filled with parents, friends and siblings came to cheer on the title hopefuls, but the two winners said support came from within the bodybuilding community as well.
“Coming into the first call out for this competition, I was really nervous. I didn’t know the people. I knew of them and I’ve seen them at the gym,” Martinez said. “I was really nervous — I didn’t know what they were going to be like, but they are so supportive. The competitors, as a group, we are so supportive of each other.”
Breitung had friends from across the state come to watch him compete, as well as his family.
During the show, the competitors, divided between tall men, medium men and women’s classes, came out by class and did a set of guided poses for the judges.
Each competitor then performed an individual free posing routine set to music.
Each class had a third runner-up, second runner-up, first runner-up and overall winner. The two overall winners from the men’s tall and medium classes then performed a “pose-off” for the judges for them to decide which would come out on top.
In the women’s class, Morgan Stiner won third runner-up, Megan Brineman won second runner-up and Ashton Dulworth won first runner-up.
In the men’s medium class, Sean Stetson won third runner-up, Devin Nannie won second runner-up and Miles Bibb won first runner-up. Breitung was the overall winner in this class.
In the men’s tall class, Kristian Jefferson won third runner-up, Kevin Zhang won second runner-up and Jack Southard won first runner-up. Joshua Kuechler was the overall winner in this class.
Contact Sara Barker with comments at slbarker3@bsu.edu or on Twitter at @sarabarker326.
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