Authorized newspaper of Fort Lewis, Washington
The Lightweight pose during the body building championships, Saturday.
Lights shined down on firm, oiled bodies as Fort Lewis hosted its annual Body Building Championships Saturday at American Lake Community Center.
It was standing-room-only as the crowd was treated to pose offs between service members, retirees, others, and even watched a competitor dance like R&B entertainer Usher Raymond in the free-posing portion of the event.
Competitors EQ Pruitt and Castor Guzman took the overall titles and each received Excalibur swords.
Guzman is a two-time men’s overall winner and lightweight champion with his first titles coming in 2004. Vanessa Bailey took the crown in the competition’s first ever Figures category, which is a subtle contrast to the prototypical body builder physique.
Matt Sagabaen took the Middleweight category, Doug Stehley was the top heavyweight and Jerome Williams took the Master’s (over 40) title.
Pruitt was named Best Poser in the women’s division while Donnell House won the men’s division.
House and his father Jack were the first father-son participants in the history of the event.
Professional body builder Gerri Deach-Davis and Jensen Family Health and Fitness Center personal trainer Dave Gomez were guest posers. Deach-Davis also judged the event.
Deach-Davis emphasized the sacrifices service members make for her and others’ freedoms, and provided her services free of charge. She guest posed at last year’s event and said she hopes to be back every year.
The most intriguing category was the lightweight class because it contained three participants who won top honors.
Williams tightly contested his club partner Guzman after taking the Master’s title, but neither had a better posing routine than House.
But Guzman claimed the Excalibur sword for his efforts.
“I’ve always been gunning for one (sword) and now I got it,” Guzman said.
He gave credit to his wife, Erica, daughter, Christa and his training team for making the win possible. Guzman is a group fitness instructor and personal trainer at Bangor Naval Station and holds a weekly body building group and encourages anyone interested to join.
Members discuss dieting, conditioning and practice posing to hone their skills.
Guzman’s telephone number is (360) 315-2140 and can be reached via e-mail at castor.guzman@navy.mil.
Guzman said he likes to bring a team to Fort Lewis because he wants to enjoy the show and keep the rivalry between services going in athletic competitions.
“Just remember there’s always someone out there better than you,” he said.
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