Twenty-three competitors stood beneath the lights of Emen's Auditorium Thursday night, completely shaven and doused in bronze paint and glistening body oil.
Their arms, legs and abs were strained and flexed, revealing muscles that took months of training to build.
After several rigorous rounds of posing, Joseph Intriago and Michelle Kirchgassner were named Mr. and Ms. Ball State 2009.
For Intriago, a graduate architecture student, this competition was a challenge that he said he hoped would give him the motivation to study medicine after graduating.
"I had to do something to prove that if I set a goal, I can meet it," he said.
Intriago said after adhering to a strict diet and training regimen for 50 weeks, he now knows he can.
Kirchgassner, a senior exercise science major, participated in the competition two years ago, but only trained for two and a half weeks prior, she said. In her last year at Ball State, she said, she wanted to try again and do it the right way.
For Kirchgassner, this meant beginning a lifting routine in August and dieting on Jan. 6, a date that is set in Kirchgassner's mind.
Both Intriago and Kirchgassner said sticking to a high protein diet was their biggest challenge.
"It doesn't matter what you do in the gym," Intriago said. "Eighty percent is the diet."
After winning, Kirchgassner said, she was going to Amazing Joes with family and friends to celebrate.
"I want some bread," she said.
Intriago and his supporters were planning consecutive trips to eat burgers, IHOP and Steak n Shake after the show.
Men's medium build winner and Mr. Ball State runner-up Ikechukwu Nnachi said he entered the competition for a second time because of encouragement from his roommate, senior Zach Ritchie.
"No one else is as naturally built as Ike," Ritchie said.
Nnachi said it was the same sense of encouragement from friends that propelled him through challenges of training and made him emotional after winning his division.
"I almost cried," he said. "I was posing and I heard them shouting for me. I almost lost it. I started tearing up."
Guest poser Jeff Snell was also honored as Mr. Ball State Wheelchair Division. Snell also holds the title of the 2008 Wheelchair Bodybuilding Nationals Heavyweight Winner.
David Pearson, adviser and commentator of the event, said he was proud of all of the contestants for pushing themselves through this grueling challenge.
"The whole thing about it is it's very, very personal," he said. "You're competing against yourself. You find out an awful lot about yourself because there's so much self discipline involved. This is quite a character building type of event."
Women's Division:1st place- Michelle Kirchgassner2nd place- Kristen Spencer3rd place- Cara Reedstrom
Men's Medium Build:1st place- Ikechukwu Nnachi2nd place- Jeremy Chang3rd place- Paul Schultz
Men's Large Build:1st place- Joseph Intriago2nd place- Mike Muller3rd place- Josh Kosier
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