PLANT CITY - The Mr. and Miss Cougar competition at Durant High School wasn't your usual homecoming king and queen competition, or calendar beauty contest.
The April 3 event was a mirror image of the professional body builder competition you might see on ESPN.
In the end, after three full months of supervised training and 21/2 hours of intense competition, junior David Santiesteban and senior Nal'yma Thompson were named the 2009 Mr. and Miss Cougar.
Santiesteban is a member of the Durant High Air Force JROTC program, and Thompson is a member of the school band color guard.
The students who competed in the seventh annual contest for Durant's most fit, about 10 girls and 20 boys, received a rousing and enthusiastic reception from the crowd in the school auditorium.
"Our principal, Pam Bowden, has asked us to keep the competition as close to the professional level as possible," said Durant teacher Dan Turpin, the organizer of the annual Mr. and Miss Cougar competition. "We have taken every step needed to make this competition a statement about physical fitness, proper nutrition and training."
No school funds are directed to the bodybuilding program. Competitors work out before and after school, sometimes using the school weight room or track. But no in-school time is devoted to the preparation or competition.
Turpin said Plant City Fire Rescue employee Bill Saunders deserves a lot of credit for the success of the Durant program.
"Bill is a bodybuilder and personal trainer who is well versed in the bodybuilder do's and don'ts," Turpin said. "He voluntarily helps develop a diet and workout schedule for the bodybuilding students. It is structured to allow each competitor to slowly work into shape, reduce body fat and the development of all the muscle groups."
Contestants paid $30 admission fees to cover the cost of trophies and other expenses.
Admission was $5 per person, which helped pay for event expenses, with the remainder going to a field house expense fund, school officials said.
"These kids are really interested in fitness," Turpin said. "Win or lose, our goal is to help the entire student body benefit from our bodybuilder program. Students who are friends of those who competed for Mr. and Miss Cougar join them in workouts and diet. Everyone benefits."
Several sponsors provided help for the competitors, including The Athletic Club, Shake It Off, Results Health and Nutrition, Lifestyle Family Fitness, LA Fitness, HoneyBaked Ham and Southside Fitness.
Matthew Colletti, a Lifestyle Family Fitness membership consultant in Valrico, said this was the second year his center has participated in Mr. and Miss Cougar.
"We met with Dan Turpin shortly after our center opened in 2006," Colletti said. "A lot of the Durant students who compete in the competition at Durant are members of our center."
Colletti said Lifestyle invites all the competitors to use its facility, offering them one free month membership.
"The students receive nutritional and workout information from us when they first begin to prepare for the competition," Colletti said. "One month before the competition we also allow non-member competitors who can't get to the school gym to use our facility."
Durant Athletic director Todd Long said Turpin and JV football coach Rich Maddock should be given high marks for involving so many students in the bodybuilding competition, insisting on a tough regimen and commitment.
The Mr. And Miss Cougar competition "rivals any sport in the school," Todd said. "Every January, when the names of the students involved are posted, you can hear the buzz around school getting louder. By the time the event is ready to go, almost everyone has picked their favorites to win."
"Judging from the screams and applause given to all the competitors by about 600 people who filled the auditorium, there were no losers," Long said.
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