The annual Mr. and Ms. West competition was held on Friday, April 13th in the West High auditorium at 6:00 p.m. Many people came to watch and support the participants and even made signs and cheered for their favorite competitor. Four professional bodybuilders came to judge the competition.

There were two divisions for the girls and three divisions for the boys: lightweight, middleweight and heavyweight. There were seven female participants and ten male participants total. Physical Education teacher Rob Larkey was in charge and was able to put the whole competition together.

Lubava Wessels is a sophomore who was a Division II participant for the girls. Mr. And Ms. West is fairly competitive and all the participants took the training and preparation for the event very seriously. Between going to the gym every day and maintaining a special diet for months, many athletes showed a high amount of commitment prior to competing.

Wessels says, “The hardest challenge for me was dieting. For breakfast I eat raw oats with blueberries and banana with two hard-boiled eggs. For lunch I eat plain, grilled chicken, nine almonds and an apple. After school I eat a salad, and then for dinner I eat fish and asparagus or Brussels sprouts.” For the last 12 hours before going on stage, Wessels says she only ate rice cakes and tiny sips of water. Most trainers do this to define their muscles as much as possible.

Last years, 2017 Ms. West, Tabitha Wheeler, competed in the second division girls. Senior Cinnamon Monterrosa ended up taking first in Division II girls and eventually winning Ms. West. She was strong in her nicely formed abdominal and thigh muscles.

Having the honor of being Mr. or Ms. West is a big deal and requires tons of work. The winners of Mr. and Ms. West are qualified to compete at other schools against their winners.