Buff Mr./Ms. Penn ready to pump U. up

Over 30 entrants will strut their stuff to a sold-out crowd of 500 at International House. Hopefuls are doing much more than saying their prayers and taking their vitamins in preparation for tomorrow's sixth annual Mr. and Ms. Penn contest. "When I started my serious training I weighed 170 pounds, and I'm not a real big guy," College sophomore Brad Block said. "Now I'm down to just above 150." Block's drive to succeed is no aberration. Each of the 23 men and 11 women in the bodybuilding contest have pushed their bodies to the limit over the past few weeks. "I'm very confident," said sophomore Bassey Adjah, who finished third in the lightweight division last year. "Still, when it came to staying off the food, I felt like I was going to break down a bunch of times." The sold-out event, which will get under way at 7 p.m. tonight at International House, promises to boast the most impressive field in the contest's history. Beer guts will be conspicuously absent amidst the crowd of chiseled competitors. "This is going to be more competitive than any other year," said Tony Tenisci, the event's founder and an assistant coach for the Penn women's track team. "They are all going to be in excellent shape and have put serious time into training." The field will also be the largest in history. The men will be separated into three divisions: lightweight (under 155 pounds), middleweight (155-170) and heavyweight (over 170). The women will only be broken up into two groups: the lightweights under 120 pounds and the middleweights heavier than 120 pounds. The event is sponsored by the women's track team, and all the proceeds go toward the purchase of track and field equipment. "All but three of the girls are on the track team," senior Michelle Satine said. "A number of other girls are going to be dancing to entertain the crowd. But it's not just a track event. We pack the house." Satine won the female competition last year after plowing through the lightweight field with her eye-catching performance. She has assumed somewhat of an administrative role this year by helping with the planning of the entire women's event, while still preparing herself for victory. "A lot of long hours go into getting ready for this thing. We want it to go off without any problems," Satine said. Tenisci has structured the competition in such a way that it will offer a fair test of fitness and performance. He has hired four professional judges from local gyms. The judges will evaluate a competitor's mandatory posing on a scale of one to 10. The second half of the competition, a one-minute original routine, will be worth 20 points. "I've chosen my music and my routine, and I know that the other girls are putting a lot of work into theirs," Adjah said. "All I can say is that it's going to be hot." A competitor's routine focuses mostly on posing and thereby demonstrating muscle mass, definition and symmetry. Dancing, which has figured prominently in previous years, will prove less popular this year. "We are not there to dance; we're there to pose," Block said. A restrictive diet is an integral part of each bodybuilder's training, and the Mr. and Ms. Penn contest demands just such measures. "Coach Tenisci has been very, very serious about the diet that we need to stick to," Satine said. "Sunday was the first day that we were allowed to eat carbohydrates, and we can't really have any liquids in the day leading up to the contest." All this abstinence from the pleasures of food ensures that each competitor's post-event meal will be a doosey. "My meal is going to be a chicken-fried steak from Chilis," Block said. Block and the 33 others hope to break their respective fasts with the newly acquired name of Mr. or Ms. Penn.