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Engineering senior Adam Saltzman finished second in the men's lightweight division last night at the Mr. and Ms. Penn competition at Zellerbach Theatre. The men's lightweight winner was College freshman Ed Lin. (Trevor Grandle/The Daily Pennsylvanian)

Last night at the Annenberg Center's Zellerbach Theatre, a raucous crowd watched as two graduate students were crowned in the eighth annual Mr. and Ms. Penn bodybuilding competition. Actually, the crowd had thinned out somewhat by the time first-year Wharton MBA student Khadir Richie and second-year Philosophy doctoral student and defending Ms. Penn Melina Bell were awarded the titles. But those that stayed for the entire three hours saw the entire spectrum of Penn hard-bodies. Everyone from a College freshman on the women's track team to an All-American cyclist-cum-Wharton doctoral candidate to a fifth-year senior and former starter on the Penn football team strutted, danced and flexed their bodies through a series of mandatory poses and self-designed routines to the delight of family and friends. The contestants competed in five weight classes, light- and middleweight for the women and light-middle- and heavyweight for the men. A winner and two runners-up were chosen in each weight class, and at the end of the night, the three men and two women returned to compete for the titles. In each division, the contestants competed in two categories. One-third of the judge's decision was based on mandatory poses that each contestant ran through, while the remaining two-thirds was decided by the freestyle competition, in which each contestant designed a routine performed to the music of his or her choice. "They're all champions," assistant women's track coach and the event's creator and master of ceremonies Toni Tenisci said. "I told them that at rehearsal Sunday night, and I said it again at the end of the show. They were just phenomenal. I think this is the strongest group we've ever had." That group includes Bell, who was named Ms. Penn last year and said that she had no doubts about re-upping for the competition -- and its strenuous training and diet regimens -- for a second tour. "It's a great feeling [to repeat]," Bell said. "I had a lot of fun last year, and even if I hadn't won I would've done it again." Bell said that she only went to last year's introductory meeting to find a training partner, but was persuaded by Tenisci to participate. " I had no intention of being in the show," Bell said. "But [Tenisci's] enthusiasm was so infectious, I just could not resist." Richie, this year's Mr. Penn, got involved because he "love[s] competition," and was looking for a way to get into bodybuilding. "Coach Tenisci teaches you how to pose, how to get on your diet, everything," Richie said. "It was perfect, the perfect introduction." Richie, like most of the contestants, had a vocal group of supporters. Unlike the other groups, which came early and left early, Richie's fans arrived late and stayed until the end. "They were all MBA students that came," Richie said. "They weren't able to be here for the whole show, because we had an accounting exam. I took mine early, and then they took theirs and they all came over here en masse." Another group that came out in force was the Penn football team. Many current Quakers came out to cheer on their former teammate, fifth-year senior Eric Bunn, who eventually won the heavyweight division on the strength of his routine in which he incorporated a one-handed hand stand and imitated WWF wrestler "The Rock." Bunn, thanks to the large gridiron contingent, was the beneficiary of some of the night's loudest cheering and applause, despite the fact that a good chunk of the crowd had gone by that time, but, as was repeated over and over by The Rock in the song Bunn performed his routine to, "It Doesn't Matter." At least three contestants incorporated boxing into their routines, coming on stage in gloves and boxing trunks before shedding them. Two of those contestants threw shadow punches to strains of "Eye of the Tiger." Blows were struck as well against the stereotype of the puny little nerd. Case in point was Andres Dulcey, second runner-up in the heavyweight division. Dulcey, a graduate student in Chemistry, went bounding around the stage in a blue speedo and did much to refute the notion of the pale, skinny, white-coated scientist that never gets out of the lab. He gets to the weight room, too.

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