Radiant Pro - A Womens Strength Show • by Raye Hollitt

Story by Gene X & ftvideo.com

North Hollywood, CA, USA - Raye Hollitt put on her first show using her background in television and on American Gladiators, and staged her first annual Radiant Pro Women's Strength Show that drew cmpetitors from fitness, bodybuilding,
powerlifting and figure.

Held in the El Portal Theater in North Hollywood, there were several former Gladiators on hand including Sky, Dallas and Hawk and co-hosted by Christian Boeving of Battledome fame. Going along with that Gladiator theme, the signature event was the traveling rings which consisted of several rings suspended from the ceiling that competitors had to swing to and from as many times as
possible in 90-seconds.

Most of the events involved bodyweight or a percentage of it and the events included: Dip (with bodyweight), Dumbell Walk (with bodyweight), EZ Curls (with 50% of bodyweight), Rope Climb (bodyweight), Chin-Ups (bodyweight), Bench Press (bodyweight), Traveling Rings (bodyweight) and the Keg Lift. This was the one event that had a fixed weight for all competitors, a benefit to the bigger/stronger girls). .

Morning Events
Dips
The dips were won by Annie Rivieccio @ 170 lbs. She actually won the most number of events but because of lower placings in certain events, she took third overall. Winning $250 for this event and $1000 for third.

Dumbell Walk
The dumbell walk was next up and a bit different from similar style events that many strength shows have with women going up and down the aisles in the theater. It added a lot of excitement as the audience could be right up next to the athletes to watch and cheer them on.

Figure athlete, Shelly Howard ended up winning the competition carrying her bodyweight in dumbells for 243 feet.

EZ Bar Curls
The always popular curling event was up next and it used an EZ-bar with 50% of a competitors bodyweight, which meant that Annie Rivieccio had to do 85 lbs.

It was another bodybuilder who won this won as Collette Nelson (160 lbs.) continues her hot streak from last year. With 64 reps in 90-seconds, Nelson won the competition. Lisa Darelli (115 lbs.) (at left) looked very impressive in this event and was a bit cheated on it because she was the only one to curl with no collars or tape to hold the plates on and lost a bit of time because of that. She sports an impressive physique and was in nice lean condition for the show.

Rope Climb
The final morning event was the rope climb. Technique was key to this event and first up was Shelly Howard (135 lbs.) who swiftly went up and down the rop twice and timed out on her third try. The bodybuilders who didn't have the technique down had trouble as using only your upper body strength is limiting, and all three (Collette Nelson, Cheri Owen (155 lbs.) and Annie Rivieccio) did not fare as well.

Dynamic fitness athlete Cynthia Bridges (115 lbs.) impressed everyone as she scaled it three times in the allotted time. Hollitt and Boeving judged by climbing up a 40' ladder.

Bridges always does well in the competitions and this show was no different. As one of the older competitors, she also impressed and her daughter was also on hand to lend support. She won this event and earned $250 besides her win for second place.

That concluded the morning portion, and in the evening there would be another four events to test the athletes.

Evening Events

Chin Ups - The first event of the evening was chin ups. Once again the bodybuilders with their superior upper body and back strength excelled with Annie doing 25 reps, winning yet another $250.

Bench Press
Another popular event was the bench press and this one was a very close competition with powerlifter Mari Asp (145 lbs.) doing very well. Asp benched a US record 308 lbs. at 148 lbs bodyweight and was definitely going to be one of the top performers. However, it was once again Annie Rivieccio who took the competition pounding out 34 reps in 90-seconds. Annie takes home another $250.

Traveling Ring Event
This was a fun one to watch and one that the athletes also seemed to enjoy and Karla Ray (135 lbs.) was the one who took the event. The lighter competitors seem to have a better time of it being able to move from ring to ring more quickly since their inertia is lower than some of the more dense and heavier athletes who carried more mass. It was also one of the more enjoyable to photograph, but so was the final event, the keg lift.

Karla Ray swinging to win this event for $250!

Overhead 1/4 Keg Lift
It's always fun to watch beautiful female athletes throwing around beer, and there has to be a beer sponsorship in there somewhere. Colette Flack (145 lbs.) might have been the most fun to watch as the tall figure pro hoisted up kegs about seven feet in the air. Flack was a machine but pure strength was the determining factor in this particular event, since it was not bodyweight related.

So once again the bodybuilders were in the drivers seat (as well as Mari Asp, the lone powerlifter) and Collette Nelson took it with over 30 reps. Colette wins the $250 for this event.

RESULTS
1st Place Colette Nelson - $3,500
EZ Curls - 64 reps - $250
Keg Lift - 31 reps - $250

2nd Place Cynthia Bridges - $2500
Rope Climb - 72 ft. - $250

3rd Place Annie Rivieccio - $1000
Dips - 54 reps - $250
Chins - 25 reps - $250
Bench - 34 reps - $250

4th Place - Mari Asp - $750

5th Place - Shelly Howard - $250
Dumbell Walk - 243 ft. - $250

Traveling Rings - Karla Ray - $250

(more pics coming soon!!!!!)