Forty-nine contestants opened the Strong Gator competition with a shout in unison.
“I am the strongest Gator,” they yelled into the wind, each convinced it was true.
Four hours later, only five victorious contestants, one from each weight division, had earned the right to shout that mantra.
The competition, hosted by RecSports, took place on Maguire Field on Saturday and tested contestants’ strength, endurance and speed as they fought for bragging rights and a Strong Gator champion T-shirt.
Competitors had one shot at each of the four events: atlas stone, log clean and press, yoke walk and the medley.
The contestant with the highest combined score for all four events in his or her weight class was named the winner.
Five minutes into the event, grunting and heavy breathing competed with the blaring music played to pump up competitors.
Strong Gator was a family affair for Robin Clark, a 20-year-old computer science junior. He competed against his brother Raymond, a 19-year-old freshman, in the division for men between 175 and 204 pounds.
The brothers developed a shared workout routine and intensified their training last week by practicing with heavier weights, Robin Clark said.
Because of a tie in his weight class, Robin had to repeat the medley, an event in which contestants complete tasks, such as repeatedly flipping a 500-pound tire.
He lost the tiebreaker, but he said he was still happy with his second-place performance.
“I did the best I could,” he said.
Muna Oli, a 19-year-old psychology freshman, entered at the last minute when her trainer, Erin Collins, convinced her to participate.
Oli arrived Saturday morning with just one thought in her mind.
“I didn’t want to embarrass Erin,” she said.
She didn’t. Oli was all smiles after beating seven opponents to win the division for women weighing less than 140 pounds.
The toughest part of the competition, she said, was lifting a 100-pound atlas stone onto a waist-level platform as many times as she could in 45 seconds.
She held out her arms to prove her point, exposing bloody scrapes on the inside of her wrists from rubbing against the stone’s rough surface.
“I’m glad I got some war wounds,” Oli said.
Andy Karch, who emceed the event, said the medley event, which included a prowler push, farmer’s walk and tire-flip, will include different tasks next year, and a new surprise event will be added.
Oli is already excited for the next shot at maintaining her title.
Bearing her war wounds with pride, she said, “I’ll for sure be back.”
