Radiant Pro - A Women's Strength Show

January 22, 2005 - by genex hwang

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 competitors 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. 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).

The dips were won by Annie Rivieccio (170 lbs.) who actually won the most number of events but because of lower placings in certain events, took third overall.

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 that competition carrying her bodyweight in dumbells for 243 feet.

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.

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.

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.

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

The first one was chin ups. Once again the bodybuilders with their superior upper body and back strength excelled with Annie doing 25 reps. 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.

The traveling rings were Hollitt's personal favorite event from her American Gladiator days, and after an exhibition by one of the kids helping out, it was begun and this was yet another event where technique is important.

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.

It's always fun to watch beautiful female athletes throwing around beer, and there has to be a beer sponsorship in there somewhere.

Collette 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.

That result gave Nelson just the push she needed to win the show overall. It was very tight from all eight events, and the show should be considered a success. Hopefully it will return again next year, and keep your eyes peeled on the TV Guide to see when it will air (or just check back here to FTV). A special note should go to Claudia Garza (120 lbs.) who came in as a last minute replacement and showed a lot of spirit in all the events and represented herself well.

Results

Overall:Collette Nelson -$4,500 2)Cynthia Bridges - $2,750 3) Annie Rivieccio - $1,500 4) Mari Asp - $750 5) Shelly Howard - $250 6) Karla Ray - $250 Morning Competition Dips 1) Annie Rivieccio - 54 reps 2) Collette Nelson - 47 3) Cynthia Bridges - 46 4) Mari Asp - 41 5) Cheri Owen - 30 6) Karla Ray - 29 7) Shelly Howard - 27 8) Lisa Darelli - 25 9) Claudia Garza - 18 10) Collette Flack - did not compete Dumbbell Walk 1) Shelly Howard -243 ft. 2 tie) Cynthia Bridges - 237 2 tie) Collette Nelson - 237 4) Mari Asp - 225 5) Collette Flack - 218 6) Karla Ray - 215 7) Claudia Garza - 184 8) Annie Rivieccio - 160 9) Lisa Darelli - 155 10) Cheri Owen - 150 EZ Bar Curls (50% bodyweight) 1) Collette Nelson - 64 reps 2) Annie Rivieccio - 59 3) Lisa Darelli - 54 4) Cynthia Bridges - 49 5) Collette Flack - 45 6) Mari Asp - 43 7) Shelly Howard - 30 8) Cheri Owen - 29 9) Claudia Garza - 27 10) Karla Ray - 20 Rope Climb 1) Cynthia Bridges-72 ft. 2) Mari Asp - 55 3) Shelly Howard - 50 4) Lisa Darelli - 33 5) Karla Ray - 32 6) Annie Rivieccio -28 7) Claudia Garza - 27 8) Collette Nelson -26 9) Collette Flack - 22 10) Cheri Owen - 18

Evening Competition Chin Ups 1) Annie Rivieccio - 25 reps 2) Collette Nelson - 24 3 tie) Mari Asp - 21 3 tie) Lisa Darelli - 21 3 tie) Cynthia Bridges - 21 6) Karla Ray - 18 7) Collette Flack - 14 8 tie) Shelly Howard - 10 8 tie) Cheri Owen - 10 10) Claudia Garza - 8 Bench Press 1) Annie Rivieccio - 34 reps 2) Mari Asp - 33 3) Collette Nelson - 32 4) Cynthia Bridges - 17 5) Cheri Owen - 8 6) Shelly Howard - 2 7) Claudia Garza - 0 8 tie) Collette Flack - did not compete 8 tie) Lisa Darelli - did not compete 8 tie) Karla Ray - did not compete Rings 1) Karla Ray - 22 2) Cynthia Bridges - 20 3) Shelly Howard - 19 4) Collette Nelson - 18 5 tie) Claudia Garza - 17 5 tie) Mari Asp - 17 7) Annie Rivieccio - 16 8) Collette Flack - 13 9) Lisa Darelli - 12 10) Cheri Owen - 8 Keg Lift 1) Collette Nelson - 31 reps 2) Mari Asp - 26 3) Annie Rivieccio - 25 4) Shelly Howard - 19 5 tie) Collette Flack - 11 5 tie) Cheri Owen - 11 5 tie) Karla Ray - 11 8) Cynthia Bridges - 8 9) Lisa Darelli - 3 10) Claudia Garza - 2