After countless hours of hard work, four local athletes put Yorkton's Pumphouse Athletic Club on the map at the Saskatchewan Amateur Body Building Association's 2013 Provincial Championships on April 20 in Saskatoon.
"We really put in the work to prepare for the competition," said Alicia Simoneau, who is one of the four Pumphouse athletes and a trainer. "For about 16 weeks, we worked out six days a week and twice a day. We also really watched what we ate. Me and Denise Kominetsky ate about 6-10 small meals a day. And the guys (Jonathon Kominetsky and Carter Koestenuk) ate about 9-10 small meals a day. That's the healthiest way to eat while training - eating a lot of small meals throughout the day."
Trained by Jon Greba and Simoneau, the Pumphouse athletes competed in their respective gender's category.
Simoneau captured two trophies at the competition: second place in Women's Figure Masters and second place in Women's Figure Medium in the Open Division.
Although it was her fourth competition, the Saskatoon-based event was new territory for Simoneau. She went into the event as her own trainer and since she recently turned 35, she competed against seasoned veterans aged 35 and older.
"I am more proud of this second-place trophy than any other win in the last few years at these shows, simply because of the tight placing and the quality of my competition," she said.
Simoneau also won the title of Inside Fitness Magazine 2013 Model Search. She will be featured in their upcoming issue.
"I was really excited when I found out I won it," said Simoneau. "It's a big accomplishment and was a big goal of mine."
Denise Kominetsky snagged a trophy in Women's Figure Tall, placing second. Her showing was a huge improvement from her previous competitions.
"She made huge improvements to her physique in the two years between competitions and was able to push for top spot in Figure Tall this year," noted Simoneau.
Kominetsky and Simoneau will be featured in the 2014 Calendar of "Saskatchewan Sweethearts" which is developed by the female competitors of Saskatchewan to raise funds for charity.
In his second year of competition, Carter Kostenuk placed fifth in Men's Heavyweight. The 23-year-old featured his best physique to date and he proudly displayed confidence and poise.
"As his trainer, I can say Carter has a tough physique to beat, and he is only going to get better," said Simoneau. "He has a promising future in this sport, and this year's tough competition just fueled his fire to step on stage again, bigger and better."
Jonathon Kominetsky captured sixth spot in Men's Heavyweight in his third year of competition.
"He definitely showed up competition day in his best condition and in peak shape," said Simoneau. "He brought a very tight and chiseled physique on game day, and his posing was one of the best on stage."
