Make that two for two.
Stephanie Leray finished her first bodybuilding season undefeated after winning the women's bodybuilding overall provincial championship Saturday in Regina.
The Estevan product topped the women's lightweight division at the Saskatchewan Amateur Bodybuilding Association's Provincial Bodybuilding, Figure and Fitness Championships, and her score proved better than the women in the other divisions too, leading to the overall title.
The win came two weeks after Leray won the women's open division at SABBA's annual Novice Classic in Prince Albert.
"I really wanted to work on my legs," she said of her training camp between events. "As women we all hold a lot more weight in our bottom half so I just wanted to bring that in tighter for the provincial show, which I did, so I was happy about that."
Leray also kept to lifting lighter weights so as not to hurt her joints, and continued to focus on keeping her body from retaining any excess water during the two weeks between events.
After not sleeping "at all" the night before the competition Leray said, regardless of the outcome, she knew her training had paid off the moment she hit the stage Saturday evening.
"The crowd was a lot louder [than in Prince Albert]," she said with a smile. "I had my own personal cheering section that came from all sorts of places so I heard my name being shouted a lot. It was a lot of fun."
On the men's side, Estevan's Jesse Yakimchuk won the junior men's division by virtue of being its only competitor, but then showed he wasn't just the token winner by finishing second in the middleweight division, which had five registered competitors.
"That's where the competition's at anyway is in the weight classes because you're competing against guys who have been doing it for, well, I know the guy who won it he's been there at least six or seven times," said Yakimchuk, who wrote his final exams at university in Lethbridge the week prior to the event.
He plans to return to provincials in 2011, hopefully in the light-heavyweight division.
"I don't think I was 100 per cent [this year]," he said. "I think the last couple of days I messed up a little bit but I know if I was 100 percent I could easily probably win it."
Estevan also found the podium at provincials thanks to Carla Smith (first, women's elite division), Alden Hagel (second, men's heavyweight), and Maureen Gervais (women's figure short).
The event actually began Friday with weigh-ins. That was followed by the pre-judging Saturday morning, where competitors receive their scores, and the evening show where competitors perform a 60-second routine to music in front of a larger audience.
"That's where the fun is because the judging has already taken place and there's nothing much more you can do," said Leray. "So I just went out and had a lot of fun and it was great.
"Afterwards it just felt so good to hear my name being called as the winner, and it was just an awesome experience."
Leray says she plans to take "a year or two" off from competition before making a run at a national championship.
