Rachel Huggins, senior exercise major, and Caleb Pittman, freshman athletic training major, won first place for women and men, respectively, in this year’s “Union’s Most Fit” competition.
The annual event, hosted by the Wellness Center, took place Nov. 7 in the Penick Academic Complex.
Students sign up a week in advance, and tryouts are held three days prior to the competition.
Any and all students are welcome to compete, even athletes.
Blake Pennington, Wellness Services director, organizes the event every year.
Two days before tryouts, 12 people had signed up, he said, adding that he anticipated many more would sign up before the event.
“We had around 30 sign up total last year,” Pennington said.
The competition consists of most consecutive push-ups, how many times one can jump rope in two minutes, farmers walk — which is how far one can walk with a weight in both hands — and who can hold a wall sit for the longest amount of time.
Six men and six women competed.
Kyli Hoskins, sophomore nursing major, and Jenna Summerlin, freshman chemistry major, tied for second place in the women’s category.
Huggins, first place winner and a cadet in the Reserve Officer Training Corps at Union, said she heard of the competition from another cadet and decided she wanted to give it a try.
“I didn’t really know any of the other ladies so I had no idea what level they were at,” Huggins said. “It was a lot of fun, and the great sportsman-like conduct shown was exactly what I expected to see from Union.”
Benjie Fesmire, senior business major, placed second, and Kemal Gogic, a pharmacy student, placed third in the competition for the men’s category.
Pittman, first place winner, said he did not know what to expect and was kind of goofing around at first.
However, Pittman being an athlete, he took first place with 361 jumps in two minutes for the jump-rope competition and took first in the farmers walk but struggled with the wall-sits and came in third for that portion, which led to a tiebreaker scenario.
“I knew immediately when they said the first one to do 100 jumps with a jump rope and then two trips in the farmers walk, the win was in the bag,” Pittman said.
Originally, first, second and third place winners were supposed to receive a prize for their accomplishments. However, due to National Collegiate Athletic Association regulations, prizes were withheld.
