The annual event had 20 Chugiak High student competitors pumped to the compression point and compacted into speedos and bikinis, posing to heart-pounding, heavy metal music selections to get the crowd into the feedback loop.

The show included a figure division for the gals, along with three competitive weight class bodybuilding divisions for the girls, and four weight categories for the guys. First place division winners then advanced into consideration for the overall titles.

The event was judged by a panel of five past and present bodybuilders, all from Anchorage.

PHOTOS BY LESLIE LANCE   Junior Mike Harnish won the Mr. Chugiak title.

The judges and audience were looking for the full Monty in the competition divisions, as muscle size and hardness also came into the judging criterion.

The girls' three competitive divisions had one entrant in each category, with all instant winners: Amanda Longbrake in the bantamweight, Amanda Raulerson in featherweight and Kirsten Valentine at lightweight.

In a pose-off for overall winner, Valentine displayed the superior physique, with strong legs and impressive abdominals, shoulders and arms for the Ms. Chugiak title.

The stakes picked up significantly in the guy's divisions, with two-time division champ Ed Bailey claiming the light weight division, Mike Harnish the middle weight, Ben Otte the light-heavyweight, and Chase George the heavy weight category.

The four division winners then posed for the judges and raucous crowd in a tightly contested selection for the Mr. Chugiak title.

Junior Mike Harnish claimed the title in his first such competition, capping a two-month dietary program that proved to be the difference.

"I've been cutting out carbos (carbohydrates) over the last two months," he said. More important, he said, was the decrease in water intake that helped to shrink-wrap his skin and make his muscle striations more defined. "I didn't have any water for 24 hours prior to the competition," he said, finally rehydrating after the show.

In a close comparison between Otte, Bailey and Harnish, each had their own particular strengths, yet Harnish had the better symmetry and definition, according to the judges, noted Lance. Otte placed second, Bailey third.