Flipping tires, pushing trucks, throwing medicine balls and ultimately testing their strength were how 30 students decided to spend their afternoon on Oct. 18.
The third annual Strong Cat competition gave students the chance to participate in five different events: tire flip, truck pull, truck push, farmer’s walk and overhead throw. Participants were sorted into five different weight classes: men’s lightweight, men’s middleweight, men’s open, women’s middleweight and women’s open.

Corey Guidi, a senior business marketing major, competed in the farmer’s walk. The farmer’s walk consists of carrying a pair of farmer’s walk handles that are loaded with weights along a 50 foot course.

The farmer’s walk uses the most cardio so it was pretty difficult, Guidi said.

Guidi chose to compete because he figured it would be a fun way to spend a Friday afternoon.

“I like the competition,” Guidi said. “I haven’t competed in a sport since high school so it keeps me young and energetic.”

Alma Ruelas, a criminal justice major competed in the truck pull event. For the truck pull, Reulas was seated as she pulled a Toyota truck toward her with a rope for a 50-foot distance.

She loves to work out and the challenge of competition, Ruelas said. Living across the street from the WREC helped her prepare for the event.

Matt Hurst, a junior exercise physiology major, has been training to compete in power lifting for a year. He competed in the truck push event where he had to push a Ford F-350 along a 50-foot course in the fastest time.

The truck push consists of using pure strength to push a truck backwards.

“It all happened so fast,” Hurst said. “The hardest part was breaking the inertia of the truck, but once I got going, I finished pretty well.”

For the tire flip event, competitors had to flip tractor tires for 50 feet in the fastest amount of time. For the overhead throw, competitors had to launch a medicine ball from the squat position for the farthest distance.

Men’s Lightweight

1st – Corey Guidi

2nd – Christopher Missaggia

3rd – Corey Gambone

Men’s Middleweight

1st – Scott Light

2nd – David Jenkins

3rd – Lance Guidi

Men’s Open

1st – Michael Artenian

2nd – Nathan Lambert

3rd – Ben Villa

Women’s Middleweight

1st – Jessica Solimani

2nd – Lauren Reese

3rd – Alma Ruelas

Women’s Open

1st – Molly Meadows-Turner

2nd – Nicole Schaller

3rd – Kelsea Salminen

Sharon Martin can be reached at [email protected] or @sharonbmartin on Twitter.