Butcher, Morgan steal the show

It was a long wait for family, friends and supporters, but when Reemar Butcher and Tia-Ling Morgan stepped on to the stage at the Lester Vaughan School on Friday evening for the National Sports Council (NSC) Mr. School Boy Bodybuilding & Ms. School Girl Body Fitness Championships, the crowd went wild.

The exuberance was well deserved as Morgan of Christ Church Foundation strode confidently out to face the crowd. The 16-year-old lady looked an image of elegance and confidence in what was her first time in Body Fitness. Wearing a shimmering purple bikini, she posed with a graceful flair which captivated the audience as well as the judges. She was nervous, but it never showed and flashed the perfect smile as the results declared her the winner, the 2017 Ms. School Girl Body Fitness (Seniors) Champion.

The new champion, trained by Vallence Humphrey, admitted that when the last girl stepped on the stage, she believed that it was possible that no one was going to beat her performance, but did not want to be overly confident.

“When the last girl stepped on, I said to myself ‘This is mine.’ The encouragement from the crowd and the atmosphere was awesome,” she stated.

Morgan is currently Studying CAPE Biology, Physics, Computer Science and Com. Studies. She said that it was tough keeping up with the training all the while doing exams and studying. In second place was Shante Barker of the Barbados Community College (BCC), third and fourth also went to BCC students with Raven Greene and Valencia Humphrey taking those spots respectively. In fifth was Zalika Greaves of the University of the West Indies.

Reemar Butcher of the Daryl Jordan Secondary School is a veteran. He has been competing for a while now, chasing the gold in the Mr. School Boy Bodybuilding competition. He finally reached the mountain top and did it in style. His physique was top-notch, with a solid muscular frame and a huge pair of quads in the mix. He was in the very last category of the evening, but his presence on the stage caused the most noise in the crowd for the competition. He looked the part, not just in body but also in confidence as he posed for the judges. Without a doubt on the minds of the crowd and the judging panel, he was awarded the 2017 Mr. School Boy Bodybuilding title and won the Best Poser and Most Muscular categories to go along with the title.

When the announcement was made, a look of disbelief was written on his face, afterwards when he spoke to The Barbados Advocate, the new title holder said he felt great because he worked hard for it. Training for the young bodybuilder started immediately after Barbados Nationals, where he placed fifth in the Juniors. Butcher said that he was not taking any chances and had prepared his whole body as best as he could to present the best specimen to the judges. Just like Morgan, Butcher confessed that it was a tough road, especially balancing school work, music as well as work, as he is an up and coming barber.

The newly crowned champion wanted to thank his family and friends as well the whole Daryl Jordan posse for their support and he was happy he could win the title for himself and his supporters. The silver went to Deandre Bascombe of St. Leonard’s Boys and in third was Adrian Dyal of the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute.