Morgan, Been complete a big winning weekend in Illinois event

Cape Girardeau's Casey Morgan and Louie Been each won in the Rockford (Ill.) Grand Prix Natural Bodybuilding Championships last weekend. Morgan won in open middleweight, and Been won in novice middleweight.

It was Been's first competition of his career and Morgan's second.

"I was a little nervous," Been said. "Once I got out there I felt good. When we weighed in I got to see everybody, and I knew my chances were pretty good."

Morgan won his weight class and the overall championship at the Battle in the Bluff last year in Tunica, Miss., and he made it 2-for-2 with his victory this year.

"There weren't a whole lot of competitors," Morgan said. "But the ones that were there were really good. It was good competition."

Morgan said the judges were favoring overall symmetry and definition, and that worked well for both him and Been.

Morgan came into the competition at 165 pounds, and Been weighed 170.

Been said his first experiment with the strenuous bodybuilder's diet was a tough, but it wasn't so bad that he doesn't want to compete again.

"I can understand why everybody was always so irritable now," Been said. "It was hard. Everyone kept telling me that once I got on stage it would be worth it, and it was. It was well worth it."

-- David Unterreiner