It takes a brave soul to dance on a pole in front of hundreds of onlookers.
“(My friends) made me do it,” said Bambi Jeter of Lubbock, Texas, and a senior at Texas Tech, and one of the ten or so people who danced at Ponga’s on Friday night.
“It was fun. Very nerve wracking,” she said.
The winner, Selena Touchstone of Pagosa Springs, won the adoration of the crowd.
“This was my first time, and it was really fun,” she said.
Second-place winner Kimberly Pennington said she has done some pole dancing professionally in Denver at a strip club called Platinum 84.
“I used to work in strip clubs,” Pennington said.
Owner of Ponga’s, J.R. Spies, said that when the event began five years ago, he wasn’t sure if people would show up.
Now, he has lines going past Joel’s each year.
“We stay at 202 (capacity),” Spies said.
The only man to participate, Aaron Cato, said this was his first time pole dancing.
“I figured I could shake my booty,” he said.
Pennington said she wishes she had more experience.
“I might need to install a pole in my home,” she said.
Mark Hayden