Cedric Mcmillan Sweeps Nationals & Talks Symmetry - TBT 2009
#TBT 2009 - Cedric Sweeps Nationals
& Talks Symmetry
“Back in the day judging was based on shape, symmetry, conditioning and muscularity. The winner has the best or most of those qualities. Well now it's conditioning then size. The criteria has evolved a little.”
-- Cedric McMillan quote: When did he say it? See below.
It’s always great to see a bodybuilding star being born, somebody who crashes the bodybuilding landscape with the force and power of a nuclear missile. Such an occurrence happened on November 21, 2009 at the NPC Nationals being staged in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The individual in question being Cedric McMillan whose 6’ 1” frame delivered 255 pounds of proportionate and quality aesthetic muscle. With his sloping shoulders being Arnoldesque, and his trim waist and small hips structure he was a showstopper. And such was his overall look and presence that he immediately prompted comparisons with fellow South Carolinian eight-time Mr. O, Lee Haney.
Some 17 months earlier, and 11 pounds lighter, Cedric, an army instructor, had been an impressive overall winner at the 2008 NPC Junior USAs, but the victory did not create a substantial amount of buzz. In fact coming into the 2009 Nationals the names being bandied about as favorites for annexing the overall title included supers Steve Kuclo and Robert Burneika and heavy Lee Banks. And then like a hurricane blowing in from the tropics Cedric stormed to victory, relegating Burneika to second in the supers, and besting heavyweight Jeff Long, light heavy Seth Feroce, in the scrap for the overall title. (Steve Kuclo was a surprising 13th in the supers.) This Big Mac brought plenty of honed beef symmetrically displayed and his arrival at the off ramp for the amateurs transitioning into the super highway of pros was on a par with Phil Heath drawing similar gasps at the 2005 USA Champs.
INTO THE MAELSTROM
Against that Fort Lauderdale background great things were anticipated for Cedric, even future Olympia glory perchance? Such speculation hit a roadblock in his pro debut at the 2010 Europa Supershow, when he finished fourth, behind winner Essa Obaid and Mark Alvisi and Bill Wilmore who took second and third respectively. Admittedly McMillan could have been a tad sharper and he summed up the experience with the quote at the top of this column, “Back in the day judging was based on shape, symmetry, conditioning and muscularity. The winner has the best or most of those qualities. Well now it's conditioning then size. The criteria has evolved a little.”
And that’s been the anthem of his pro career so far as he has become the flag bearer for a return to a classic, aesthetic look being a prime entity for victory; a leading advocate for his credentials being Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now in his seventh year as a pro his record has a roller coaster feel to it: in 16 contests he has scored five wins and been out of the top ten three times. He’s currently locked in a battle of the Arnold Classics with Kai Greene, who won in Columbus and Melbourne, and the duo look to restore their flexing rivalry at the Arnold Classic Brazil in Rio de Janeiro on April 1st.
Who knows how high the star of Cedric McMillan will eventually rise? Whatever the future no one can take away the glory of that November 21, 2009 night in Fort Lauderdale where he was accorded overnight sensation honors as he exited the amateurs for the pro ranks.