With so many athletes competing at Strongman Corporation Nationals — held November 10-12 in Las Vegas — across several different weight classes, breaking down who's who is a daunting task. Someone always appears out of nowhere and has a performance that comes as a surprise to everyone except for a few training partners and locals.

With that said, let’s take a look at a few athletes in each class who you should be paying attention to this weekend as they compete to go pro and qualify for the Arnold Amateur World Championships. 

Lightweight 

Alisha Ciolek 

Alisha won the Arnold World Championships in 2015 she took some time from competing but is back at it and is looking to regain her pro card. 

Christina Bangma

Christina is no stranger to national championships, having won USS Nationals and Worlds. She could easily take home another national title this weekend.

Jacqueline Wood

Jacqueline took fourth place at nationals last year and is looking to move up onto the podium this year.

Middleweights 

Linden Reed

Linden took sixth place at nationals last year along with fifth at the Arnold and was so close to winning her pro card it came down to a tiebreaker at the Mid Atlantic Strongman Challenge.  I am sure that has fueled her training to make the pro card a reality this weekend. 

Rebecca Rowley 

Rebecca is a fierce competitor with a great team behind her. She had a drop on the hussafell stone which cost her last year at her nationals debut, but with another year of training under her belt could be a front-runner. 

Lindsay Aceto 

Lindsay hasn’t been doing Strongman for a year yet but has already reached the podium at a fit expo and won Illinois Strongest Woman. Despite being a rookie to nationals I expect her to be at the top.

Heavyweights 

Diondra Fryer

Diondra took fourth place last year at nationals and everyone in front of her has went on to turn pro. Diondra has insane speed on the yoke and that should help her this weekend as she looks to earn her pro card. 

Jessica Fithen 

Jessica won USS Nationals this year and has overheard strength that can hang with anyone. A clear favorite this weekend. 

Kristal Renaudette 

Kristal won the middleweight division at nationals last year. Now moving up to heavyweight she is looking to do the same. 

By Kalle Beck. Kalle Beck is a Lightweight Strongman Competitor who runs Starting Strongman which is devoted to getting people interested in the sport of Strongman and showing that it is truly for everyone. Kalle can be contacted for Online Training at  KalleBeck@StartingStrongman.com