This year’s “Pound Plunge” made St Joseph a good deal lighter.

More than two thousand participants lost a total of nearly 12,000 pounds since the competition began in January.

Since its inception seven years ago, the weight-loss contest has been linked to more than 82 thousand lost pounds.

In all, 2,152 people took part in this year’s competition, sponsored by K-Jo 105.5 FM, Heartland Health, and Performance Plus Rehabilitation.

Winning the top community team prize was “Bringing Skinny Back.” Jeff Beck, Lee Beck, Alex Miller and Karen Miller lost 22.78 percent of their team body weight. They each won $200 and a pair of tickets to any beach destination in the United States.

The team from Triumph Foods, Jeff Tigges, Amanda Wilson, Chantel Carrillo and Brent Lambright, won the corporate team prize. As a team, they lost 177 pounds.

This year, organizers recognized individual achievement. Robbie Betts took top honors among the men, while Kellie Osborn was tops among the women.