Saturday Wrap-up: Tampa, Tracey and Mo—Plus Europa Flash
Update: The results Europa Battle of Champions, in Connecticut, started coming in just as I was finishing up this entry:
Women’s bodybuilding top three: 1) Brigita Brezovac, 2) Helen Bouchard, 3) Cathy LeFrancois.
Figure top three: 1) Candice Keene, 2) Terri Turner, 3) Gina Trochiana.
Bikini top three: 1) Dianna Dahlgren, 2) Jessica Jessie, 3) Diana Fields.
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I hate being on deadline when things are happening—the excuse for not having recorded my sentiments regarding the IFBB Pro Bodybuilding Weekly events last weekend. Not that the world ended or anything, just that the developments down there in Tampa, Florida, were mighty interesting.
In the PBW Bikini event Team Universe sensation Nicole Nagrani continued her winning ways, trouncing the competition in her pro debut and leaving Jaime Baird to land in second again (she was runner-up at the Europa Show of Champions last spring and third at the Pittsburgh Pro). Third place in the lineup of 10 went to another hot new pro who got her card two weeks ago at the T.U., Vanessa Campbell, with all three earning invites to the Bikini Olympia in September.
Diana Fields in fourth and Kat Holmes rounded out the top five.
What’s so interesting about those developments? For one thing it sets up a showdown for the O with the season’s earlier sensation, Nathalia Melo. Those (like me) who were thinking Melo’s future as the first Big O bikini champ was assured may want to think again.
Also noteworthy for the return to competition of figure star Dina Al-Sabah, who managed sixth and should have no trouble getting into the swing of her division if she keeps going.
Interesting as all that was, it didn’t hold a candle to the drama in the PBW Women’s Bodybuilding battle, where another auspicious pro debut upset a greater expectation than that it was Jaime Baird’s time to move into the winner’s. The expectation was that New York Pro champ Cathy LeFrancois would be the big winner in what turned out to be a 28-woman lineup. The reality is, she got hustled, tussled and outmuscled by newcomer Brigita Brezovak, a Slovenian flexer who finished second at the World Championships in 2009 (above photo courtesy of rxmuscle.com.) Also by one-time middleweight champ Tina Chandler, who added some size and sizzle to her symmetry to surprise pretty much everyone by taking second. That left LeFrancois in third.
It looked like a great call to this far-off observer. Brezovak is the real deal—long, full muscles and plenty of ‘em; structure and proportion to die for and outstanding separation. She had more than enough of everything to challenge for the top spot, and the judges didn’t hesitate.
Their choice of Chandler for the runner-up Olympia qualification was also a good call. Much has been made of the fact that Tina has put on eight pounds of muscle since she turned pro at the ’07 NPC Nationals, but I thought it was her excellent conditioning that pushed her past LeFrancois in Tampa. More definition than perhaps she’s ever achieved gave the extra muscle maximum pop. She and Cathy were tied after the judging, but by evening the panel had made up its mind.
Helen Bouchard finished fourth, with Nicole Ball landing in the top five. Both those ladies were on their game, so you can imagine how deep the talent was in that big lineup.
As I write this, Brigita and Cathy are flexing it out with 18 others at the Europa Battle of Champions in Hartford, Connecticut; so we’ll see if this history repeats itself. [As you've undoubtedly noted above, it did].
A couple other items that did not escape my notice this week:
• Tracey Greenwood retired from competition. According to a press release from Fitness Management Group, the 41-year-old Delaware diva, who finished third at the Fitness Olympia last year and has been as high as second, has been dealing with lingering injuries and felt it was time to move on. Not that she’ll be far from our view—or our hearts. A college professor in her day job, Greenwood promotes three NPC shows and over the past year or so has slipped into a key expediter role at many big NPC and IFBB events.
• Davana Medina pulled out of the Battle of Champions Pro Bikini event. No reason was given (nor does she owe us one). The bottom line: We may see the first Fitness O champ on a pro bikini stage later this year, or we may not.
A couple of weeks ago, when I was writing the then-breaking item about Davana’s return to competition, I couldn’t help comparing it to a breaking news item of a few weeks before that: Monica Brant’s jumping from the IFBB (after all these years) to join Paul Dilett’s upstart Canadian World Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation. That item I did not get to blog about in a timely manner, as it occurred during the worst of last month’s deadline. Still, it was a pretty big story (I laughed…I cried…), and I didn’t mean to overlook it Now I read on the Web site that broke the story that everything that’s been said about Brant’s decision has already been said; so I guess I’ll keep my naughty thoughts to myself—at least until I talk with Mo.
Photos (from top): Brigita Brezovac (courtesy of Rxmuscle.com), Tracey Greenwood and Monica Brant.
She’s Ba-a-a-ck!
In my comments regarding the New York Pro Figure the other day (immediately below this entry), I left out the number-one reason that figure athletes are like bodybuilders: They never really retire. The point has now been made by today’s press release from Fitness Management Group that Davana Medina, who won the first three Figure Olympia titles and then hung up her posing suit, is coming back to competition. Specifically, the 5’7” Real Diva of New Jersey will make her return in a week and a half at the ’10 Europa Battle of Champions—in the pro bikini event.
Am I shocked? Pl-e-e-ase. Even if Medina and her people hadn’t been dropping hints for the past year or so, it wouldn’t have been surprising because of the never-retiring principle mentioned above. Also because she hung it up before her body had even begun to quit. I’m also not surprised that the 36-year-old is choosing bikini, although it’s kind of too bad. It would have been interesting to see someone with Davana’s structure and a little more muscle than Nicole Wilkins-Lee give the latter a real run for her money at the Figure Olympia.
Instead, Davana has been shedding muscle, but will it be enough? In bikini, having a killer body is only the beginning, and even in figure now the moves have gotten sassier. So the real question is, Does Davana have the stuff? As in sass, as in attitude, as in the ability to sell it on the runway just short of working a pole? Recently, I had a conversation with celebrated trainer Kim Oddo about the challenges (and fun) of helping bikini competitors bring out the sass. It really is different from figure prep. Fortunately for Davana, she’s chosen to work one of the physique world’s hottest movers and booty shakers, multi-time Fitness Olympia and Fitness International champ Adela Garcia. If anyone can help Medina pull out all the stops onstage it’s top chica Adela. That ought to give those Florida and California girls who have dominated pro bikini so far something to think about.
Notes: Adela’s training program is called O.F.F.—Overcome Fitness Fears; for info go to www.offchallenge.com. Davana is available for appearances, endorsements, interviews and modeling, contact FMG at fitnessdivasproductions@verizon.net
Photo: Davana Medina and Fitness Management Group’s J.M. Manion in April 2009. At that time the word was she was not planning on coming back. Never say never.
N.Y. Pro Figure—This Brownie Is Not Overcooked
It was no contest, according to the panel at the New York Pro Figure, held last weekend in Hackensack, New Jersey. Cheryl Brown was queen of the hill, top of the heap, nailing a perfect score to earn the second title (after the ’09 Kentucky Pro last November) of her relatively short career. Brand-new pro Dana Fallacara was four points behind Terri Turner after the one-piece comparisons but made a real impression in the two-piece round to pull into the runner-up spot.
Another new pro, Josie Zamora, who beat Fallacara in the battle for the overall at the Junior Nationals last month, took fourth, while Gennifer Strobo, who’s qualified for the ’10 Olympia thanks to a couple of previous third-place finishes, rounded out the top five.
It was a big lineup—32 women took the stage—but not really the deepest we’ve seen this year. As I perused photos of all the competitors, I couldn’t help thinking, and not for the first time, how thin the line is between pro figure and women’s bodybuilding—in terms of leanness as well as muscularity. The one-piece suits in particular can be less than flattering on ultralow-fat physiques, and there was enough of that in evidence in New York/Jersey to make me cheer today’s IFBB Advisory Notice (superseding a previous advisory notice) that the one-piece round is now history.
Another thought that stuck out (pun intended) as I went through the pictures: Flow of the bodyparts is key in figure as well as bodybuilding. Sometimes I want to scream, “Big shoulders are not the answer to everything.” (But I don’t…I don’t.… The heck I don’t.…)
Brownie, who was the favorite going into the competition, had the best blend of balance and conditioning in the lineup, and the panel wasn’t going to pass on a sure thing. The rest of the top placings looked pretty reasonable as well to this desk chair observer, including Turner, who was due for an Olympia qualification, in third. Strobo wasn’t at her best—could have been fuller—creating the opportunity for a pair of talented and hungry rookies to slip in ahead of her.
Gina Trochiano, who got her pro card at this show, at the Team Universe, in ’09, made a strong debut in sixth, while Meriza DeGuzman, still seeking an Olympia invite for this year, landed in seventh.
Find the complete results below.
Re the one-piece suits. The organization’s reasoning on this may not be the same as mine, but we certainly agree on the outcome. Starting with the next pro figure event, the Europa Battle of Champions in Hartford, Connecticut, on July 23 and 24, and henceforth, including at the Olympia, there’s will be on only one round of comparisons in figure, two-piece swimsuits.
’10 New York Pro Figure
1) Cheryl Brown
2) Dana Fallacara
3) Terri Turner
4) Josie Zamora
5) Gennifer Strobo
6) Gina Trochiano
7) Meriza DeGuzman
8) Ann Titone
9) Marcy Porter
10) Candice John
11) Jelena Abbou
12) Tivisay Briceno
13) Chelsey Morgenstern
14) Jenn Migliacci
15) Holly Beck
16) Angela Mraz
17) Jeni Briscoe
17) Christina Casoni
17) Nicole Coleman
17) Caroline Hernandez
17) Jennifer Hernandez
17) Juliana Malacarne
17) Michelle Mayberry
17) Marie Ann Newman
17) Vicki Nixon
17) Katherynne Ramirez
17) Tammy Strome
17) Kimmy Trowbridge
17) Rosalind Vanterpool
17) Stacy Wig
17) Magdalena Wilk
17) Jennifer Woodruff
Photos: Cheryl Brown (top) and Dana Fallacara.
Team U Figure ‘n’ Bikini—the Kids Are All Right
I must be getting soft, but my reaction to the overall winners of the NPC Team Universe Figure and Bikini Championships, crowned last Saturday, July 10, in Hackensack, New Jersey. was, “Adorable.” Of course, there are many wonderful words that could be used to describe figure champ Jackie Hoppe and bikini topper Nicole Nagrani, but in a weekend in which I duly and truly came to understand why Nicole Wilkins-Lee is the top pro figure competitor in the world (a conversation for another entry), it was good to see the NPC crown a couple of cute-as-a-button contenders at this pro-card-bonanza competition.
Pro cards are awarded to the top two in each class in figure and bikini at the T.U. Figure and Bikini Championships, in addition to two per at the accompanying National Fitness Championships. There’s also a pro card for the overall winner of the masters figure division, so you can see why this show is a magnet for babes of all ages. As the numbers show, however, despite bikini’s growing popularity, it won’t be overtaking figure anytime soon: 162 in the figure lineup, plus 69 in the masters, some of whom were crossovers, vs. 77 in the bikini field.
Jackie Hoppe was deemed the best of 37 in the figure C-class before snatching the overall from Tiana Gonzalez (A-class), Teresita Morales (B), Charmayne Jackson (D), Mona Muresan (E) and Michelle Battista (F). Pro cards also went to runners-up Shala Singer (A), Kiana Phi (B), Joanne Murphy (C) Mikaila Soto (D), Patricia Nguyen (E) and Kristen Nagrani (F). The latter, by the way—and in case the name sounds familiar—is the mother of bikini champ Nicole Nagrani, mentioned above, which makes them the first mother-daughter duo ever to turn pro on the same day in the NPC. (Although for my money it’s hard to top Lee Priest’s winning the Australian national mixed-pairs-bodybuilding title with his mum back when he was a teen.)
As so often happens in pro-qualifiers that include masters events, crossover competitors earned pro-qualifying spots in both divisions. Thanks to changes in NPC procedure, the nonmasters winners were announced first, and those who got their pro cards were taken out of the running for the over-35 pro card. That led to a couple of ladies moving up to the head of their classes, including masters C-class runner-up (to Soto) Elizabeth Earhart, who ended up winning the masters overall and getting a card.
At the other end of the spectrum was Nagrani the younger, an 18-year-old former cheerleader and fitness competitor who’s got a great look and, I’m guessing, displayed some smooth moves in winning the bikini B-class and overall. Pro cards also went to: Natalie Abrheim and Kelly Gonzalez (A-class, first and second), Lindsey Morrison (B-class, second), Vanessa Campbell and Bianca Binno (C), Juliana Daniell and Nicole Guerrero (D), Juliette Primak and Chady Dunmore (E) and Jenny Drennan and Kristal Martin
Photos (from top):
Tina Durkin and promoter Steve Weinberger hail new figure champ Jackie Hoppe.
Figure class winners, tall to short (from left): Michelle Bautista, Mona Muresan, Charmayne Jackson, Hoppe ,Teresita Morales and Tiana Gonzalez.
Overall bikini winner Nicole Nagrani.
Bikini winners (from left) Jenny Drennan, Juliette Primak, Juliana Daniell, Vanessa Campbell, Nagrani and Natalie Abrheim do the stride ’n’ snap.
T.U. Women—Quinn Is In
It must be a little galling to newly crowned Team Universe Women’s Bodybuilding champ Gina Quinn that everybody’s talking about Haley McNeff, the 21-year-old heavyweight she beat for the overall title (along with middleweight winner Joy Henderson) last Saturday night in Hackensack, New Jersey, but it can’t be helped. It’s difficult to recall the last time such a dynamite combination of looks and structure as Haley has to offer blazed into the women’s bodybuilding firmament. That said, the overall crown, along with the right to a pro card, went to the best bodybuilder in the overall posedown, and that was Gina.
A mother of four who started bodybuilding at age 40, Quinn took second in the lightweight class in 2007 and third last year. She beat out a tough field of eight, including runner-up Laurie Smith, and last year’s class champ, Maria Carolina Davis, who had to settle for third,
McNeff, who’s in her first year of national competition, reeked potential from the minute she got onstage but was not exactly crisp in her presentation, as we like to say. When the judges awarded her the heavyweight title over gals who were clearly in better condition, it caused quite a stir—but can you blame them if they thought she was the best package to represent the United States at the Women’s World Amateur Championships in Mexico this fall (if, in fact, they think that way?)? A lot of training can happen between now and September 30, when the games begin.
Heavyweight runner-up Alisa Allen showed excellent potential as well, and third-placer Karen Gatto brought a nicely conditioned package.
Henderson, who was the only middleweight, displayed a super set of biceps but was no match for Gina in the battle for the overall. As there are only two weight classes at the World’s, we’ll have to see how the U.S. team shapes up.
It’s a dayum shame in general that more women don’t want to enter these trials for the World Amateur Championships. Yeah, I know they’re drug-tested (I covered the show for a lot of years), but I’m willing to bet that numerous athletes who could have been very competitive here will turn up later this month at the USA, if not the Masters Nationals.
So what is it about the T.U. that keeps many likely contenders from entering it? The class winners get to compete abroad—and it’s a pro qualifier. The move from New York to a less expensive New Jersey location didn’t seem to boost the numbers in the women’s division—there are 18 competitors listed in the final results. Since anecdotal evidence suggests that women’s bodybuilding is anything but dead, I have to wonder what’s up with that.
One of the main reasons that I haven’t been to the Team Universe/Fitness Nationals/New York Pro Figure in a couple of years is the shrinking bodybuilding lineups—men’s and women’s. It’s become a marathon weekend for figure and bikini, plus fitness, not a bad thing, but our reason for covering the T. U. was always to highlight the drug-tested bodybuilding nationals. When the travel budget got cut, well, you can finish that sentence.
So my hat is off to all the female flexers who have the body and the guts to enter the Team Universe. Here’s hoping there will be more next year, ’cause I love covering this show—even if it means going to New Jersey.
Photos (from top):
Gina Quinn got the big trophy, plus pro status.
Haley McNeff got the award for best potential.
Joy Henderson got the no-guts-no-glory award.
N.Y. Pro Figure Judging: Will It Be Brownie’s Big Day
The ’10 IFBB New York Pro Figure (and NPC Team Universe and Fitness Nationals) got off to a big start last night in Hackensack, New Jersey. From the callouts and photos it appears that Cheryl Brown, a 38-year-old mother of three who’s had a sensational string of top-three finishes since turning pro last summer at the IFBB North American Championships, is on tap to score her second win. Also that Terri Turner and Gennifer Strobo could be nabbing the other two Olympia-qualifying spots.
Those three, plus Dana Fallacara, a brand-new pro who took the A-class at the Junior Nationals last month, made the first callout in the one-piece suit round. I liked the look of Josie Zamora, the overall champ at the Juniors, and the judges must have too. When they got to the two-piece round, they added her to the previous group for the key first callout.
The accompanying photos are the first callouts from both rounds, courtesy of Reg Bradford. Check back later for more on the Team U and Fitness Nationals—and to see if I was right about Brownie, Terri and Gen.