Ladies Night at the ?03 NOC: More Champs Than You Can Shake a Barbell At. Also, ’03 Hungarian Results.

Reported June 1, 2003

Ladies Night at the ’03 NOC: More Champs Than You Can Shake a Barbell At

Women’s professional physique competition got a major boost on May 30 when promoters Wayne DeMilia and Charles Blake staged the inaugural Night of Champions Ladies Night at New York’s City Center auditorium. Seventy-three well-honed athletes hit the Big Apple to compete in women’s bodybuilding, fitness and figure. With all rounds of all three contests being held in one long night-show session, the proceedings were a bit more rushed than the athletes’or the media members who cover them’would have liked. Even so, kudos go to the promoters, along with sponsor Bodyonics Pinnacle, for putting this event on the IFBB pro schedule and promising to bring it back next year. Here’s how the boodies shook out.

NOC Women’s Bodybuilding. The 22 flexers were divided into three weight classes, but with 12 Heavyweights and only four Middleweights you had to wonder if a few of the ladies had come in carrying a bit more mass than they’or the promoters’had planned. The weight-class winners earned invites to the ’03 Ms. Olympia, and no Overall winner was crowned.

In the Lightweight battle the outcome was fairly obvious as soon as the six competitors hit the stage. Denise Masino looked even sharper than the career-best condition she displayed at the Ms. International in February to score a 29-point win over runner-up Rosemary Jennings, the ’02 NPC USA winner. Finland’s Marja Lehtoner came in only four points behind in third, with Fannie Barrios, Angela Debatin and Mary Ellen Jerumbo, in that order, rounding out the lineup.

The Middleweight contest was not so clear cut. From the callouts it appeared that that round, full and symmetrical Desiree Ellis of Canada would get the nod, but the final tabulations put the more highly conditioned Kim Harris out in front by 21 points. Jeannie Paparone, the ’02 National Middleweight winner, finished only a single point behind Ellis in third, with Germany’s Heike Jung landing in fourth.

The large Heavyweight lineup was the most competitive, although there was no doubt about the winner. With no bad bodyparts anywhere on her highly proportionate physique, Betty Viana of Venezuela easily secured a spot in her second Olympia lineup with a 27-point victory. After that the judges provided a few surprises, as the callouts seemed to indicate that their second-favorite competitor would be ’02 Jan Tana Overall winner Beth Roberts, who was in splendid condition. Roberts, however, was relegated to fourth, while the shapely mass of Zdenka Razymova and Barbora Mrazkova, both of the Czech Republic, earned top-three honors and Razymova edging Mrazkova by one point for the runner-up position. Fifth place went to Lisa Aukland, who also looked mighty fine.

2003 NOC Women’s Bodybuilding

Heavyweight Class
1) Betty Viana*
2) Zdenka Razymova
3) Barbara Mrazkova
4) Beth Roberts
5) Lisa Aukland

Middleweight Class
1) Kim Harris*
2) Desiree Ellis
3) Jeanie Papparone
4) Heike Jung

Lightweight Class
1) Denise Masino*
2) Rosemary Jennings
3) Marja Lehtonen
4) Fanny Barrios
5) Angela Debatin
6) Mary Ellen Jerumbo

*Qualifies for the Ms. Olympia

NOC Fitness. The precontest buzz had ’02 Olympia runner-up Kelly Ryan taking the top money in New York, and the buzz was right on. First-place scores in the two routine rounds plus fourth- and fifth-place decisions in the physique comparisons gave Ryan a 19-point advantage over Stacy Hylton, who was one slot behind her in every round. Anna Level won both body rounds to pick up the third Fitness O qualification, with Julie Palmer and Tracey Greenwood continuing their assaults on the pro fitness ranks to take fourth and fifth, respectively.

Nineteen competitors made the trek to New York, but only 18 made it to the stage after Peggy Sue Crawford sprained a knee backstage and had to scratch. Kim Scheidler-Klein, who is so far the rookie of the year, landed in sixth, with the most improved competitor in the show, Beth Horn, taking third in both routine rounds to finish seventh. Stacy Simons came in eighth, with ’02 USA champ Julie Childs in ninth and ’02 National champ Lisa Uzzle rounding out the top 10 in her pro debut.

2003 NOC Fitness

1) Kelly Ryan*
2) Stacy Hylton*
3) Anna Level*
4) Julie Palmer
5) Tracey Greenwood
6) Kimberly Klein
7) Beth Horn
8) Stacy Simons
9) Julie Childs
10) Lisa Uzzle

*Qualifies for the Fitness Olympia

NOC Figure. In the fledgling pro figure circuit’s first upset victory, Davana Medina beat Jenny Lynn by five points to take top honors. Although the two women appeared to these eyes about the same as they’d looked at the Pittsburgh Pro four weeks earlier, a different judging panel saw it differently, giving Medina her first pro win. Trailing 32 points behind Lynn, Mari Kudla repeated her third-place finish from the Pittsburgh show, edging Jaime Franklin by a single digit. As the top three were already slated for the Figure Olympia lineup, Franklin picked up an invite to the big show as well.

With 32 competitor this was the biggest contest of the evening. Elaine Goodlad, who continues to look impressive, took the number-five spot, with Dina Al-Sabah finishing seventh. Also impressive was seventh-placed Sharon Christian, with Sharon Kouvaras and refugee from fitness Aleksandra Kobielak tying for eighth and Allison Williams rounding out the top 10.

Although the pro figure circuit is three competitions old, only four women so far have qualified for the Figure O on October 23-24. It will be interesting to see how that lineup develops as we head into the second half of the season.

2003 NOC Figure

1) Davana Medina*
2) Jenny Lynn*
3) Mari Kudla*
4) Jaime Franklin*
5) Elaine Goodland
6) Dina Al-Sabah
7) Sharon Christian
8) Aleksandra Kobielak (tie)
8) Sharon Kouvaras (tie)
10) Allison Williams
11) Lesli Russell
12) Andi Breunig
13) Milimar Sarcev
14) Christine Pomponio-Pate
15) Amy Yanagisawa-Wilkins

*Qualifies for the Figure Olympia

Reported June 10, 2003

2003 Hungarian Pro Fitness Championship

1) Stacy Simons*
2) Klaudia Kinska*
3) Kary Odiatu*
4) Beth Horn
5) Julie Childs
6) Laura Mak
7) Carla Sanchez
8) Julie Palmer

*Qualifies for Fitness Olympia