Season’s End and the First Show of 2011

There really is no off-season in women’s physique competition, a point that was driven home to me on Friday night at the figure and bikini check-ins for the NPC Excalibur Championships in Culver City, California. One hundred and seventy-some women were signed up in those two divisions alone to hit the stage at the final entry on the ’10 NPC Southern California contest calendar—a lot of enthusiasm bubbling, contest diets notwithstanding, for several hours as they signed up, checked in, etc.

The point of my attendance was to pass out flyers and info about the first big competition of the 2011 NPC Southern California contest season, the IRON MAN Magazine Naturally, which is rockin’ the LA Fitness Expo on January 29. So, basically, we break for the holidays and then it’s back on the treadmill. The NPC IRON MAN Magazine Naturally, is a polygraph-tested event and a qualifier for the Team Universe. For more info, click here.

Before we get started on 2011, however, there’s a piece of business left over from ’10, the last of the November 20 Fort Lauderdale Cup Pro competitions, figure.

It was a huge lineup of 30—old pros and new—and the judges had their work cut out for them. First place went to defending champ Kristal Richardson, which was not unexpected. She is, after all, the number-four figure competitor in the world. If she brings it, most likely she’s going to take it home. And bring it she did, “it” being a smoothly put together package that was all the judges needed to see. They gave her the win by a three-point margin.

The really interesting stuff, at least for this observer, is what happened after that.

In second, Ava Cowan came her closest yet to finding the conditioning that best suits her splendid symmetry. Third in San Diego at the Border States in October, fourth at the Kentucky Pro Muscle on November 13, she seemed to present a different physique each time—softer in San Diego, more conditioned in Kentucky softer but not as soft in Fort Lauderdale. Just call her Goldilocks.

Third went to Candice Keene, who duplicated her placing—and her condition—from the Kentucky show, while Alicia Harris, in her first appearance since making the top six at the Olympia, tried to smooth down her muscle tone even more and landed in fourth. Like Ava, she’s got the right lines but is still struggling to find a winning balance. In this case, the judges preferred consistent Candice, who finished three places behind Alicia at the O.

Gennifer Strobo, who also pulled it back a bit from her last appearance onstage, in Kentucky, rounded out the top five. Find the complete results from the Fort Lauderdale Cup Pro Figure below.

Photo: Kristal Richardson.

’10 Fort Lauderdale Cup Pro Figure

1) Kristal Richardson*
2) Ava Cowan*
3) Candice Keene)*
4) Alicia Harris
5) Gennifer Strobo
6) Emily Nicholson
7) Petra Mertl
8) Elizabeth Earhart
9) Candice John
10) Lenay Hernandez
11) Ginette Delhaes
12) Natalie Revajova-Lenartova
13) Ann Titone
14) Tina White
15) Teresa Gillian
16) Tessa Wood
17) Aleisha Hart
17) Ann Pratt
19) Tinamarie Bloomfield
19) Viviana Casarubbia
19) Raechelle Chase
19) Caroline Hernandez
19) Charmayne Jackson
19) CeaAnna Kerr
19) Georgina Lona
19) Amanda Marinelli
19) Teresita Morales
19) Elvimar Sanchez
19) Susan Salazar
19) Mavis Tozzi
*Qualifies for the ’11 Figure Olympia.