Pro/Am Contests Blog

Tonight Branch Warren confirmed that he will be competing in the Colorado Pro on June 1-2. He was looking insanely huge tonight when he guest posed. Here are a few shots…

Longer report and more pics to come…

The NPC Northern CO prejudging went very smoothly today and finished up at 12:30pm. I was an hour off but I’m glad it was early and not later. Jeff provided grub from Illegal Pete’s for the volunteers and the judges. I have some video footage backstage and of the setup, a little behind the scenes action you don’t often see. Speaking of action the fitness competitors kicked things off at prejudging and will do so again tonight. Here’s a shot from this morning. More photos and reports tonight. Look for photos of Branch Warren guest posing and Jen Hendershott rolling in with 24 of her Phat Campers.

Off to the finals.

2007 IFBB Keystone Pro Classic & NPC Lehigh Valley Bodybuilding & Figure Championships
May 26th 2007 * Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Each year Craig & Chrissy Johnson of Top Physique Productions and with their partners Ed Mehlig and William Villanueva  put on several top level NPC competitions in the Northeast area. This year we are pleased to announce the induction of the IFBB Keystone Pro Classic to be held on May 26, 2007. This year the IFBB Keystone Pro Classic will be held in conjunction with one of the longest running amateur shows in the Country, the NPC Lehigh Valley Bodybuilding & Figure Championships, a National Qualifier.

The show will be held at Stabler Arena, a 5,000-seat venue seated on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, just off a major interstate, I-78. The city of Bethlehem is located about 1 hour north of Philadelphia and about 1½ hours southwest of New York City, right in the middle of one of the largest health and fitness based regions.

We’ll be donating over 500 tickets to local youth assoc, military, police & fire departments for our community outreach program.  With the prize money set at $40,000 and top 3 qualifying for the Mr. Olympia, we anticipate a great turn out from the IFBB competitor’s and with our affordable admission fees, a packed house. National and local vendors with high profile celebrity appearances at our expo will be a crowd pleaser.

Location:
Stabler Arena
124 Goodman Drive
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA 18105
www.stablerarena.com

Ticket Prices:
* VIP includes both Pre-Judging and Finals $125
* Pre-Judging:
(1st level) $20.00
(2nd level) $10.00
(3rd level) $5.00

* Finals:
(1st level) $40.00
(2nd level) $30.00
(3rd level) $15.00

Event Schedule:
Check/Weigh-ins: Friday May 25th – 5pm to 9pm
Amateur Athlete Meeting: Saturday May 26th – 8am

Expo Doors Open: 8:30am

Prejudging: 9:30am

Finals Expo Doors Open: 4:30pm

Finals Start: 5:30pm

Host Hotel Info:

NPC/IFBB group rate: $85.00 per night

Crowne Plaza of Allentown
904 Hamilton Street
Allentown, PA 18101
610-433-2221
www.allentownpahotel.com

For more information on this event log on to www.KeystoneProClassic.com or E-mail: info@topphysique.com

Additional info here:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/2007ifbbkeystone_info.htm

I’m drinking an Orange Fix Endorush and it’s doing a good job of helping me wake up. The host hotel isn’t fancy but it’s definitely the cheapest hotel I will stay in all year. I’m about to feed my bellllay and then head over to the prejudging. I’ll go behind the scenes and provide you footage that will only be available here on Bodybuilding.com. The Fitness starts first, followed by the figure and then the bodybuilding. I’m going to predict we’ll be done at 1:43pm. Let’s see how my swami skills are today. The finals will start with the women at 5pm. It’s supposed to be a nice day here in Boulder, which beats the snowstorms we had a few days ago.

I’m sure I’ll have a few interesting stories from today. Check back this afternoon for the 411.

More photos from tonight’s check-in:

IFBB Pro Fitness Competitor, Bridgette Murray and her team

Branch Warren getting the lowdown from one of the show sponsors.

IFBB Figure Pro, Chaundra Tangi gets the scoop on when she needs to do the women’s show make up.

Competitor’s getting the lowdown from the judges. No, it’s not a wig.

It can be a real nailbiter the night before the show and no carbs.

These good ol’ boys are ready fix’n to git themselves sum grub.

The lovely Mrs. Taylor, is ready for some food. Apparently the peace sign is a popular pose tonight.

William Owens pretending to be a mime for the competitors.

Tonight was check-in time for the NPC Northern Colorado show. The show totaled 65 competitors, most of which are figure competitors. There are 5 or 6 fitness competitors which is up from the past couple years. IFBB Figure Pro, Bridette Murray was in attendance with her team of girls. Bridgette will be competing later this summer in fitness. I helped with checking the heights of figure competitors and weighed in the bodybuilders. All the competitors received shwag from Axis Labs, Labrada and CytoCharge. IFBB Pro Chaundra Tangi made a brief appearance and will be doing women’s makeup tomorrow. Top NPC bodybuilder, William Owens was on hand to help with judging criteria and will be helping out backstage tomorrow. Branch made an appearance for awhile, talked with fans and said a few hellos. I’ll be roll’n with big Branch tomorrow morning. I heard from Jen Hendershott - she made it to Denver safe and will be in attendance tomorrow night at the show. I ended the evening with a delicious meal at Chili’s, I highly recommend the Margarita Chicken.

A few shots from tonight.

Jeff Taylor, Axis Labs and Branch Warren

William Owens goofs around while others are working.

William doing some work, measuring the height of a figure competitor.

The line up of competitors waiting to check-in so they can chill.

Men’s Novice Division

Overall Winner: Kenyatta Wilson

Lightweight Weight Class

1. Kenyatta Wilson
2. Kaui Mayurai
3. Donovan Oga

Heavyweight Weight Class

1. Joseph Lacar
2. Keoni Solidum

Men’s Open Division

Overall Winner: Shavis Higa

Bantam Weight Class

1. Jesse Segura

Lightweight Weight Class

1. Shavis Higa
2. Andrew Saguid

Middleweight Weight Class

1. Moji Oluwa

Heavyweight Weight Class

1. David Feather
2. Michael Ralar
3. Dan Munoz

Men’s Masters Division

Overall Winner: Chauncey Murakami

Lightweight Weight Class

1. Chauncey Murakami

Heavyweight Weight Class

1. Charles Ferguson
2. Alparadise Alboro, Jr.

Women’s Bodybuilding

Overall Winner: Ailina

Lightweight Class

1. Ailina

Heavyweight Class

1. Robin Nee

Women’s Fitness

1. Christine Nguyen

Women’s Figure

Overall Winner: Brandy Leaver

Short Class

1. Dani Freitas Ronquilio
2. Dee Dilwith
3. Kelly Dean
4. Tasha Travis
5. Susan Drelich

Middle Class

1. Brandy Leaver
2. Gaylene Vedder
3. Christi Ah Nee
4. Maxime Kaname-Pichay
5. Brenda Anderson
6. Carolyn Kaahanui

Tall Class

1. Rebecca Goods
2. Irina Woomer

Aloha!

Here are seven photos from our first annual Stingrey Classic in O’ahu, Hawai’i this past weekend!

More photos are available on ReyRonquilio.com!  Enjoy.

Mahalo!

Get descriptions of these photos at ReyRonquilio.com.

THIS SATURDAY is the NPC AXIS LABS NORTHERN COLORADO Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships Presented by GOLD’S GYM/Loveland. BRANCH WARREN is guest posing. There are still tickets available, so join us at the BOULDER THEATER March 31st!

Date: Saturday, March 31, 2007
CHECK-IN Friday Night 6pm

Time:
Saturday - Prejudging Fitness/Figure 9:00am, Bodybuilding 11:00am; Finals Fitness/Figure 5:00pm, Bodybuilding 7:00pm

Location:
Boulder Theater, 2032 14th Street, Boulder, CO 80302

Cost:
$11 for morning prejudging.
$16, $22, $27, $37 and $55 for Finals plus tax and fees.
Tickets available at www.jefftaylor.com or call 303-786-7030.

If you’ll be competing in this contest and would like to share your thoughts about it here, please let Richard know!  Thanks!

The 2007 NPC Vancouver USA Natural Bodybuilding Championships and the Tanji Johnson Fitness and Figure Classic will be held on March 31, 2007 at Skyview High School in Vancouver, Washington, USA.

The 2007 Classic is proud to announce IFBB Masters World Champion, Bob Cicherillo as the featured guest poser. “Chick” is the popular co-host of the talk radio show Pro Bodybuilding Weekly. The irrepressible Cicherillo is one of the most colorful pros in the sport. Never one to mince words, Chick is known as the “mouth that roared.”

Recently added as guest poser is IFBB Pro & 2007 Arnold Classic Champion, Victor Martinez! Martinez has one of the most complete and well-proportioned physiques in the pro ranks. His flowing lines and chiseled mass have placed him as one of the front-runners to the Mr. Olympia crown.

Also featured is IFBB Pro Fitness competitor, Tami Ough. One of the northwest’s brightest up-and-comers, Tami will be performing one of her dynamic fitness routines. She will also be working with promoter and IFBB Fitness Pro, Tanji Johnson at a free posing rehearsal on Friday night.

This is the twenty-second year of the Vancouver USA. Over one hundred competitors are expected and forty health and fitness exhibitors.  This year we expect almost 10 fitness competitors in the line up. Tanji Johnson, ranked top 4 in the world, has launched a campaign called SAVE FITNESS to drum up interest back into the sports she passionately loves!

Be part of the kickoff of the 2007 Northwest Bodybuilding season at the Vancouver USA championships!

Looking for information on the upcoming 2007 NPC Jr. USA’s?  Well, look no further, friends - see below for a little something something.

Branch Warren is the guest poser!

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/2007npcgaspari.htm

If you’ll be competing in this contest and would like to share your thoughts about it here, please just let me know!  Thanks!

Looking for information on the upcoming 2007 IFBB New York Pro and 2007 NPC NY Metropolitan bodybuilding, fitness, and figure championships?

Well, look no further, friends - here’s a little something something:

New York Pro Women/NPC Metro Page

New York Pro Men’s Page

If you’ll be competing in this contest and would like to share your thoughts about it here, please just let me know!  Thanks!

Sitting alone in bed at night with my trusted sidekick Big Ted, a name I shamelessly ripped of Play School when I was only 30cm tall, I question again runs HITTingly through my mind; why do we submit ourselves to “torture” (pleasure to some) to sculpting the perfect body? More specifically, I wonder whether bodybuilding is our vice, our poison, as a means to provide meaning in a world that continues to demonstrate no stability. Are we turning to bodybuilding as a means to provide some form of control in our lives to make us more secure, to make us feel like we’re in the driver’s seat, and to make us feel that despite being manipulated by a little string in the grand scheme of an unavoidable destiny, we steadfastly refuse to conform to the status quo, stubbornly raising our heads in defiance with a logic that defies all reason?

After all, if our goal in life is to reproduce, what is the point of working out long after we snare our women (or men) and start making devilishly cute children with the combined genes of our perfect partner? Is there another reason, despite the logical health benefits, that come from working out? After all, any sane person would suggest that subjecting ourselves to pain over and over again is not a pleasurable way to spend our limited leisure time in a society that increasingly demands more and more quality production from a decreasingly available time allotment.

Sure, we can suggest that those who work out are long term thinkers, visionary philosophers, who understand that the short time pain will pay exponential dividends later on, but like most people in this world, we expect short term benefits along the way to assure us that we are on the right track as evidenced by my undeniable urges to seek validation that my column musings are improving the lives of people everywhere.

Or could it be that we do so, for the prevention of the “what-if” scenario? What if one day, we found ourselves in the position that the only way to survive a maniacal bank robber shooting was to hurdle over 10 queue barriers Olympic style to tackle would-be robber while simultaneously saving an old lady’s cat from an oak tree while dialling 911 on the telephone to alert the local police department of current events; a feat that can only be performed by those who consider themselves Sparta?

While females are generally regarded to as the fairer sex, the classic male, discounting the relatively modern phenomena of the SNAG (sensitive new age guy) and metrosexual (someone who has sex on trains), is stoic. He is strong and he is the protector of the herd and he doesn’t take an insult to his damsel in distress lying down. He would sooner bleed to protect her honour than utter mumblings of apology and believes that pain is simply weakness leaving the body. He is, in other words, Sparta; the epitome of male alphaness who reeks of manliness so much that the world trembles in his presence. He also doesn’t believe in deodorant.

My theory is that as males, even in ancient civilizations and contemporary society, we grow up exposed to what the ideal male should be. Magazines, television shows and movies all portray men with the 6-pack abs and more recently, a natural 12-pack sported by Gerard Butler who played the role of King Leonidas in the movie “300”, a movie about Spartan King Leonidas who lead his army of 300 soldiers against the invading Persian army during the Battle of Thermopylae. If we grow up believing that the ideal male sports pectoral muscles that subliminally communicate to the opposite sex, “Here, let me hold that large TV set for you,” and arms that promise the ability to sweep a woman off her feet, our emotional development can only be severely lacking due to the constant messages of bigger pectorals, lower body fat percentages and heavier squats, bench presses and deadlifts, compound exercises that every bodybuilder should be well versed with.

In a world that demands our continual development, is our focus on the physicality merely because our emotional selves are severely retarded and thusly too hard to develop when easier gains can be made with our measuring tapes? Or do we believe that if we can control our body, we are grounded and sure of ourselves that it instils in us acknowledge that if we can change our own bodies, we can effect change in the wider community and then the world?

I like to think we fall somewhere in this medium, for if we, a race notorious for its procrastination, can discipline ourselves three times a week on a constant ritual homage to the Gods of discipline, this dedication and steadfast resolve to never miss a workout can be transferred to everything else we do in our lives; the dishes for mum, becoming top executives, and finally, saving the world. Yes gentlemen and ladies, we too, can be heroes.

Hello to everyone!  I had my first competition on the 23rd of March, The 2007 Stingrey Classic, Rey Ronquilio’s inaugural show.  Rey’s show was filled with an incredible amount of energy and excitement.  There were dragons, skits, fashion shows, and even a little bit of comedy throughout the night.  The guest posers, Nicole Duncan and Phil Heath looked amazing.

Shawn Ray and Bob Cicherillo made sure to keep the audiences’ eyes on stage throughout the show.  Roc Shabazz’s skit with Pebblz‘ son was done so well!  That’s what I would like to talk about more.  The skit performed during the show had a wonderful moral.  If you work really hard at what you want out of life, you’ll eventfully achieve all of your goals.

That’s how I felt about the Sting Rey Classic, it was my first time stepping out onto the stage.  All that’s going through my mind is, “I hope my bikini bite is going to stay,” “I hope my hair piece doesn’t fall out,” and “I hope I don’t bust my butt in these shoes.”  The girls in the show were great!  All the girls were incredibly friendly and willing to lend a helping hand.

It was great meeting island favorites like Maxiene and Irene!  Before attending the competition, I set some personal goals for myself. I made sure to keep in mind, keep your goals realistic! I wanted to be at a certain weight, and I wanted to hold a certain body fat percentage.  I had another goal which was to place top three.

Meeting those goals alone made me feel like a winner.   That’s whats most important.  Be happy with your accomplishments and have a winning attitude.  I couldn’t be more happy to place third (Short class division), for my first show.  So, I think this is a sport I might stick with for a while and see where it takes me. Danny, much congratulations to you for the short division!  You look awesome!  I hope the industry takes you far!

Keep that winning attitude and stay positive!
Kelly

My Video Clip From The Show!

Official Stingrey Classic Website

Need info on the upcoming 2007 Boise Fitness Expo?  Check out our info/schedule page and press release here:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/2007fitexpo_sch.htm

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/pr72.htm

Who’s going to be there?  Well…

Mr. Olympia, Jay Cutler
Monica Brant-Peckham
Toney Freeman
UFC Fighter, Rich Franklin
Jamie Eason
Bob Cicherillo
Dayana Cadeau
Tanji Johnson
“Hollywood” Jerome Ferguson
Trey Brewer

…among others!

If you’ll be competing in this contest and would like to share your thoughts about it here, please just let me know!  Thanks!