Pro/Am Contests Blog

Men:

1. Dennis James
2. Darrem Charles
3. Branch Warren
4. Will Harris (darkhorse)
5. Silvio Samuel
6. Kai Greene
7. Craig Richardson
8. Marcus Haley
9. Johnnie Jackson
10. David Henry

Women:

1. Valerie Waugaman
2. Heather Mae French
3. Kristal Richardson
4. Mary Jo Cooke
5. Pauline Nordin

Watch the FREE LIVE webcast at:

http://webcast.bodybuilding.com/fitshow/2007copro/2007copro.htm

WW

Shawn Ray was featured on the most popular morning radio station in the Denver market, 103.5 FM - The Fox. Shawn spoke about the Colorado Pro show and all the events taking place this weekend. The popular morning show duo kept things fun and moved quickly. Mary Cencich, a mother of four and 40 years old - who you saw in the videos here on bodybuilding.com before the NPC JR. USAs, was on the air along with her trainer and Ms. Fitness Olympian, Carol Semple. Also joining the group is IFBB pro, Kristal Richardson who will be making her pro debut this weekend. This is Kristal’s third show ever and I’d put money she qualifies for the Olympia her first time out.

Here are a few photos from the radio appearance.

One thing I have learned about competitions especially on the Pro level is that sometimes you never know what might happen. You can peak too soon or too late and the guy next to you can peak just on time. You can dry out too much and make it impossible to really hold those mandatory poses or move through your posing routine. It could be a cold you pick up on the airplane coming out or a mess up with yout hotel room. So in a perfect world, predictions might work but there is always the unpredictable to contend with.

I don’t know if I would count Dennis James out. At this level if everything goes right, guys like Dennis can really dial it in. This photo is just from the other day at the Cal when Dennis decided to drop by. Doesn’t look too bad… What do you think?

If he doesn’t I will be extremely pissed off. Rumour has it that Dennis James’s gut has already arrived in Denver and they are still awaiting Dennis himself. That is all……..for now!

My Top 5 predictions for the Colorado Pro are:

1. Dennis James
2. Kai Greene
3. Branch Warren
4. Darrem Charles
5. Mr. 5th place…..Silvio…..ha!

1. Valerie Waugaman
2. Mary Jo Cooke
3. Felicia Romero
4. Zhanna Rotar
5. Shelby Kadyk

Woooooord.

The Colorado Pro show is shaping up to be one of the toughest line-ups of the year. This will be a great top 10 and some good competitors will be on the outside looking in.

My top 10 Men:
1. Dennis James
2. Kai Greene
3. Darrem Charles
4. Silvio Samuel
5. Branch Warren
6. Ronnie Rockel
7. Craig Richardson
8. Will Harris
9. Johnnie Jackson
10. George Farah

Top 5 Women:
1. Valerie Waugaman
2. Mary Jo Cooke
3. Kristal Richardson
4. Felicia Romero
5. Mari Kudla

I’ll be covering the show all weekend. Check back for photos and reports here on bodybuilding.com, and don’t forget to check out the latest installment of my highly-praised "Colorado Connection!"

There is no other bodybuilding competition in the world like Muscle Beach over Memorial Day weekend at Venice Beach, California. It is perhaps the most news media covered bodybuilding show in the world, only exceeded by the Arnold and the Olympia. Where else at what other competition do you get the United States Air Force to fly over the massive C-17 Globemaster!

So much more went on during the day including trophies handed out by Gunter Schlierkamp and guest posing by Melvin Anthony. The overall figure winner is Erin Lutz and this was only her second show, having done Muscle Beach last year. And the overall mens bodybuilder is 40 year old Carl Matthews Jr. from Las Vegas.

Anyway I just got in from the beach, Muscle Beach that is. So time for a break. I will be posting some more fun stuff from this weekend at Muscle Beach, so keep checking back. And we will have the photo galleries up soon. Thanks!

Photos:
Pre-Judging Gallery
Finals Gallery
Contest Fun Gallery

The IFBB Keystone Pro Classic was held in conjunction with the NPC Lehigh Valley Bodybuilding and Figure Championships for the first time this Saturday. In conjunction with the show, there was an expo with about 25 different vendors, held at Lehigh University’s Stabler Arena. The show was split into two sessions with morning pre-judging and evening competition. I arrived around 2:30 PM after having gotten lost in and around, and even on, Lehigh’s campus. Unfortunately, I showed up just as they were closing for the morning. I was told the doors would open again at 4:30 PM. I managed to catch a glimpse of Johnnie Jackson and Branch Warren relaxing outside soaking up the sun. When I got back I checked out some of the vendors, picked up a few supplement samples, and even met Toney Freeman and professional wrestler Mick Foley.

Since this was my first bodybuilding event, I only purchased the cheap seats; however, the arena was far from filled and I ended up moving to the floor. I didn’t really know what to expect, as I had never even seen a posing routine aside from those featured in Pumping Iron. The show started around 6:30 PM with several of the women’s categories. They first competed with the one piece and later on moved to the two piece. The show then moved on to the men’s categories. I was particularly impressed with the men’s novice category in which there were some young teen competitors who already had great physiques. What astonished me even more though were the men’s masters categories (above 40, 50, and even 60). There were few competitors in this category, but the determination and conditioning of these individuals was inspiring. I hope that when I’m that age I can look as good as they did on stage. There was a man in the over 60 category who had undergone double bypass surgery and was still competing. Hearing his story and seeing him compete was amazing.  

The biggest issue I had with the event was the lack of coordination and planning. First off, there was no event schedule. Having not been to an event of this type before, I didn’t know when each event was supposed to take place. Also, there were few explanations given for the different categories. The MC several times stalled on announcing the next competitor or announced the wrong competitor. This happened several times even during the pro show, with him announcing competitors from the wrong country on occasion. Speaking of the pro show… this was what I had waited all night for. And wait we did. They took a break between the Lehigh valley competition and the pro show, and then again took a break after all of the individual competitors did their routines and announcing the winner. All in all, the show ended sometime around 10 PM or later.

But back to the action, the pros showed exactly why they deserve to be called pros. Not only did they all possess gargantuan physiques, they also exuded showmanship. The night began with Dennis Wolf and ended with him taking the title. In between however, I found some of the best highlights which I will share with you all. Music choice played an integral part as different tempos and styles added to the personalities of the competitors. Tricky Johnson gave perhaps one of the most entertaining performances of the night, complete with sunglasses, popping and locking and some other smooth dance moves. His routine may have been more dance and entertainment than posing though. Darrem Charles’ routine was also in the same vein. Trevor Crouch from England wowed the crowd with his massive lat spread. Branch Warren looked very good coming off of his win at the NY pro event. Kai Greene put on a very unique show with moves like a headstand pose and even the worm.

Overall, I thought this was a good experience. I was impressed by the conditioning of both the amateurs and professionals, and I was finally able to experience first hand what bodybuilding is all about. Going to an event like this also helps promote a sense of community that perhaps is lacking during one’s own day to day workouts. Coming out of this, I have a greater appreciation for the people who are part of this sport and it made me want to concentrate harder on attaining my own goals. Who knows, perhaps one day I’ll step on stage? Regardless, I encourage anyone in the tri-state area to go to this event next year if you have the time and support the people who are doing this locally, for fun, as well as for a profession.

- Andrew “Segansational” Segan

I survived my first competition! Yay! I didn’t place in the top 5, but that never dampened my spirits. I worked so hard to get to this point, and I’m very proud of myself for stepping out onto that stage. All the competitors were SOOOOOO friendly, and I want to congratulate each and every one of them for all their hard work and dedication…and of course, congrats to all the winners. You all deserved it.

Backstage was a combination of posing, tanning, oiling, pumping and lighthearted conversation. We were all so exhausted from being dehydrated, but yet we all still had our sense of humor! I’ll never forget the experience…it was definitely one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life. And it won’t be the last….Mountain Valley (November 2007), here I come!

Erica Osting

And the first day of the Memorial Day weekend festivities got off with muscle! A record number of competitors came on out to Venice Beach including great bodies from our own Armed Forces and lots of great people from around the world who wanted to get on stage at Muscle Beach!

A cool morning opened up to a Summer sunny day at the beach here in Southern California. It was everything you think about; sand, the ocean, good looking guys and girls. Not only did we have the show pre-judging but also booths and bands for entertainment. Even big Toney Freeman, the “X-Man” himself, could not miss Muscle Beach.

Tomorrow on Memorial Day we will see the show start off with an Air Force flyover and then get on to a big day of finals. So if you are around, come on out! And look for me and the crew from BodyBuilding.com and say Hi!

Sonia Adcock took a solid win at the Cal yesterday. She was the number one call out through the day so it was pretty easy to know where she would place.

And there was more than just Pro figure but also a real quality NPC contest. Take a look right here at the Cal Pro/Am page for results and photos.

You can also check my BodyBlog for more goins on around this holiday weekend including the next two days at Muscle Beach Venice! Thanks and keep coming back!

Dennis Wolf was the deserved winner at the Keystone Classic. The shock was Desmond Miller placing in the top 5, at least to me, not to mention placing SECOND. I had Kai Greene in second all the way.

A few pics from tonight’s show:

Your top 5 from the California Pro Figure:

1. Sonia Adcock
2. MaryJo Cooke
3. Felicia Romero
4. Cheri Lewis
5. Chastity Slone

As I stated earlier, I need to stick with the female predictions as I was pretty dead on with the exception of Felicia Romero.

The 1st Annual Keystone Pro is now history, and the results are now in.

Your winners are:

1. Dennis Wolf!!
2. Desmond Miller
3. Kai Greene*
4. Branch Warren
5. Silvio Samuel Saviour
6. Darrem Charles
7. Craig Richardson
8. George Farah
9. Johnnie O. Jackson
9. Brian Chamberlain
*qualifies for the 2007 Mr. Olympia Contest!

Question: is Silvio Samuel going to place 5th in every contest this year or what…???  LOL

Visit: http://www.flexonline.com/news/213 for Allan Donnelly’s story and my photos of the Keystone Classic. I’d have Dennis Wolf winning it with Kai Greene in second, however I suck at the men’s predictions so it will probably be Branch Warren and Darrem Charles taking one and two. HA!

A couple photos from the prejudging:

It looks like your top five in figure will be:

1. Sonia Adcock
2. MaryJo Cooke
3. Cheri Lewis
4. Felicia Romero
5. Chastity Slone

I was fairly accurate in my predictions if this shapes up to be the top 5. I think I’ll stick to the women predictions as I suck at the men’s predictions.