Pro/Am Contests Blog

LOL, the reason this blog doesn’t have any Olympia blog coverage is because the Olympia has it’s own dedicated blog!

Click here to see 2007 Olympia Weekend blog coverage:

http://blog.bodybuilding.com/OlympiaBlog

I got this great email from IFBB Figure Pro Meriza DeGuzman about this past weekend’s 2007 IFBB Tournament of Champions Pro Figure competition.  I’m posting her thoughts here with her permission for your viewing pleasure!

"Oh my, I’m still on Cloud 9!  It’s been a great year for me.  I earned my pro card in June at Figure Nationals, after three heart-breaking close calls, and with my class, "A" class getting tougher and tougher each show!

I promised Jon Lindsay (California NPC and IFBB promoter) that I’d do his show (Tournament of Champions) if I ever got my pro card.  Well, true to my word, I kept my condition since June and got up on Jon’s stage this past weekend.

To tell you the truth, I was super nervous!  (Butterflies in my tummy!)  I mean, I have stood onstage with the best amateurs in the country so many times, I had gotten fairly comfortable with the other "shorties".  They are all so good now, whew!  I think I was so nervous because I was concerned about how I would compare to the taller girls.  It was funny, actually, standing side by side with Mary Jo Cooke and Nancy Georges, both at least a foot taller than me in their heels!  LOL

One thing that was different was how friendly and supportive the girls were at the show.  It was a surprise, and felt funny, when John Tuman, the head judge, called us by our first names when he was comparing us!  I used to be just a number.  That made me feel special.  The girls are all so sweet and nice - not what I was expecting.  They were so supportive of me because it was my first time.  Mary Jo was great!  And, Heather May French was so sweet, too.  Oh yeah!  the prize money wasn’t bad either!  Sonya Adcock was there, and was so nice and supportive… everyone is so sweet - my pro debut was great!

Plus, honestly, I have looked up to and admired many of the girls at the pro level.  I was more than a little bit intimidated.  Tanji Johnson, for example, has been sort of an idol of mine since I first met her at Emerald Cup 2005.  She’s so sweet and so beautiful, I couldn’t believe it when I found myself standing right next to her in the line up!

Gina and I train in the same gym.  We hang out personally sometimes - we got our nails done on Thursday before the show, and try to coordinate our cardio sessions when we can; she was like my big (little) sister - so sweet, and supportive - but still, she’s "Gina Aliotti", right?  Same goes with Mary Jo Cooke.  I mean, all of these girls are so beautiful, and have been successful as pros, could you believe it?  I was up there too!  and I’m still shocked that I did so well for my first pro show.

I know I’ve got alot of improvements to make, but I am working so hard.  I have some new confidence now, but I know that the girls on stage at the O are on another level!  It’s an honor to be able to stand on stage under that big red "O"!  I still can’t believe it!  Like a dream come true.  I am so blessed for this opportunity.  I can’t wait!

So, watch out, Vegas, and watch out world!  Here comes all 4′11 1/4" of Meriza!"

Meriza DeGuzman
www.MerizaFigure.com

Note: see also Meriza’s previous post on the TOC.

The OCB Natural Indiana Bodybuilding and Figure competition was held on Saturday, September 22nd in Indianapolis at the Lutheran High School (5555 S. Arlington Ave, Indianapolis, IN).  The prejudging started at 12 Noon and Finals were at 5pm, the show included Men’s/Women’s Bodybuilding and Novice, Open, and Masters Figure divisions.  Much more information on the show can be found at:
http://www.theocbwebsite.com/Results/2007/IndianapolisIN/OCB2007IndianapolisIN.htm

The results are as follows (I don’t have pictures for all divisions yet):

Mr/Ms Natural Indiana:
Tommy Jeffers (Sporto1633)
Keisha Pedigo

Figure Novice Short
1 Keisha Pedigo #21*
2 April Jones #20 (redhead75)
3 Jodi Sturdevant #22     (FitNFiesty)
4 Debbie Buess #9

Figure Novice Tall
1 Ann Maroso #7
2 Karen Halter #24
3 Karina Rhodes #10
4 Tracy Llewellyn #8
5 Abby Spencer #23

Figure Masters
1 Ann Maroso #7
2 Karina Rhode #10
3 Tracy Llewellyn #8
4 Debbie Buess #9

Figure Open Short
1 Keisha Pedigo #21*
2 April Jones #20 (redhead75)
3 Jodi Sturdevant #22      (FitNFiesty)

Figure Open Tall
1 Ann Maroso #7
2 Karen Halter #24
3 Abby Spencer #23

Women’s Novice
1 Tracy Nash #3

Women’s Masters
1 Tracy Nash #3

Women’s Open
1 Tracy Nash #3

Men’s Teen
1 Jacob Rice #1
2 Steven Jones #2

Men’s Novice Short
1 Lance Scott #13* (beezer37)
2ALbert Gary #15
3 Ken Montgomery #4 (KnowstheSky)
4 Charles Randolph #14
5 Rodney Suggs #12

Men’s Novice Tall
1 Joseph Deborta, Jr. #18
2 Marcus Smith #17
3 Eric Walden #19
4 Derek Lewis #16
5 Jacob Rice #1
6 Greg McBride #6

Men’s Masters
1 Joe Raley #5
2 Ken Montgomery #4 (KnowstheSky)
3 Greg McBride #6

Men’s Open Short
1 Mike Wilseck #25
2 Albert Gary #15
3 Steven Jones #2
4 Charles Randolph #14

Men’s Open Middle
1 Tommy Jeffers #27* (Sporto1633)

2 Joe Raley #5
3 Lance Scott #13 (beezer37)
4 Joseph Debrota #18
5 Graig Presti #26

Men’s Open Tall
1 James Redd #28 (reddj)
2 Marcus Smith #17
3 Derek Lewis #16

*Division Winner

I apologize for not having pictures for ALL divisions, I was on stage so I couldn’t take pics hahah.  However, if you’ve got a pic I can edit this post and make sure it gets put on there!!!
This was my first show and I felt like it was a good one, expect to see me again under those lights!

Glen Dale, West Virginia.  September 22, 2007.

The West Virignia State and Mid Atlantic Grand Prix was held at John Marshall High School in Glen Dale, WV.   This show has been running for six years.  It is highly organized and everything went smoothly.  Kudos to promoter, Rick Bayardi!  Erik Fankhouser, a former competitor and champion of this show, was the guest poser.   Erik, also known as "The House", is West Virginia’s first male to become an IFBB Pro.  Pictures of his performance are in a previous blog on this page- scroll down!  

Below are a few images from the show.  Note to competitors:  I have many pictures!  I might have a few of you!  Please contact me with your name, class and competitor number so I can check for you- if you are interested!  Please email me (tew377@aol.com) or communicate through BodySpace (click on my picture at the top of this post).  

Please check this blog at a later date for a complete list of winners!

Daniel Young, Heavy, WV State Overall Champion  

Teresa Lake, Mid Atlantic Overall Figure Winner

A Few Ladies of Figure

Competitors in the Mid Atlantic Grand Prix
Nick Kovell, 1st Light Heavy and Best Poser, in the center

Overall Winner of the Mid Atlantic Grand Prix, Super Heavy, John Rearick

Congratulations to all competitors and winners!

Compliments of GeneX.

Pro Fitness results (**Olympia qualified)

1) Rosi Mena**
2) Myriam Capes**
3) Stephanie Worsfold**
4) Vlasta Gruberova
5) Kendra Elias
6) Sandra Wickham

I spotted this Atlantic City Pro review by curt_james on the Usenet misc.fitness.weights newsgroup recently, and am reposting it here with his permission.  Enjoy!

“Attended the Atlantic City Pro Saturday. Got there about a half-hour after the start of the evening show, but still had a fantastic time. Lots of pics, but they’re all on a disposable camera. Picked up a Kodak “Plus Digital” at a service station along the PA Turnpike near Philly. Dropped it off at the grocery store’s photo kiosk an hour ago. (Anonymoose, take note!)

Yaxeni Oriquen, Chris Cormier, Troy Alves, and old school bodybuilder Leon Brown of Pumping Iron fame were all gracious enough to pose for pics. Took some pics of the audience as well as shots of the on stage action, but I’m sure they’re all tiiiiny and probably blurry, too.

Also met Victor Munoz, Yaxeni Oriquen’s and Victor Martinez’s trainer, who was at the show. Check out Pro-Edge.net for Munoz’s website.

The star of “Super Size She,” Joanna Thomas, competed, placing 4th in the under 135-pound category.

Never heard of “Super Size She”?
http://www.flicklife.com/989769097660a5639506/Supersize_She_Woman_BodyBuilding.html

Lisa Aukland won the ladies’ competition and Johnnie O. Jackson won the men’s pro thus qualifying for the Mr. Olympia which will take place September 28 in our own David Cohen’s back yard of Las Vegas!

Women’s 8th place under 135-pound competitor, Giusy Caputo of Sicily, posed for pics with 11th place under 135′er Claudia Partenza and both signed an autograph on this fanboy’s program. 

Six hours of round-trip drive time, but it was very much worth it, imo.

Om, lots of MD staff on hand, but I didn’t recognize more than the faces. You would probably know who they were from the magazine.

–
Curt
http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/curt_james/

More Atlantic City Pro info here:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/2007ifbbatlantic.htm

Wheeling, West Virginia -

NPC West Virginia State Show and Mid Atlantic Grand Prix

Saturday September 22, 2007

Check him out!  Erik Fankhouser a.k.a. “THE HOUSE”, IFBB Pro, guest posing at the West Virginia State and Mid-Atlantic Show.  Erik had the crowd on their feet cheering.  He is the first male IFBB pro to come out of West Virginia.  

These calves are no joke!

I am just back from the Tournament of Champions and the Pro Figure. Gina Aliotti looked like she was far away from everyone else when she walked on stage. And the judging shows that she sure was. She took the first place spot with a pretty good margin. Mary Jo Cooke-Elliott was second and a surprise was Meriza DeGuzman coming at as third. So the three of them are on the way to the Olympia only three days away. Tanji Johnson who was in town anyway for some choreography practice came in at fourth and Paola Almerico was fifth. There were 16 competitors in this race.

Amateur figure was won by short class competitor Jamie Costa who was also the favorite from this morning. She had a lot of shape, cut and form with a great command of the stage.

Mens overall went to middle weight Moji Oluwa who was just looking great all the way through. It seemed easy to Moji like it was no big deal for him to walk on stage and win.

But sometimes in a show someone comes along and just steals it all away. And that happened in this show. And the guy that did it was heavy weight winner Larry Brown. With a posing routine that had everybody electified and hypnotized all you heard was the sounds of an amazed crowd. And then in the battle for the overall, the chant coming from the crowd echoed over and over, “LARRY” “LARRY” “LARRY”. It was a way cool moment for Larry Brown.

See you and at the Olympia next, and please keep coming back if you “Wanna See More…?”

Post by: SecondFocus

No real surprise here, Gina was the odds on favorite going into this show and takes with her another win into the Figure Olympia.

Meriza qualifies in her first pro show. Congrats.

1. Gina Aliotti
2. Mary Jo Cooke
3. Meriza DeGuzman
4. Tanji Johnson
5. Paola Almerico
6. Heather Mae French
7. Nancy Georges
8. Sherie Salvadori
9. Anna Larsson
10. Arina Manta
11. Chrissy Garcia
12. Alejandra Abdala
13. Susanne Bock
14. Allison Williams
15. Aida Aragon-Tinkle
16. Yamanaka Kiyoka

Despite the predictions of rain, it is a sunny day in Anaheim California for the IFBB Pro Figure Championships and NPC Tournament of Champions.

Prejudging is finished and as I left for the break, the Pro Figure looks like it has been stolen by Gina Aliotti. She looks just incredible. Her body is lean and hard and cut and turned. Color is great and her one piece fit her just right. So I expect that she should have the top spot at the finals tonight.

And the quality of competitors is excellent especially among the amateur men in the light heavy and heavy weights. It is going to be a tough call and the guys tonight will be wroking hard. Heavyweight, Larry Brown, from Iron Bodies Gym in Costa Mesa CA is looking so very good and will certainly be in there later.

There are some great amateur figure athletes too so, so there is plenty to see. And as always there are your favorite supplement companies as well as BodyBuilding.com on hand with freebies. Lots of Pros who are on their way to the Olympia are walking around too.

So you can still come to the show tonight and if you around you will find it great fun. Get the info at MuscleContests.com.

Thanks and keep coming back if you "Wanna See More…?"

IFBB Figure Pro Meriza DeGuzman gave me permission to repost this MySpace bulletin from her about this weekend’s IFBB Tournament of Champions Pro Figure contest in Anaheim, California.  Enjoy!

“Just want to invite everyone to give me some positive energy this coming weekend… Sept 22, 2007 at Anaheim Cook Auditorium - Tournaments of Champions… I will be doing my IFBB Pro Debut and 619 Muscle team headed by Pete Ciccone.

IFBB Figure Pro, Meriza DeGuzman.

Team 619 muscle that will be competing:

Merv Thompson
Ryan Spink
Nell Bautista
Michael Baustista
and Robert!!!!

Also good luck to our dearest friend IFBB Pro Gina Aliotti (Kim’s Angels)!!!

Wish us all luck and thank you for everyone’s support!”

xoxo,

Meriza DeGuzman
IFBB Figure Pro
www.MerizaFigure.com

Editor’s Note:  For more info on the 2007 Tournament of Champions Pro Figure contest, click here:

http://www.lindsayproductions.com/2007TCProFig.htm

Competitors’ List (as of 9/14/2007):

Alejandra Abdala, Argentina
Gina Aliotti, USA
Aida Aragon, USA
Susanne Bock, Germany
Mary Jo Cooke-Elliott, USA
Heather French, USA
Chrissy Garcia, USA
Nancy Georges, USA
Tanji Johnson, USA
Yamanaka Kiyoka, Japan
Anna Larsson, Sweden
Allison Jones-Williams, USA
Arina Manta, Australia
Sherie Salvadori, USA

Johnnie adds another title to his belt with this show. He won the Montreal show last year and adds his second pro victory in Atlantic City.

View full results from the show at:
http://www.ifbbpro.com/results/atlantic-city-pro-2/

1. Johnnie Jackson
2. Darrem Charles
3. David Henry
4. Melvin Anthony
5. Craig Richardson

David Henry will now make is way to the Olympia as he is now qualified. Johnnie and Darrem were both qualified. Melvin placing 4th is the story of this show. Will this hurt his chances at the Olympia? It certainly didn’t help…

I’m reposting this MySpace bulletin with permission from IFBB Fitness and Figure Pro Nicole Wilkins for your reading pleasure.  Enjoy!

"For those of you who couldn’t get to NY for Team Universe this past July, you can see my routine that won the overall on YouTube or go to this forum link. 

Also… I only have 6 more days until I step on stage in Spain for the IFBB World Championships! Tracy Beckham, Jodi Miller and I will be representing the USA in Santa Susanna, Spain next weekend. We were all invited to compete after winning at the Team Universe Championships. I found out that there will be about 60 other countries competing, so it is similar to the Olympics except it is for bodybuilding, fitness and body fitness (aka figure).

Afterwards, I will be enjoying a little more variety in my diet until my pro debut. When will that be you ask??? Well…. you will just have to wait and see… 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend - I am about to finish packing!

GO TEAM USA!!!!!”

Nicole Wilkins
http://www.myspace.com/36550924
Team Universe Figure & Fitness Overall Champion and IFBB Pro

For more info on the IFBB World Championships, click here:
http://www.ifbb.com/reports/insprep/santasusanna2007.html

Female Bodybuilders:
Light-Weight:
1. Nicole Ball
2. Klaudia Larson
3. Angela Debatin
4. Joanna Thomas
5. Debbie Bramwell

Heavy-Weight:
1. Lisa Aukland
2. Betty Viana
3. Debi Laszewski
4. Lora Ottenad
5. Heather Foster

Atlantic City Figure results:

1. Andrea Dumon*
2. Heather Green*
3. Chastity Sloan*
4. Michelle Adams
5. Hazel Nelson

* Qualify for the Olympia. Congrats to Heather Green in making it to the Olympia stage her first time on the pro stage!