2004 NPC Emerald Cup Contest Report

by Gene X Hwang - April 24, 2004

Seattle, WA, USA - Once again, Brad and Elaine Craig, the promoters for the Emerald Cup, put together a tremendous show with top talent competing, guest posing, and judging and with the growth in popularity of figure, Friday night was devoted to fitness and figure, while all of Saturday was focused on bodybuildng.

As the athetes came out on Friday, it became instantly notable that the competition was deeper in talent than the Jr USAs which were just one week earlier. There were several athletes who competed in both shows, but overall, the Emerald Cup pulled the better talent to the stage and was impressive to see.

Fitness to had more competitors, and better preformances throughout the depth of the fields. Sabrina Gibson took the overall fitness title over tall class winner Nicole Charneski. Both performed well, but the level of routines has been dropping overall in fitness since it's hey days before figure. At the national level there are some top competitors with amazing routines like last year's Emerald Cup champion Kim Dolan, but the fields are getting smaller.

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Figuring it Out...

Figure athletes are definitely getting better and better, meaning their physiques are evolving and as the competitors train and compete longer, you can see more muscular physiques with more solid, mature muscle as well as amazing aesthetics. Genetics being what they are, there are many gifted athletes being attracted to figure, and that is a positive sign.

When the overall was being decided at the Emerald Cup, it was easily evident just how hard a decision the judges had before them. With all five class winners looking incredible, it was Chastity Slone taking the overall. Slone has incredible structure, great proportions and came in perfect condition. Trained by Mike Davies and the Fitness Factory, they just keep churning out incredible physiques. Now we just need a bunch more of those factories throughout the world, and maybe we can start to change the perception of the masses so that they can come to appreciate the beauty of a muscular physique.

Note: we don't have scoresheets/competitor #s so there are competitors that placed outside the top five in all the classes that are worthy of being pointed out, but we can't identify them yet.

The short class was taken by Courtney Morley who was returning the the Emerald Cup and was striking with her impressive shape and strong delt and leg development. She edged out Texan Jodi Miller who was looking even tighter than a week ago at the Jr USAs.

The medium-short class (there needs to be some sort of standard naming convention though it seems with the number of classes switching between competitions, that it won't be settled right away) was strong, but Zhanna Rotar was the class of the group. Rotar was very tight and lean, and is having a strong year and should challenge for her pro card in her class if she chooses to compete in the appropriate shows later this year. Behind her was Nikki Charneski who had won the fitness tall class (again, yet another height class).

The medium class was Shannon Roberts' as she edged out Laura Salter. Roberts has incredible charisma on stage, and could have a strong future with a very marketable look, and it may have been her overall package that edged out Salter.

Chastity Slone of course was the medium tall class winner and was on of the judges easier calls for the evening. Placing second was Erin Brown who will also be someone to keep an eye on as she continues to compete.

Lisa Balash was the tall class winner and that class was probably one of the easier ones to judge, with it being smaller in size. The medium tall was the deepest class with 21 competitors.

The masters class looked fairly solid with Aida Aragon winning but Over 40 winner Kellie Piggee taking the overall. The top few in each of the two classes looked impressive and shows the benefits of strength training for people of all ages.

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Bodybuilding continues to be a huge draw though and the fans in the Meydenbauer Center were packing them in for the competition. As with most years, the show sells out and was standing room only once again.

Although the volume of athletes competing was not as high as in previous years, the champion was no less stellar. It seems at anything but the top three national level shows (Nationals, USAs and Jr Nationals), that the women in the bodybuilding competitions aren't as deep in quality as in the past. It may be the pull of athletes that figure has or other things, but hopefully we will see those numbers increase at the local and regional level.

The lightweight class was won by Pacific Northwest regular Paula Schaffer. She has been dominating the lightweight class in many shows throughout Oregon and Washington state but has yet to take the national stage. Her crisp conditioning and more full muscularity placed her ahead of Sheri Rigdon in 2nd and Patsy Rabdau in third.

The middleweights were probably the most shallow field and Wendy Spicer took that class. April Marie Stanford was some of the fans choice, but her build still was quite slight and she could easily look better with a lot more mass. Sarah Woltanski placed third to complete the class.

Once again, the light heavweight class continues to prove its worth, with another overall champion coming out if it, and the best depth of the show being presented in it as well (incidentally in the men's competition, the same thing happened).

Nicole Berg looked outstanding as did Rebecca Warren, and both were trained by National level heavyweight Gerri Deach. Berg and Warren were both full and lean, with balanced physique, but Berg's more full muscle bellies and legs pushed her to the title. At the evening finals, Warren tightened up even more and looked amazing, but it was a bit too late but she should be confident going into her next competitions.

Candace Camlin had been doing a lot of powerlifting to add mass and had added about ten pounds of lean muscle mass from her last Emerald Cup but retained some water and didn't come in sharp enough, but her back and arms looked impressive. Wendy Lindquist fixed her tan problems from the night before where she competed in figure, and looked sharp. Her stage presence and creative posing brought good energy to the stage and she beat out Evelynn Johnston to round out the top five. Johnston's most outstanding feature was definitely her abs which she flexed for most of her posing routine.

The heavies were Deena Olson's class. She was ohe most conditioned athlete in the class, and she beat out Rhonda Dethlefs who had added some nice width to her lats, but wasn't as hard and lean as Olson. Dethlefs is gunning for the Team Universe where previous Emerald Cup overall champion Kirsten Haug will also be competing. Haug was in attendance and looked impressive in her offseason which incidentally would end as the show itself did.

Audra Kimsey took third and Demerus Ballinger was fourth with Susan Stone taking fifth. Stone really needs to hit her diet harder as she was not really ready to take the stage.

In the master's competition, Over 35 champion Charlotte Campbell looked awesome. With a thick upper body and in fine shape, she easily outmuscled the class and beat out Over 50 champion Elaine Hood for the overall.

Results

Bodybuilding Overall: Nicole Berg Lightweights (115 lbs and under) 1) Paula Schaffer 2) Sheri Rigdon 3) Patsy Rabdau Middleweights (over 115-125 lbs.) 1) Wendy Spicer 2) April Marie Stanford 3) Sarah Woltanski LightHeavyweights (over 125-140 lbs.) 1) Nicole Berg 2) Rebcca Warren 3) Candace Camlin 4) Wendy Lindquist 5) Evelynn Johnston Heavyweights (over 140 lbs.) 1) Deena Olson 2) Rhonda Dethlefs 3) Audra Kimsey 4) Demerus Ballinger 5) Susan Stone Masters Overall: Charlotte Campbell Over 50 1) Elaine Hood 2) Denise Rathwick 3) Saundra Moore Over 35 1) Charlotte Campbell 2) Carla Casler 3) Christine Moorman 4) Kim Olson 5) EQ Puitt 6) Merry Christine   Fitness Overall: Sabrina Gibson Short 1) Sabrina Gibson 2) Chandra Young 3) Jessica Narbinger 4) Tami Ough 5) Kimberly Lynn Tall 1) Nicole Charneski 2) Michelle Mayberry 3) Michelle Ker 4) Kristina Jensen 5) Hawley Almstedt 6) Amanda Ogden

Figure Overall: Chastity Slone Short Class 1) Courtney Morley 2) Jodi Miller 3) Robin Packer 4) Jessica Starmaggie 5) Marga Martin Medium Short Class 1) Zhanna Rotar 2) Niki Charneski 3) Neely Tartalia 4) Wendy Lindquist 5) Aida Aragon Medium Class 1) Shannon Roberts 2) Laura Salter 3) Sandra Smith 4) Michelle Bell 5) Kristina Lum Medium Tall Class 1) Chastity Slone 2) Erin Brown 3) Michelle Mayberry 4) Misty Green 5) Karina Fricken Tall Class 1) Lisa Balash 2) Michelle Self 3) Emma Callaghan 4) Svetlana Soutirina 5) Kerry MacDonald Master's Figure Overall: Kellie Piggee Over 35 1) Aida Aragon 2) Tammy Toler 3) Margo Waggeman 4) Kim Bell 5) Anne Sullivan Over 40 1) Kellie Piggee 2) Corinna Frikken 3) Kay Friend 4) Vonique Donlis 5) Kathy Cunningham