2006 NPC Jr Nationals Contest Report

June 16-17, 2006 - by gene x hwang

Rosemont, IL, USA - The judging in womens bodybuilding has always evolved and there's an emphasis on femininity and pulling the athletes back from very extreme conditioning as well as 'excessive' muscularity. At the 2006 NPC Junior Nationals things seemed to come together as the four class winners all looked great. During one of the longest posedowns ever, the stage was graced by women who were a great example of what womens bodybuilding is about.

However the whole weekend wasn't perfect as no bodybuilding show ever is. There were some statements made by placings, and some officially by the NPC. Figure judging was given a clearer definition and some of the most conditioned bodybuilders were punished for being too ripped and too muscular.

On the fitness side of things Nita Marquez had to be a top contender and always has amazing routines, but she suffered an injury practicing her routine and was not able to compete. Breann Robinson ended up taking the short class and overall, while Karen Patten and Sandi Stuart won the medium and tall classes respectively.

Back to the bodybuilding, the lightweights were strong with Kirsten Haratyk and Rose Diaz taking the top two slots. Haratyk was in excellent condition with very nice leg development from her years of playing soccer, while Diaz had huge shoulders and an impressive back. Tammy Patnode was very balanced and took third ahead of Maria Carolina Davis. In fifth was Kim Marie Pauline and Debra Brockway was the final competitor in the lightweights.

The middleweights was Tracy Mason's class and she won not just that but the overall as well after years of toil and hard work. Her lines and conditioning were on, and she beat out Rita Kaya for the top spot. Kaya is a perfect example of what bodybuilding can do for women as she's in her late 40s but doesn't look anything like it.

Roxanne Edwards has a very nice physique with great lines and she was in great shape. She ended up in third in front of Rose Bouatic, Amy Sibey and Barbara Barnowich. If Sibey comes in a little harder, she can move right up to the top of the class as she's got a nice physique that just needs some extra detailing.A shot from the longest posedown ever...

As has been par for the course, the light heavyweight class was the largest and the most competitive. There was a bit of controversy over several competitors weighing in at 140 (the cut off), but the top women were all impressive.

Former fitness athlete turned bodybuilder Theresa Hendricks took the class with a strong routine and her memorable ab-vacuum-rolls. She beat out a rock hard Diana Cook and fan favorite Melissa Dettwiller took third. Kelly Patrick was very hard while Amy Schmid wasn't as tight but showcased some impressive upper body mass and shape.

Sixth went to Kim Ferrell who looked great but was making her National-level debut. Joan Skipper also had nice thickness but wasn't quite hard enough while the last two spots in the tough class went to Marilee DeArmond and Lisa Hamm.

When the heavyweights took the stage, Julia Stamper came on and everyone knew she was the most cut up competitor. She was also looking huge with some impressive muscularity. However, those two factors proved to be her undoing as the judges punished her for being too hard and too muscular.

Last year Kris Murrell made her Junior National debut and placed fifth. Her routine was memorable and this year it was not just the routine that people will remember as she was looking big & full and the curves from her wide upper body down to her waist and back out to her big quads really made an impression as she edged out Hoosier Heather Pedigo.

With the smaller classes, they didn't make official callouts but rather moved the six athletes around, and it was Murrell surrounded by Pedigo on her right and Marcia Ferguson on her left. Ferguson was the harder of the three, but didn't have the same shape as them and thus was placed third.

Michelle Falsetta and Angela Rayburn were the other two athletes who placed ahead of Stamper to round out the bodybuilding lineup.

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In figure there were four pro cards (which meant four classes) which then meant that the classes would be pretty large. None was larger than the "B" class which was home to nearly 50 competitors. With classes that large, there are bound to be people who are overlooked and that was the case this time around as well. It's really not possible to judge classes that large. In the "B" class there were more people who didn't place than who did.

One nice thing about the show was the way they flipped the tallest figure class to go first in the second part of prejudging to mix it up and not have them always going last. It's something that might be nice to do at other shows since figure always seems to have the largest number of competitors.

The "A" class was tough but was won by Heather Mae French who was only doing her second show ever. Second went to Jennifer Gates who toned down her conditioning and muscularity from the Jr USAs and moved up the placings appreciably. She edged out Jennifer DeJoya who has to be considered another favorite in almost every show she enters.

Fourth was Shelby Right and Kara Flowers completed the top five. Outside of that, Jamie Eason was someone many were watching and she placed seventh just ahead of Kristie Newsome who also has a really nice physique. Overlooked in the class were Melissa Froio with her crazy lines, Toni Hatcher, who might have been a tad too muscular for their revised criteria and Angela Robertson also looked good.

In the huge "B" class, Tinamarie Bloomfield beat Lois Powell by two points and Ginger Redeker, Michele Naylon and Angie Picarello were the top five in that order.

Jana Stewart moved up to sixth but Allison Jones who won her class at the very competitive Emerald Cup was a non-placer, getting overlooked. Diana Tatianna Tinnelle also looked nice as did Ava Cowan, Tamara Amend, Michelle Mauro (who was probably too muscular), Jennifer Cowan and Jesse Ferguson.

In "C" it was Elizabeth Lammm who continued her hot streak. She beat out Nina DeTomasso, Elisa Archibold, Stephanie Collins and Helen Turley to take the class and overall.

Nola Tremble looked good too but might have been a bit too lean under the new criteria and she didn't place as well as she did at the Jr USAs. Dorothy Trojanowicz was really tight as a figure athlete - having recently won the Illinois - but was probably penalized for her excellent conditioning as well.

The tall class was the closest at the top and it was Mary Jo Cooke beating out Jessica Wright by a single point. In third was Amy Fry and the fourth and fifth spots were also separated by a single point with Danielle Rouleau (continuing to do well) ahead of Avis Ware.

Two others who didn't place but looked good were Michelle Larson-Grose and Martha Lepe and Misty Green was looking very impressive but her legs might have been a bit too conditioned for the judges.

With so many huge classes (the smallest one had about 26 competitors) it was inevitable that many women would not get noticed. To accurately judge every single athlete from top to bottom would stretch out prejudging way too long. That has been the case with figure and will continue to be as the sport continues to grow. While there weren't quite as many athletes competing in it as last year, that may be a trend we see more of as many girls may get discouraged and drop off the competitive scene.

At the end of the day, every second place person is one spot closer to their pro card, and the Team Universe will no doubt be packed with figure competitors. Look for a stronger bodybuilding lineup there this year, and the Teen, Collegiate and Masters Nationals has been gaining a lot of steam since adding the pro card for the overall Masters winner.

On the bodybuilding side, if the NPC could offer more cards (perhaps an option for a second card at the USAs if it's deserved?) it could really help women's bodybuilding. With the changes to the figure judging, many of the figure athletes could make transitions to bodybuilding and do quite well. With added pro cards available, it would also incentivize more women to compete in bodybuilding and help the sport grow.

Judging by the turnout at the Junior Nationals, womens bodybuilding is still full of great athletes that also happen to be fantastic looking women, and that many men and women alike can appreciate - something that can certainly help the sport grow along side figure.

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Results

Women's Bodybuilding Overall: Tracy Mason Lightweights: (scoresheet) 1) Kirsten Haratyk 2) Rose Diaz 3) Tammy Patnode 4) Maria Carolina Davis 5) Kim Marie Pauline 6) Debra Brockway Middleweights: (scoresheet) 1) Tracy Mason 2) Rita Kaya 3) Roxanne Edwards 4) Rose Bouatic 5) Amy Sibey 6) Barbara Barnowich Light Heavyweights: (scoresheet) 1) Theresa Hendricks 2) Diana Cook 3) Melissa Dettwiller 4) Kelly Patrick 5) Amy Schmid 6) Kimberly Ferrell 7) Joan Skipper 8) Marilee DeArmond 9) Lisa Hamm Heavyweights: (scoresheet) 1) Krissy Murrell 2) Heather Pedigo 3) Marcia Ferguson 4) Michelle Falsetta 5) Angela Rayburn 6) Julia Stamper Fitness (scoresheets) Overall: Breann Robinson Short Class: 1) Breann Robinson 2) Maggie Blanchard 3) Cari Huppert Medium Class: 1) Karen Patten 2) Angie English 3) Tina Durkinn 4) Becky Wagner 5) Susan Groshek Tall Class: 1) Sandi Stuart 2) Leslie Rae Newton 3) Michelle Mayberry 4) Amy Demling 8) Evette Wigfall

Figure Overall: Elizabeth Lamm * 5'2" and under (scoresheet) 1) Heather Mae French* 2) Jennifer Gates 3) Jennifer De Joya 4) Shelby Wright 5) Kara Flowers 6) Carmen Chavez 7) Jamie Eason 8) Kristie Newsome 9) Selena Zinno-Radzai 10) Jessica Madden 11) Michele Dennis 12) Lori Quintero 13) Melissa Froio 14) Heather Burtoft 15) Vicki Counts NP) Audrey Burk NP) Robin Channel NP) Linda Crow NP) Toni Hatcher NP) Cari Huppert NP) Karen Jones NP) Brooke Katz NP) Angela Robertson NP) Esther Taylor NP) Huong Vo NP) Dena Ward NP) Jennifer Whitfield over 5'2"-5'4" (scoresheet) 1) Tinamarie Bloomfield* 2) Lois Powell 3) Ginger Redeker 4) Michele Naylon 5) Angie Picarello 6) Jana Stewart 7) Reagan Brenner 8) Ava Cowan 9) Brenda Smith 10) Hazel Nelson 11) Nina Schumacher 12) Janet Routzong 13) Diana Tinnelle 14) Becky Clawson 15) Stacy Cannady NP) Tamara Amend NP) Heidi Andonian NP) Nadine Baker NP) Christine Baranda NP) Maurence Beamer NP) Nina Cash NP) Jennifer Cowan NP) April De La Paz NP) Edith Driver NP) Tina Durkin NP) Allison Edwards NP) Jesse Ferguson NP) Andrea Ferry NP) Susan Groshek NP) Allyson Hamilton NP) Kim Higley NP) Allison Jones NP) McKensy Knapp NP) Carla Machado-Jones NP) Michelle Mauro NP) Nicole Moore NP) Karen Mullarkey NP) Koril Probst NP) Trish Rice NP) Laura Richards NP) Denise Rose NP) Tiffany Ryan NP) Connie Strength NP) Shawna Swartzmiller NP) Leanna Thomas NP) Nicole Wilkenfeld NP) Tonya Wood over 5'4"-5'6" (scoresheet) 1) Elizabeth Lamm* 2) Nina DeTommaso 3) Elisha Archibold 4) Stephanie Collins 5) Helen Turley 6) Natalie Calland 7) Paola Almerico 8) Jelena Abbou 9) Carrie Schindley 10) Tiffany Rabon 11) Yolanda Tullman 12) Nola Trimble 13) Kendra McAdams 14) Robin Rosche 15) Dorothy Trojanowicz NP) Suzanne Barlas NP) Michelle Bishop NP) Amy Demling NP) Danielle Kifer NP) Stacey Kisting NP) Amanda Marinelli NP) Lauren Noah NP) Catherine O'Guin NP) Dawn Parker NP) Tara Richards NP) Lewanna Sanford NP) Kimberly Schaefer NP) Jennifer Schumm NP) Natalie Verges NP) Kelly Vinardi NP) Juliet Waldman NP) Makecia Whitfield over 5'6" (scoresheet) 1) Mary Jo Cooke* 2) Jessica Wright 3) Amy Fry 4) Danielle Rouleau 5) Avis Ware 6) Shari Yates 7) Stephanie Philosophos 8) Catherine Anderson 9) Catherine Boshuizen 10) Misty Green 11) Stephanie McDonald 12) Melissa Montanaro 13) Brandie Gardner 14) Caity Hunt 15) Alissa Carpio NP) Natalie Ariel NP) La Drissa Bonivel NP) Renee Bradford NP) Felicia Bruno NP) Michelle Chadwick NP) Diana Chaloux NP) Amanda Chapman NP) Lisa Jackson NP) Michelle Larson-Grose NP) Martha Lepe NP) Kerry Macias NP) Megan Payan NP) Randi Post NP) Sonia Razo NP) Stacy Tomasini NP) Brenna Tomlinson * eligible for IFBB pro card