Dallas, TX, USA -  The 2007 NPC Nationals promoted four new bodybuilders and six new fitness athletes into the ranks of the IFBB and the crop of new pros was a mix of new faces and victorious veterans.
 
With the bodybuilding competition, the numbers spoke for themselves as there were 60 women total in the competition with the athletes distributed pretty evenly among the lightweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight classes (12, 16, 17 and 15 athletes, respectively).

The lightweights was one of the deepest classes in years with solid competitiors deep into the final rankings.  Coming into the show, Galina Serdtsev, Barbara Fletcher, Claire Rohrbacker-O'Connell and Tera Guzman were long time favorites, while new blood like Tammy Patnode, Kirsten Haratky, Cassie Faussett and recent figure convert Beni Lopez were all solid contenders.

From the prejudging it looked like Serdtsev could take the class with her incredible conditioning and excellent shapes.  She wasn't necessarily the most muscular, but very well conditioned and balanced throughout and looked to have the class wrapped up.  Also in the first callout was Lopez who was well-conditioned too, with her outstanding legs that were a detriment to her placings when she competed in figure.

Eventually the top finishers were announced and it was Lopez taking the class title and promotion to the IFBB Pro ranks.  Serdtsev was second, while Tammy Patnode made an impressive third place finish.  Tera Guzman finished in fourth and Haratyk rounded out a tough LW top five.  Amazingly outside of the top five were 6th and 7th place finishers Fletcher and Rohrbacker-O'Connell who many predicted could be in the mix for the class title.

Dallas' own Cassie Faussett looked strong and was followed by Anne Marie Kam, Suzanne Germano, Kristen Mundo and Pamela Ty to complete the smallest of the bodybuilding classes.

The middleweights saw a host of varied physiques with Janet Kaufman and Tina Chandler being the pre-show faves.  Yahaiva Agosto Vives, Pam Shealy, Lindsay Mulinazzi, Terri Harris and Tami Burdelski would likely be strong contenders too, but it was the enigmantic Yasha who made the first callout and pressed Kaufman and Chandler for the class title.

Chandler edged them out though to earn her Pro status in her home state, and fellow Texan Yasha finished second ahead of Kaufman. Julia Korfage is a rising star and came in well conditioned for the show and took a very respectable fourth.  Terri Harris finished in fifth ahead of Burdelski.

Mulinazzi looked to have added size but her midsection looked a shade wider and Michelle Morrison, usually a top finisher, seemed to have not quite been able to dial in the conditioning.  On the other end of the specturm was Kate Cooper who was sliced.  She was the most ripped of all the bodybuilders in the show, but was penalized for being too lean.

That led to the Light Heavy class - the biggest in the women's field - and it was filled with a number of high profile athletes including Kristy Hawkins, Elena Seiple, Britt Miller, Amy Neal and Brenda "Bee" Smith.  The steadily improving Karen Choate also showed up in peak condition and you knew she'd also be in the mix.  After the first callouts in the prejudging, it was obvious that the judges had Hawkins and Miller 1-2, but it wasn't quite clear which way they would go.  In the end it came down to a single point and Hawkins was the winner.  Miller moved up a class this year and is still young so her future remains bright and she should become a pro soon enough.

Choate took third on her strong conditioning and Seiple and Neal finished 4th-5th.  It was another strong showing for Seiple, and Neal looked the best she has ever looked, but both were trapped in the most competitive class in the show.

New York's Sylvia Cowan placed sixth ahead of Christina Rhodes and rising star Cheryl Faust.

The heavies may have been the most controversial class of the evening as Michelle Neil once again brought an impeccably conditioned physique to the stage.  She was ripped, full and muscular, and to many in the audience the class seemed to be hers for the taking.  However, as the callouts were made, it looked like there would be a little more to it.

The first callout included Neil, Beverly DiRenzo, Nekole Hamrick, Gale Frankie and Kris Murrell.  All of the athletes seemed to have very varying physiques.  Hamrick has classic lines and a more streamlined physique while Frankie presented incredible muscularity and solid conditioning.

Murrell has some of the biggest muscles and a nice tight waist but wasn't quite hard enough and that left DiRenzo to sort of split the difference among the other physiques in that first group - she wasn't the biggest or hardest, but balanced in the middle.  As was the case in the lightweight class (but not the light heavyweight class),  conditioning was punished and the most ripped athlete (Neil) was penalized and finished in third to a chorus of boos in the audience.  The NPC seems to be looking for a balance of  staying away from a more drawn look in the face, but still having conditioned physiques.  This is a tough balancec to achieve since if you have a leaner face to being with, then when you diet down, you will look more gaunt (i.e. Skeletor from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe).

However, athletes with more filled out faces in the offseason can diet down harder and still remain less gaunt looking in the face.  In the end though, it does seem that there is a statement being made about what type of physiques will be rewarded.  How clear it is will remain to be seen as we follow the results in upcoming competitions in 2008.

So the heavies ended up with DiRenzo taking the class and pro card followed by Hamrick and Neil.  Murrell, who's routines are always entertaining and should be a strong threat to turn pro soon, placed fourth and Frankie was 5th.

Indiana's Julia Stamper, prepped by IFBB Pro Robin Parker,  placed sixth and Jennifer Gutierrez was 7th.  Gutierrez, working with Heather Armbrust, has improved her physique over the years but has been constantly competing which may be taking a bit of a toll on her.  With some time off to tweak her physique and dial in her physique, look for Gutierrez to be in the mix.  Sheilah Brown didn't dial it in this time and was a bit off from her best resulting in her eighth place finish while Jamie Kocher looked the best she has on stage.  

Working Lisa Bickels, Kocher's overall presentation on stage has improved and with some more tweaks to her diet and refining of her physique, should be a strong heavyweight.

Shelly Fields returned to bodybuilding after a stint in figure and looked very balanced on stage.  She finished behind Kocher and just ahead of Ellen Torrance and Tammy Jones.  Jones was one of the widest women on stage with her impressive lat spread and upper body development. Debbie Baker was 13th followed by Lucy Wilson and Julie Peavey.

When it came to the overall, all the athletes looked like they were having fun although Lopez didn't move around much.  Perhaps she wasn't sure what to do in a posedown from her previous experience as a figure athlete, since there is no 'quarter-turn-down' in figure but DiRenzo was all over the stage while Chandler and Hawkins squared off for a few poses on the lower front stage.

Hawkins was a deserving champion and should represent well.  She's already expressed interest in competing right away as a pro and will be submitting her paperwork to participate in the 2008 Ms. International as part of the Arnold weekend next March.

On the fitness side of things, there weren't too many suprises. The A Class was won by Kirstina Rojas and Tona Burkhardt took the second pro card.  Breean Robinson took third and always looks good on stage with her sleek physique.  She'll surely be a pro in a years time.  Mary Stockbridge took fourth just ahead of the precocious Victoria Larvie who cracked the top five this year.

The B Class was home to eventual Fitness National Champion Tina Durkin.  From her days in other federations she's steadily improved in the NPC and was a deserving winner this weekend.  Siene Silva took the second pro card and Lishia Dean, five points behind, took third.   Dean is always on the cusp and Jessica Clay, who placed very high in both physique rounds was in fourth.  Look for both to do well and join the pro ranks soon.

Colleen Baldwin was fifth while Wendy Wolbert returned to the competitive stage and placed sixth.

The Tall Class (C Class) was pretty tight on the 2nd pro card with Traci Redding edging Jo Marriner by three points to take second and the ensuing pro card.  Behind Marriner was Violet Mundy who was just three points behind Marriener in fourth.  That left Tanya Marryman as the class champion and other new IFBB Pro.

Earlier this year Merryman told us personally that she was going to work her butt of and become a pro and proved it with her victory in Dallas.  She will surely be a popular pro so look to see more exposure for both her and Redding.

Pamela Drury-Graef  placed fifth and the muscular Celeste Turner and Alissa Carpio tied on 130 points.

Check out our message boards to discuss the show, post your thoughts and chat with athletes from the competition! Hundreds of prejudging and finals photos below the results box  so scroll down now!