As usual there were a number of familiar faces as well as many new ones. Veteran competitors to the National stage included local Annie Rivieccio, Florida's Ann-Marie Crooks, who was possibly making her last showing on stage, Denise Gerard, Michelle Ivers, Brenda Raganot, Kathryn Connors, and Heather Foster.

One of the newer faces on the National scene was Stacy Garonzik. Garonzik, a middleweight competitor with impressive quad development, is very well grounded and her goals for bodybuilding reflect that attitude. "To place top five would be terrific and to win my class would be out of this world! I am new to the national ranks and I know that new faces take time to be taken seriously. My goal each year is not to worry about who may win, out-do me, etc., but simply to out-do myself and improve over last year's physique."

At the Sidney J. Marcus Auditorium where the show was held, there were many in attendance taking in the last major show of the year including Australian phenom Christine Envall, enjoying her first trip to the States. Look for more of her in WABBA competitions as well as possibly on the Olympia stage soon. With some describing her as one of the most muscular women in the sport, and being named "Australia's Most Muscular Woman," Envall is poised to make a definite impact when she goes pro.

Hot, up-and-coming bodybuilder Bethany Howlett in her shiny silver jacket and black boots was also in attendace for both the prejudging and finals as were numerous others in the sport such as the current Mr., Masters and Ms. Olympias.

Kathy LeFrancous, sporting her red 'do, was looking incredible as usual, and after her two year hiatus from the competitive stage, is set to resume her career at the 1999 Arnold Classic in March. Enthusiastic to get back into the sport, the fans should be in for a treat when she takes the stage next year.

The Show - Bodybuilding

The lightweight class was the easiest to judge as far as who was going to win the class. Denise Gerard was definitely the hardest and thickest in her class and was way ahead of the rest. It was apparent after the first callout that the class was hers. The other lightweight competitors were decent, but none were close to challenging Gerard this day. As has been the trend, some of the physiques were similar to the more muscular fitness competitors'. Overall, though the class was probably the weakest of the three.

Third place finisher Nicole Bovier could do well next year, provided she adds some more size and dials in her diet a tad better, while Fifth place finisher Maureen Davidson can challege with added thickness overall to her lower body.

Best Newcomer:
Nursel Gurler

Beckey Rampey was also very sharp, and during her posing routine, she really got the crowd going by jumping down to the lower/front stage and urging the crowd to get fired up. Renee O'Neill came in cut, and her routine was very energetic with O'Neill really getting into it. Her impressive and thickly muscled back, among other outstanding bodyparts, should have earned her a higher placing than fifth.

When the heavyweights took the stage, it was tough to tell who were the top physiques with several decent bodies on the stage. The largest of the three weight classes, the top spot and pro card was going to be hotly contested. From the callouts, it was apparent that Annie Rivieccio, Sharon Robelle, Christi Wolf, and Giselle Sass were in the top five. Missing from that group were the experienced duo of Ann-Marie Crooks and Heather Foster, both of whom did not seem to hit their peak conditioning for this show.

Nursel Gurler looked good, coming in hard and tight, but without enough overall balance and muscularity to challenge for the top spot. With Crooks and Th-resa Bostick rumored to be retiring, next year could see Gurler, Rivieccio, and Robelle again challenge for the top spot.

Eventual champion Christi Wolf had the audience buzzing when she first took the stage with the most muscular physique of the night. With thickness throughout and her striking looks, Wolf made an immediate impact, although she was the last competitor to take the stage. After a few rounds of callouts, it wasn't apparent who was in the top spot, but when the final callout had only Wolf and Robelle, it looked like one of the two would wrap up the class.

Robelle, a veteran competitor, had a much more balanced physique than Wolf, with cleaner lines, and overall, more appealing symmetry. However, it came as a surprise that Robelle did not take the class when the final placements were announced. Although Wolf's muscularity and conditioning was the best in the class, her proportions and symmetry were off enough that it seemed that Robelle should have gone pro and won the class.

Fitness

This year's Fitness Nationals were comprised of over 50 competitors. With only two height classes, the breakout made each class rather large. Recognizing that this was happening at all levels of fitness competitions, the NPC announced that next year, they will introduce a third height category to make each class smaller and easier to judge, which will be a welcome change.

"Yeah Baby" - Austin Powers
&
Dick Vitale's "Awesome Baby"

The tall class women were led out by the impressive Atlanta local, Laura Mak. Sporting a powerful physique with impressive arms, Mak looked to be a solid top three bet. Others with impressive physiques included Linda McLaughlin, Vickie Anderson, Iris Ruberte and Jennifer Hendershott.

McLaughlin, who only the week of the show decided to enter and also competes as a bodybuilder, sported the most impressive calves of both classes, along with a ripped condition that may have been a little too much for the judges, but was popular with many in the crowd.

During the routines, Mak came out first and set up a good standard. The former Michigan State gymnast showed off her skills with some crowd-wowing moves. The third finalist was Anderson who began her routine with a very cool robotic/machine sounding intro that was very well choreographed and executed.

Eventual Ninth place finisher, Ruberte had a pleasing routine and Jan Tana amateur fitness winner Jenny Raines showed marked improvement from her showing there, earning her sixth place. Of note throughout the routine round was the intrusive camera man on stage. With the fitness routines moving quickly across the stage, there were several instances where the camera man was almost run over by a competitor which could have caused injury to the competitor.

Opal Petty, although suffering slightly from a cold, again presented a creative and spontaneous routine that most in the crowd would not have realized was created on the fly. Although feeling under the weather, her routine did not show it and earned her a 6th place finish in that round.

When McLaughlin, who finished fifth overall but third in the routine round, set up her props, an easel with a cartoon drawing of a fitness competitor and bodybuilder were ready and she strode out in a scholastic looking outfit and again, Van Halen's Hot for Teacher started up. This time, an intro played saying something to the effect of "this is a fitness competitor and this is a bodybuilder" with McLaughlin pointing to each drawing. Then, disappearing behind the easel, her clothes came flying off from behind, and she came out to do one of the best routines of the night.

Full of positive energy, McLaughlin's stage presence and solid routine got the crowd going even more. When the final competitor, Jennifer Hendershott came out, her routine was also impressive. Getting bonus points for using old school Beasties tunes, and performing tough strength moves, Hendershot was an appropriate finisher to close out the routine round.

Outside the Show

As usual there was almost as much going on around the show as there was in it. In the lobby and at the show expo, there were numerous pros in attendance. As mentioned before, Cathy LeFrancious was manning a booth and is still one of the most charming pro bodybuilders. Newly crowned Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman was also very cordial and the gregarious Vince Taylor was, appropriately, one of the most popular people there.

Michelle Ralabate, working one booth looked even smaller than before, and many mistook her for a newcomer or other fitness competitor, since she's changed so much. However, she did still look very good, regardless.

Unfortunately, at the hotel, there was no bar in the actual hotel lobby. However, people still mulled around on the various lobby levels. Also, the promoters of the show did not have shuttle transportation from the host hotel to the venue, which was just a little too far to walk over, and for competitors, it was an added hassle.

As a close to the 1998 competitive season, the Nationals proved to be a worthy show, although there was a little missing. However, 1999 looks to be promising and the first major prop show of the year should provide a great kick start.