Carrie Fickle brought us way back, with some Kriss Kross music in her routine. Where have those two kids gone anyways? And speaking of routine music, Ricky Martin has got to go. The background music during the prejudging was appalling throughout. Can the promoters please get some better music into rotation that fits the prejudging better? "The Crying Game" song is not appropriate during the women's bodybuilding prejudging.
Bodybuilding
The bodybuilding women were up next, and the lightweight class, 18 strong, inlcuded some familiar faces, but many more new ones. 1998 USA Champion Yaz Boyum was in fantastic shape. Dee Nesch was very tight, and although smaller than Deborah Barnes and Lisa James, the 3rd and 4th place finishers respectively, she well deserved her placement. Tonia Villalobos came in holding a little too much water, or else she would certainly have placed higher.
Competitors to look for in future competitions include Sonia Howe, Danet Seely, Kerri Crotty, and Linda Shepler. Howe just needs to tighten up a little while the others will benefit from either adding some size and/or coming in more tight.
The largest class was next with 19 middleweights crossing the stage. The first two women looked great, but markedly different, with veteran Judi Miller standing next to Jennifer Lupi. Miller, with her awesome conditioning and thick back looked great as usual, while Lupi probably did not benefit from standing on the very end and next to Miller, but looked quite nice.
Rae Mokhtari was thick and hard and had a strong group of vocal supporters. Kim Harris looked beautiful as usual, and came in great shape, although a tad smoother than the top two women and Judi Miller. Michelle Ivers and Vilma Caez both were awesome coming in ripped and with full muscle throughout their physiques.
Caez was just a shade thicker throughout and also shredded to the bone, and edged Ivers for the class title. However, Ivers, a veteran national competitor, was not bitter about her placement, already looking forward to earning her pro card next year. Definitely keep an eye open for Ivers, as she will surely deliver on that!
Kimberly Tipton was hard, Linda Rae Wells needed a little more oil on stage, but otherwise had nice thickness and definition. Binny Nambiar had a tremendous back and with another year under her belt and a more balanced lower body, should definitely place higher.
The heavyweights finally took the stage, and overall, this years class did not seem to be as competitive throughout the lineup as past years. Familiar faces such as Annie Rivieccio, Renee O'Neill, Sharon Robelle, and Debi Laszewski Peterson were present as well as many newer competitors. Howeer, in the end it was Robelle who took the class narrowly edging O'Neill, much to the dismay and surprise of many in the audience.
Robelle (shown at left) may have been a tad more shredded, but when compared between Rivieccio and O'Neill in the callouts, there were some weak spots such as her delts. O'Neill was much more balanced overall and also in awesome conidition. but in the end, it was Robelle who walked off the stage with her pro card.
Carol Quarles looked fantastic and probably had the evenings most popular bodybuilding posing routine. It was very deliberate and expressive and suited Quarles well.
Rivieccio came in a little smoother than in the past, but with her solid physique and mature muscles, deservedly placed in the top five. Fran Ferraro looked smoother than her last show at the Extravaganza, and didn't seem as good as either Rivieccio or Quarles, but nevertheless placed third.
Former middleweight Stacy Garonzik came in and impressed everyone with her phenominal quads, which were by far the biggest on stage. However, as in the past, they have overpowered the rest of her physique, leaving her in 7th place.
Popular midwesterner and recently married Debi Laszewski Peterson was not as hard as last year, and just missed the top five, but if she comes in and hits her diet next year, she should be battling for the top spot. Jasmin Johnson looked unsymmetrical with huge muscles throughout, but just not put together well.
Offstage Commentary
With women's bodybuilding undergoing some marketing problems recently, as exemplified by the 'almost' cancellation of the Ms. Olympia, there are some things that can happen on the amateur stage to make things better.
One such thing would be the inclusion of a Light Heavyweight class. By bringing back the class, it would open up the competition for the borderline women. Many, such as Stacy Garonzik, are shorter women who pack on a lot of size, but when compared to the much taller competitors, look much smaller and have trouble adding enough size to compete with these women.
Some might argue that if competitors are to turn pro, no matter what weight class they are in, they will have to compete against everyone else in every pro show, without the benefit of weight classes. Well, a good solution might be to include the weight classes in the pro ranks as well. That way the women who really want to push themselves and the limits of their muscularity can, while allowing the shorter and smaller women to also compete against like competitors.
As middleweight competitor Elena Sieple puts it: "I want to push my body to its best but maintain my feminity. I can do this if I keep within my body's best weight."
One example she mentions for the men is Shawn Ray. "He competees at only something like 215. He is not the largest guy out there, but he has done what more bodybuilders should do - he knows what the max for his body is and he did it. Sure he could get bigger, but rather he knows his body's limits
and worked to perfect a very hard, asthetic, symmetrical body," she says.
"And he hangs with the big dogs. That is my goal - to take my body and make it the best it can be without pushing it over its limits," Sieple adds.
By including weight classes in all levels of bodybuilding, the competition could be more fair, and more women might be inclined to compete, and want to go pro. Additionally, the sport might attract more fans with the lighter women. It is still hard to market the most extreme pros to the public, and having smaller professional champions would likely help.
Note: Feel free to email me with your comments on the weight classes, as I would like to follow up this with perhaps another article.
Results:
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Women's Bodybuilding
Overall: Vilma Caez
Lightweights
1) Yaz Boyum*
2) Dee Nesch
3) Deborah Barnes
4) Lisa James
5) Kerri Crotty
6) Mona Caravetta
7) Tera Guzman
8) Tona Villalobos
9) Maureen Davidson
10) Christine Wan
11) Danet Seely
12) Sonia Howe
13) Alice Rodriquez
14) Linda Shepler
15) Karen Howe
16) Ursula Lewis
17) Rebecca Chynoweth
18) Cinde Porter
Middleweights
1) Vilma Caez*
2) Michelle Ivers
3) Kim Harris
4) Judi Miller
5) Rae Mokhtari
6) Kathryn Connors
7) Kimberly Tipton
8) Beth Eisenman
9) Gail Bowles
10) Jennifer Lupi
11) Dawn Riehl
12) Sondra Faas
13) Karry Quinn
14) Binny Nambiar
15) Linda Rae Wells
16) Audrience Taylor
17) Arlene Mojica
18) Christine Parenteau
19) Alonda L'Moer
Heavyweights
1) Sharon Robelle*
2) Renee O'Neill
3) Fran Ferraro
4) Carol Quarles
5) Annie Rivieccio
6) Debi L. Peterson
7) Stacy Garonzik
8) Sandy Cabrerra
9) Melody Bennett
10) Sylia Cowan
11) Jasmin Johnson
12) Juliana Comprindo
13) Kathy Booker
14) DeAnn Kohler
* earns pro card
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Women's Fitness
Overall: Melanie Webb
Short (under 5'2")
1) Melanie Webb*
2) Shaunta Teeters*
3) Sherma Dillard
4) Eileen Salvi
5) Selena Musselman
6) Heather McCormick
7) Chasti Denny
8) Brenda Kelly
9) Donna Poggio
10) Niki Coker
11) Alti Bautista
12) Nancy Ikehara
13) Christi Watkins
Medium (over 5'2"-5'4½")
1) Cathryn Crane*
2) Christina Homan*
3) Anna Merchan
4) Stacey Hylton
5) Doreen Reck
6) Lorie Kimes
7) Angel Friend
8) April Carpenter
9) Patty Garner
10) Susan Stivalo
11) Theresa Marzano
12) Angela M. Semsch
13) Lindsay Mulinazzi
14) Julie Grimes
15) Gina Ostarly
Tall (over 5'4½")
1) Elizabeth Streeter*
2) Kim Hartt*
3) Jenni Raines
4) Dena Weiner
5) Beth Horn
6) Lisa Schindler
7) Monica Burdick
8) Carrie Fickle
9) Julie Palmer
10) Alana Gaud
11) Abbie Appel
12) Audra Pollard
13) Deborah Bullman
14) Celeste Chance
15) Bethany Howlett
16) Heather Sharp
17) Kim Sibille
18) Glenda Ware
19) Julie Green
20) Akondaye Fountain
* earns pro card
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© 1999 gene x hwang - Last updated 10/19/1999 - 11:56 p.m. PT (-08:00 GMT)