cheryl faust
Members Entrance
GeneX Online Magazine - female muscle female bodybuilders

Click the thumbs to enlarge photos
2002 Contra Costa Contest Report
2002 NPC Contra Costa Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure Championships - May 11, 2002 - Hayward, CA, USA

2002 Contra Costa Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure Championships
by gene x hwang - May 11, 2002



Shelia Bleck photograph by gene x hwang Hayward, CA - Figure continues to explode with that division being the largest and home to three different height classes, while fitness and bodybuilding had combined almost had the same amount of competitors as just one of the figure classes. Regardless, there were many impressive athletes on stage in every competition.

In the fitness competition, Petaluma, California's Melissa Maffioli took the title on the strength of her impressive physique. With a tiny waist and in great condition, Maffioli did well in the one and two-piece rounds. Her routine lacked a bit of the pop needed to place well at the National level, but that is an area she will have time to work with.

In this show there were also several Fitness America competitors including Yolanda Dixon and Nikki Crawford. Both placed outside the top five, but looked good on stage. Erica First placed second with a good routine and excellent stage presence, while Sara Amy Flom from Los Angeles presented the most well-muscled physique on stage. Along with excellent calves, the crowd was a bit surprised that Flom didn't take second.

In fourth was Kelly Gee who also had a nice strong physique. Her routine had a lot of energy and she moved well on stage. With a lot of creativity and presence, Gee should be a rising star to watch. Rounding out the top five was Amy O'Connor. With some more work on her flexibility and strength moves, she should be able to crack the top three the next time around.


When the bodybuilders took the stage, it was an impressive and large lightweight class that came out first. For Northern California fans, the first thing they may have noticed was the impressive improvement made by Pamela Ty. The lawyer by day had added size and was tight and symmetrical throughout. Following Ty closely was Ann Veniziano, who had more muscle and nice biceps. Her back was impressive as well, with nice thickness overall.

Third went to Jonelle Kiley who was lean and had nice separation in her delts and well sculpted triceps. Following Kiley was Christine Yu and Rowena Robles in 4th and 5th respectively.

The middleweights saw another competitor who had improved noticeably. Debra Winegarden easily took the class with a solid package of thick and well sculpted muscle throughout. Winegarden has filled out her physique quite well, and would challenge for the overall. The only other middleweight was Marina Zierk who's lean upper body was her strength. However, without as much full muscle on her physique, she wasn't able to place higher.

The heavyweights were the class with the most impressive muscle. Not only because they were bigger, but primarily because of the strength of the class and overall winner, Shelia Bleck. It was obvious from the first walk out of the class that Bleck was going to take the entire show. With mature, full muscle throughout and in lean, but not overly shredded shape, Bleck's package was National calibre and she is an athlete who could be very close to her pro card.

In second was 2001 NPC Sacramento overall champ, Lisa Mordigian. Mordigian was ripped and had good balance, but was closely followed by Shelly Fields. Fields may have deserved to place higher, and the crowd let her know it. After posing to a routine in memory of George Cesar, Field looked tight and her strong back and overall balance should server her well as she moves into national level shows.

Melissa Maffioli photograph by gene x hwang SoCal's Suzanna McGee, the 6-foot Lioness, had nice quads, but can fill out her upper body a bit more. Yvette Chairs took fifth behind McGee. Although not quite tight enough, Chairs displayed full quads, but not enough of a v-taper to place higher.


In figure, the short class was won by Melissa Maffioli, but she was followed closely by Maria Poncey. Maria Harvey, who has been winning many figure titles, placed third and it looked like the judges were looking for softer physiques. The consistency in judging figure seems to vary from show to show, as Harvey won her class at the Emerald Cup as did Amber Littlejohn and both did not take their classes at the Contra Costa.

Kelly Rose took fourth, and had a nice wide back, while looking a bit like Heather Graham with muscle. Wrapping up the top five was Yolanda Dixon.

In the medium height class, Gina Camacho stormed to the title, with her raging fans all wearing their t-shirts to support her. Although she almost didn't make it back in time for the overall, she did, just in time, and ended up taking the overall as well.

Statuesque Julie Wenn was in second, with great lines and good conditioning while Michelle Bell took third followed by Stasia Rice, who had the best glutes on stage. During the evening finals, the crowd made sure to let her know that as well, as they provided perhaps the loudest cheers of the night when she made her quarter turn to face the curtain. Jennifer Stassel took fifth in the very competitive class.

The tall women were the last to come out and Rhonda Yancey edged out Littlejohn. While Littlejohn may have the better pure physique, Yancey was a tad harder and her back looked sharp. Jillian Purdy took third with a tigh waistline almost as good as Maffioli's and Janelle Haney followed Purdy in fourth. The final placing went to Monica Chang. Looking strong in the one-piece round, Chang was notable for the flexing of her lats and how she maneuvered herself into her pose/stance (with her lats popping into place).

Overall, another strong competition, and with many athletes who didn't make the top five, but were still impressive. Shannon Niessel and Marlene Durham were two in the tall class who should do well in other shows, and should be looked out for.

The Cal is coming up and it's sure to attract a lot of the same competitors so it will be interesting to see how they all do in a couple of weeks.
 

Results:
Bodybuilding

Overall: Shelia Bleck

Lighweights
1) Pamela Ty
2) Ann Veniziano
3) Jonelle Kiley
4) Christine Yu
5) Rowena Robles

Middleweights
1) Debra Windegarden
2) Marina Zierk

Heavyweights
1) Shelia Bleck
2) Lisa Mordigian
3) Shelly Fields
4) Suzanna McGee
5) Yvette Chairs
6) Renee Devore



Fitness

1) Melissa Maffioli
2) Erica First
3) Sara Amy Flom
4) Kelly Gee
5) Amy O'Connor

Figure

Overall: Gina Camacho

Short Class
1) Melissa Maffioli
2) Maria Poncey
3) Maria Harvey
4) Kelly Rose
5) Yolanda Dixon

Medium Class
1) Gina Camacho
2) Julie Wenn
3) Michelle Bell
4) Stasia Rice
5) Jennifer Stassel

Tall Class
1) Rhonda Yancey
2) Amber Littlejohn
3) Jillian Purdy
4) Janelle Haney
5) Monica Chang

Send comments, critiques, inquiries, etc. to genex@genex9.com

© 2002 gene x hwang All Rights Reserved - Last updated 05/15/2002 - 3:01 p.m. PT (-08:00 GMT)


       

     

     

       

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

      

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

      

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

      

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

      

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

      

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

      

       

       

       

       

       

       

      

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

back


Rate this set:
1 2 3 4 5

 

cindy phillipsmarja lehtonen

 

Copyright 2001-2007 FTVideo, All Rights Reserved