2012 Canadian Bodybuilding and Physique Championships

August 18, 2012

Edmonton, AB, Canada - Another trip up north brought us back to Edmonton for the 2012 CBBF Physique and Bodybuilding National Championships.  Once again it was put on by John Dirks at the Winspear Center and drew the best from our great northern neighbors to fight for their pro status.  For Physique this was the first time it was presented at Nationals and the overall champion was Alberta's Nicole Fedeluk.  She won a tough short class, which was also the class that the second pro card winner, Keashia Wester, competed in. Placing third behind those two pros was former bodybuilder Carmen Tocheniuk who slimmed down a bit to compete in physique.  She was followed by Lise Thexton, who sports a good look, and Danielle MacPherson rounded out the top five.  MacPherson's physique was the one we liked best in the physique classes, combining a good balance of musclarity, great conditioning, and a great overall package.  The short class was 15 deep while the tall class had just four competitors.  The tall class was won by Cynthia Jansen.

Two other notables from our perspective in physique were Tamara Qureshi who had a physique somewhat similar to MacPherson's and Leah Johnson, who's stage presence and awesome conditioning stood out..  Those two place seventh and eighth in the short class, respectively.

In women's bodybuilding, there were a lot of competitors from all over Canada, but in the end, it was the heavyweight class that produced all three women's bodybuilding pros.  Nancy Clark took third in open, but won the Grandmasters and overall Masters titles to earn her pro card.  He physique is very balanced overall with good shape and balance throughout.

The junior title was won by LeeAnn Harper.  While she was the only competitor in the class it was good to see some youth in the ranks.  This class had previously been won by Cindy Phillips so it's produced some great competitors in the past.  

In the open category, the lightweight class was won by Jessica Pagsisihan who was in great shape and edged out Lily Churchill who had won the Masters 35+ LW class.  Liza Miranda looked fierce on stage and took third ahead of Becky Gour.  In the middleweights, Carol Hanley won the class ahead of ultra conditioned Cat Lopez. The rest of the top five included Lori Clark in third, veteran competitor Ellen Partnoy in fourth and Teresa Tuohy in fifth.

The Light Heavyweight class was a tough one and it was great that the class made an appearance at Nationals.  The top three were all impressive, and it was up to the judges on what they'd go for.  Class winner Nancy Richard from Montreal, has nice shape and a great back and she beat out the super conditioned Debbie Fury who was ripped.  Toronto's Mona Poursaleh had the evening's best posing routine and if she comes in a bit tighter will be a definitely threat to take the class and earn professional status too.  One pro we talked to said she felt that Poursaleh has the best pro potential of the girls on stage that evening.

In the heavies, it was the Joanne Williams show.  After a strong showing in 2011 Williams focused her energies on improving her physique and worked with Hany Ramboud as her trainer and it all came together with a class and overall victory.  Williams beat out Sharon Mould who was shredded and vascular on stage.  The second open womens bodybuilding pro card went to Mould and third place went to Clark.  Heather Manuel took fourth and was in top shape too, coming in very well-conditioned and ready.  The fifth spot went to Tana McGowan who has some of the thickest muscle on stage.  

All in all, the trip north was well worth seeing who Canada has in their ranks.  The country has a history of creating some impressive pros like Helen Bouchard, who made an official announcement that she'll be retired from competition.  She made the announcement after her guest posing routine, and looked like she could have stepped on a pro stage in a few weeks, but that's to be expected from the always-in-shape Bouchard.

Results

Women's Bodybuilding Overall:  Joanne Williams* Lightweights 1) Jessica Pagsisihan 2) Lily Churchill 3) Liza Miranda 4) Becky Gour 5) Stephanie Green 6) Sabrina Osorno 7) Stephanie McLean Women's Middleweight 1) Carol Hanley 2) Cat Lopez 3) Lori Clark 4) Ellen Partnoy 5) Teresa Tuohy 6) Mirna Cruz 7) Claudette Laurin Women's Light Heavyweight 1) Nancy Richard 2) Debbie Fury 3) Mona Poursaleh 4) Denise Knorr 5) Heather Lausen 6) Maria Mikola 7) Paula Olson Women's Heavyweight 1) Joanne Williams* 2) Sharon Mould* 3) Nancy Clark 4) Heather Manuel 5) Tananarive McGowan 6) Angela Sedgwick 7) Amanda Aivaliotis 8) Tamara Knight 9) Amanda Simpson 10) Robin Hillis 11) Carly Smart 12) Dusty Sage N/A) Sharyn Fraser - withdrew Masters Overall: Nancy Clark* Grand Masters: 1) Nancy Clark* 2) Sharon Mould 3) Cat Lopez 4) Carol Hanley 5) Dawn Alison 6) Ellen Partnoy 7) Teresa Tuohy 8) Sabrina Osorno 9) Claudette Laurin 10) Paula Olson 11) Sharyn Fraser Masters LW: 1) Lilly Churchill 2) Liza Miranda 3) Lori Clark 4) Mirna Cruz 5) Stephanie Green HW: 1) Tana McGowan 2) Heather Manuel 3) Nancy Richard 4) Amanda Aivaliots 5) Debbie Fury 6) Denise Knorr 7) Tamara Knight 8) Maria Mikola Women's Junior 1) LeeAnn Harper * Eligible for IFBB Pro Status

Physique Overall: Nicole Fedeluk*  2nd Pro Card: Keashia Wester* Short 1) Nicole Fedeluk*  2) Keashia Wester* 3) Carmen Tocheniuk 4) Lise Thexton 5) Danielle MacPherson 6) Jill Koot 7) Tamara Qureshi 8) Leah Johnson 9) Julie Lockhart 10) Jennifer Fleiger 11) Tara Miller 12) Kimberly Milani 13) Angela Dupuis 14) Marie-Helene Dechaine 15) Tracy Ord Tall 1) Cynthia Jansen 2) Jennifer Streeter 3) Cheryl Cochrane-Hrytzak 4) Linda Franc-Vickers   * Eligible for IFBB Pro Status