2007 Team Universe and NY Pro Figure

July 13-14, 2007 - by gene x hwang

New York, NY, USA - Figure Nationals saw huge numbers of athletes which resulted in a long and drawn out show with nearly 200 people competing in the figure division alone.  While that made things go quite long, the non-existent air conditioning made things even hotter in the Tribeca Performing Arts Center.

Fitness welcomed six new pros to the IFBB ranks and the surprise might have been that Tina Durking wasn't one of them.  Durkin was coming off her strong victory at the 2006 NPC Jr Nationals and looked amazing again at this show.  It was Bethany Wagner though that took her class and Erin Riley won the second pro card in the medium height class.  Jessica Rohm won the short class and Maggie Blanchard earned the second pro card in the short class while Michelle Mayberry turned pro in the tall class taking second to Nicole Wilkins who had the biggest evening of the show.  Wilkins not only won her fitness class, she also won the fitness overall and the Figure Nationals. 

With 12 new pro cards handed out in figure, it was no surprise that hordes of athletes came out to compete for them.

Probably the biggest surprise was that one of those 12 wasn't Jessica Wright.  The tall class is always competitive and Wright has always been in the mix, narrowly missing out on her pro status by merely one and two points at previous competitions so it seemed logical that she would have a chance to win this time around.  Wright came in shape and was in the middle of the first callouts, but ended up in third.  Perhaps the USAs will be her time in Vegas later this month.

The same happened in the shortest class (A) with Melissa Froio who was called out in the first callouts for both rounds, but in her case, she wasn't in the top five at all which was a surprise to many.  However the top two positions in the class went to Houng Arcinas and Meriza DeGuzman.  Arcinas and DeGuzman will now go on to compete in the IFBB as Pros.

In the B Class, Tara Chandler dominated with her miniscule waist and nice v-taper.  The second pro card went to Karen Mullarkey.  C class was won by Becky Clawson's balanced physique followed by Heather Green, and D was Krissy Chin all the way followed by Hazel Nelson.

As mentioned before the E class was won by Nicole Wilkins and the second pro card went to the Pacific Northwest's Stacy Clary.   The tall class (F) pro cards went to Theresa Anthony and Melissa Wilkins.

In bodybuilding the biggest reactions came from the crowd and both times had to do with Theresa Hendricks.

Hendricks had to be considered a favorite coming in, having taken second last year to overall winner Stephanie Kessler.  The heavyweights was competitive and fighting Hendricks for the class was Tracy Beckham.  Both looked great with Beckham sporting a tighter shape and waistline, but Hendricks having more mass.  During the routine round, Hendricks had the best routine which brought the packed house down and when she was announced in second, out came the boos.

Christy Resendes took third in the class and was in excellent shape.  However, her wider waistline prevented her from cracking the top two in this tough class.

In the middleweights, Melissa Dettwiller dieted herself down to make the class and was in the best shape of her life.  Her quads still take most of your attention, but she's balanced out her physique more.  Second place finisher Janelle Gallo also improved her physique greatly and was much more sleek and balanced this year.  She took a deserving second and Cassandra Floyd took third.  Floyd sports great aesthetics but just wasn't hard enough.

Cara Lombardo took fourth and former figure athlete Jennifer Cowan took fifth with a nice routine.  

It was another former figure athlete that won the lightweights as Jodi Miller placed first and will now represent Team USA alongside Dettwiller and Beckham.

Gina Quinn followed in second while Donna Karr took third.  Sharon Garrett who was crisp and had the best legs of the class was a surprising fourth which the always ripped Karen Geninati took fifth.  Overall the bodybuilding was competitive and the depth of quality was improved over previous years - a promising trend.  And the figure crossovers continue to do well, another trend who hope to see more of.

Check out our message boards to discuss the show, post your thoughts and chat with athletes from the competition!  

Results

Bodybuilding Overall:   Tracy Beckham* Lightweights 1) Jodi Miller 2) Gina Quinn 3) Donna Karr 4) Sharon Garrett 5) Karen Geninati Middeweights 1) Melissa Dettwiller 2) Janelle Gallo 3) Cassandra Floyd 4) Cara Lombardo 5) Jennifer Cowan Heavyweights 1) Tracy Beckham* 2) Theresa Hendricks 3) Christy Resendes 4) Leann Scelfo 5) Joanne Allard Fitness Overall:   Nicole Wilkins* Short Class 1) Jessica Rohm* 2) Maggie Blanchard* 3) Yenny Polanco 4) Brandi Biffkin 5) April Fortier Medium Class 1) Bethany Wagner* 2) Erin Riley* 3) Tina Durkin 4) Colleen Baldwin 5) Lishia Dean 6) Jessica Clay 7) Regan York 8) Malena Marquez 9) Wendy Gerdner 10) Jennifer Bishop Tall Class 1) Nicole Wilkins* 2) Michelle Mayberry* 3) April Fortier 4) Sandi Stuart 5) Erica Hamilton 6) Traci Redding 7) Danielle Murray 8) Lena Squarciafico 9) Betty Otaola * Eligible for IFBB Pro Card NY Pro Figure 1) Zivile Raudoniene** 2) Shannon Meteraud** 3) Jennifer Gates** 4) Chandra Coffey 5) Jessica Paxson-Putnam 6) Melissa Frabbiele 7) Jelena Abbou 8) Briana Tindall 9) Jeanette Freed 10) Cheri Lewis 11) Petra Mertl 12) Valerie Haines 13) Elizabeth Lamm 14) Stephanie Collins 15) Monica Hoyer 16 tie) Candace John 16 tie) Irina Mishina 16 tie) Jill Laurent 16 tie) Marie Allegro 16 tie) Celeste Leandro 16 tie) Pamela York ** qualifies for Olympia

Figure Overall:  Nicole Wilkins * A Class 1) Houng Arcinas* 2) Meriza DeGuzman* 3) Tivisay Briceno 4) Shelly Anne Rego 5) Monica Mark 6) Melissa Froio 7) Melody Manlove 8) Desha Rodriquez 9) Debra Lavette 10) Charmaine Davis 11) Liza Kampstra 12) Tiffany Procopio 13) Shannon Bennett 14) Linda Estavillo 15) Carin Hawkins 16) Kara Flowers 16) Erin Carson 16) Monet Thorne 16) Brooke Katz 16) Jean Jitomir 16) Jennifer DeJoya 16) Audry Burke 16) Jill Frew 16) Wendy Schnitzer 16) Yenny Polanco 16) Aketa Thomas 16) Sherry Smith 16) Mandy Henderson 16) Cindy Martinez 16) Soleivi Hernandez 16) Amanda Cumberbald 16) Glenese Markes 16) Nancy Fuentes 16) Sheila Wellington 16) Debbie Bell 16) Danielle Colgan B Class 1) Tara Chandler* 2) Karen Mullarkey* 3) Stacy Adams 4) Gale Elie 5) Elissa Schlichter 6) Allison Williams 7) Marissa Garza 8) Nicole Wilkenfeld 9) Lauren Rosen 10) Angie Platten 11) Lori Brooks 12) Denise Rose 13) Andrea Ferry 14) Edith Driver 15) Michele Suszek 16) Sheila Bratten 16) Kori Propst C Class 1) Becky Clawson* 2) Heather Green* 3) Erin Heath 4) Michelle Anderson 5) Pamela Soper 6) Lauren Notini 7) Keri Moser 8) Wendi Murray 9) Tara Gooch 10) Anna Laratta 11) Regan York 12) Ginger Redek 13) Lynn Widdowson 14) Emily Nicholson 15) Gina Ostarly 16) Toya Smith 16) Debra Dunn 16) Angel Anderson 16) Grace Rivera 16) Veronica Ruth 16) Kathy Hernandez 16) Carmen Demske 16) Margo Bailey 16) Lois Powell D Class 1) Krissy Chin* 2) Hazel Nelson* 3) April Fortier 4) Jennifer Troth 5) Kendra McAdams 6) Tracy Guarino 7) Tiffany Rabon 8) Karyn Brantley 9) Lauren Noah 10) Felicia ONeal 11) Tiffany Reffner 12) Erica Hamilton 13) Dawn Parker 14) Erin Henneke 15) Tammie Ellis 16) Katerina Tarbox 16) Rose Duvigneaud 16) Caroline Hernandez 16) Carrie Bollwinkle 16) Terri Jett 16) Kristine Reinking 16) Kiersten Weber 16) Carol Ruiz 16) Danielle Carrington 16) Laticia Harrell 16) Nicole Weeks 16) Adele Lehman 16) Karin Kimura 16) Michele Naylon 16) Jennifer Bishop 16) Amy Linas 16) Dorothy Troyanowicz 16) Amy Burkins 16) Deborah Judy E Class 1) Nicole Wilkins* 2) Stacy Clary* 3) Bridgette Brennan 4) Jenny Lewis 5) Natalie Calland 6) Angela Watson 7) Danielle Edmonds 8) Kari Lege 9) Susana Gentry 10) Nola Trimble 11) Amanda Guinlan 12) Jennifer Myers 13) Klubo Flingai 14) Robin Sinclear 15) Vicki Crouse 16) Jenny Flores 16) Corina Frikken 16) Suzanne Barlas 16) Ginger Hutchinson 16) Caroline Hernandez 16) Sophia Quinones 16) Jennifer Schumm 16) Liz Wylie F Class 1) Theresa Anthony* 2) Melissa Griffin* 3) Jessica Wright 4) Jamie Reed 5) Misty Green 6) Catherine Anderson 7) Holly Powell 8) Rachel Carraway 9) Jessica Steffens 10) Ali Huston 11) Christine Aguilar 12) Stephanie Philosophos 13) Alecia Rankovic 14) Stephanie McDonald 15) Katie Linhoff 16) Catherine Boshuizen 16) Desirae Staniford 16) Brigette King 16) Hillary Fonseca 16) Jasmine Corbett 16) Shelly Howard 16) Lia Clark 16) Stacey Marsh 16) Kerstin Khalfani 16) Nicole Mccrary 16) Debbie Squizzero 16) Martha Lepe 16) Jamie Justin 16) Janice Turbyfill 16) Danielle Dunham 16) Avis Ware 16) Stacey Dehart 16) Jessica Livingston 16) Tina White 16) Lisa Miles 16) Brandie Gardner 16) Maria Corsaro 16) Lynda Musgrove 16) Lisa Artigllere * Eligible for IFBB Pro Card