FigureRX Contest Report: 2007 USA Figure Championships

July 27 - 28th, 2007

We walked away from the USA Championships in Las Vegas very happy, quite tired and a little confused. The tired part came from Sunday, a day which started with the first pick-up for Team FigureRX photo shoot makeup at 4:45am and ended with a redeye flight back to Chicago at 11:30pm!! The FigureRX shuttle was also working in overdrive after it was discovered that Jan Tana was doing spray tans in a *different* Embassy Suites away from the contest hotel. But all worked out smoothly, and overall it’s one of the best shows of the year in what is of course a great location. Promoter Jon Lindsay is one of best in the business as far as making things comfortable for the competitors and fans, and he also knows how to bring in the numbers as the 25th anniversary of his show once again had record levels of competitors. We have come to expect huge numbers in figure but he brings out large numbers of bodybuilders as well, even with so few pro cards.

The confusion came from the results for some of the height classes in figure, while other classes were very predictable. We also were surprised to see a record number of competitors bail and disappear before the evening show. If it was due to sickness or some sort of emergency then that is understandable, but otherwise it is best to be professional, smile and see this through regardless of the expected placing! Because our previews start with Class F but our contest reports start with Class A, I get to jump right into one of the most puzzling of the classes. Figure Class A (up to and including 5’2”) first saw one of our favorites, Jennifer DeJoya, deciding to sit this one out. Then Tivisay Briceno surprised nobody while earning her pro card at the Masters in Pittsburgh the previous weekend.

Tivisay Briceno	Desha Rodriguez	Carin Hawkins

Generally speaking, the winners here carried a little less muscle overall than the top placers in New York and earlier in the season. Desha Rodriquez from the Miami area took the pro card and she definitely deserved it, she has a gorgeous and symmetrical overall look, especially in her one piece suit, with standout arms and overall conditioning. If you are a new competitor, take a look at Desha’s presentation as she is an example of how to do everything right – her hair, makeup, tan, posing suits, earrings and arm bling were beyond reproach and complimented each other perfectly. We can also see how Carin Hawkins placed well; she brings a total package but has been all over the map in the standings this season with a 4th place at Junior Nationals and 15th at Nationals.

Jessica Lyons	Monica Mark	Shannon Bennett

Beyond the top two, the next several competitors seemed almost interchangeable except for a couple who were badly overlooked. Jessica Lyons looked better than her previous show in which she also placed top five, but she comes in a little less conditioned and with a lighter tan than the other top finishers. 2007 Ironman overall champion Monica Mark continued her string of high placings, following up on 5th in New York with a 6th place here. She has the physical beauty and long muscle bellies which is of benefit to her, and based on her improved conditioning since her last show she could have been placed even higher. Monica actually won the two-piece round but placed 10th in her one piece, one of the biggest disparities of the show, and if anyone can explain that to us after looking at the photo above please do.

Melody Manlove	Karen Wolfram	Huong Vo

Our list of overlooked competitors includes Shannon Bennett, Melody Manlove and Jamie Costa. We really like Shannon, who inexplicably placed 16th even though her conditioning was on target and she brought a better look than in Chicago where she was 9th. We ran into Melody several times over the weekend, and she looked stunning with a flawless physique, but she may need to tone down her presentation including her hair and her smile a little bit on stage. Jamie placed 9th in her two piece but could use a few changes in her one piece suit to flatter her tight, narrow midsection. Akane Nigro has great symmetry and size but needs to work on her conditioning, while Karen Wolfram has an enviable quad sweep but had some problems with her tan. Finally, we’d like to congratulate Huong Vo on what we feel was a personal best for her.

The battle we expected at the top of Figure Class B (over 5’2” and up to and including 5’3”) never materialized. The score sheets by individual judges were all over the place, but Allison Williams ended up winning the class and first place in both pre-judging rounds. She walked away with a pro card that could have just as easily have gone to Chrissy Burton or Michelle Woodward. Chrissy won her class at the Masters a week earlier, and has a great upper body and an especially good back. Her only notable weakness seemed to be with her lower and inner quads. Michelle was our favorite of the top five and in our opinion should have taken first place, she came in looking better than she had at either of the Juniors earlier in the year. Janae Stewart was heavily hyped prior to the show and lived up to expectations with a top five finish.

Chrissy Burton	Michelle Woodward	Marissa Ann Garza

It was disappointing to see both Elissa Schlichter and Patricia Farrow decide to drop out, but there were a few remaining competitors who really impressed. Bea Fox from Long Beach was 6th at both the Arnold Amateur and here at the USA’s, but she could have easily cracked the top five. Marissa Ann Garza was an attention grabber on stage with her stunning facial beauty and upper body, including great delts and a tight midsection, but needs to bring up her legs just a little bit. We expect her to move up the ranks next year. Candice Houston finished just outside of the top ten and could have been higher, she had great conditioning and shape overall. Laura Millar was making her national debut and she looks like a future star, with a stellar back, but needs some more time in front of the judges.

Candice Houston	Laura Millar	Jacqueline Skibba

Jacqueline Skibba continues to have some of the best overall figure lines of the entire show, something that is much accentuated in her one piece suit where she placed 2nd overall (while falling to 10th in her two piece suit). Jacqui has some decisions to make, however, regarding how hard she would like to be in order to take that next step into the upper echelons. We would also like to see her stand with her arms a little more out to the side, rather than directly to the rear, when doing a back pose. Likewise, Nikki Warner might have been hurt by her short show schedule after taking 2006 off and may need to get back on the judge’s radar screen. Multi-talented fitness athlete Nez Zamorano also looked more impressive than her 16th place finish.

Lynn Widdowson	Holly Semanoff	Michelle Anderson

In Figure Class C (over 5’3” and up to and including 5’4”), Lynn Widdowson must have been thrilled to find herself at the top and holding a pro card after placing 14th at Junior Nationals and 13th at Nationals. Lynn received a perfect score in her two piece and deserved to move up, and she especially benefited from a strong stage presence. FigureRX favorite Erin Heath came close again, placing second, and will receive her pro card at any time. Holly Semanoff had a spectacular national debut that placed her in the top five, and her tan and presentation were much improved from when she competed at the state level.

Danyell Leavitt	Enji Khoo	Jeri Corte-Smith

Michelle Anderson presented a total package and followed up on her 4th place finish in New York with a 6th place finish here. She always comes in well conditioned and her posing suits fit her body very well. Also in her national debut, we like Las Vegas native and personal trainer Danyell Leavitt and believe she has a bright future in the sport. Hopefully she will make the trip to more national level shows next year. Enji Khoo returned to the stage after taking most of 2006 off and showed off some of the best back development of the evening. Jeri Corte-Smith did not come in quite as strong as she did in Charleston (and would benefit from going back to her previous hair color) but she still deserved to place much higher and has one of the top hip/glute/hamstring tie-in areas on stage. She also has great presence and style.

In Figure Class D (over 5’4” and up to and including 5’5”) and higher, things finally became a bit more predictable and understandable, other than a few competitors moving from different height classes. We think that the tape at Embassy Suites may have been adjusted a little bit for this show (unbeknown to the great Kim Klein of course, who would never do such a thing), as some competitors found themselves a little bit shorter at height check. Top finishers in the higher height classes carried a bit more muscle and greater hardness and vascularity. In D, fitness crossover athlete April Fortier received a perfect score in both posing suits and earned her pro card, and we believe she has a solid future as a pro in both categories. April has had a spectacular year and we hope she gets a little bit of a rest before making her pro debut. Danielle Kifer gave April a run for her money and looked incredible; she was one of the surprises of the evening with the improvements that she has made in the past year and we are happy to see that she will be continuing her season at the North Americans where she will be starting out as our favorite.

April Fortier	Danielle Kifer

Tracy Guarina looked strong and well conditioned and placed high here as expected, finishing third. Shining in her debut was Brooke Brusch, who placed 4th in her two piece but fell to 11th in the one piece round. Jessica Troha impressed in her debut as well, but needs to work a little bit on her stance which brings her shoulders up too high. DeSunka Dawson was another competitor who carries a lot of muscle and looks great in a two piece. She has outstanding abs, quads and calves, and her solid placing (5th in a two piece) shows that it’s all about symmetry if you plan to bring more mass to the figure stage.

Tracy Guarino	Brooke Brusch	DeSunka Dawson

In the underrated category, we can’t say enough about Montana girl Meredith Berthelson who was impressive from start to finish with her conditioning and overall shape and deserved to place much higher in this admittedly deep class. Karin Kimura looked fabulous as usual, while Courtney Paul looks excellent in her side pose but needs to focus on her mid-level symmetry (bringing in her hips) when facing the front. We know from her back stage photos that Noreene Castillo has some of the best abs in the class as well, and we’d like to see her pose to bring them out more on stage. Amy Burkins and Jennifer Reynolds both deserve to move up after a little more help with their presentation, as does future star Laticia Harrell who looks great already even though she has only been competing for eight months.

Meredith Berthelson	Karin Kimura	Laticia Harrell

The deepest class of the entire night was Figure Class E (over 5’5” and up to and including 5’6”), almost half of the talented competitors in this large group deserve a mention. So you had to know that those who finished at the top were truly the best, and Catherine Andersen proved it by winning the overall title to go along with her unanimous class win and IFBB pro card. Honorary FigureRX’er and Floridian Amanda Quinlan has continued to improve at each show during her brief career and we expect her to move up at the North Americans. Speaking of Amanda, trust us when we say you will want to check out the crazy “Jamie & Friends” videos at Femflex.com, taken the day after the show! Veronica Miller came in a little bit softer this time and fell out of the top five, but she has a terrific look and we’re sure she will bounce back as well.

Catherine Andersen	Amanda Quinlan	Veronica Miller

It would not be fair to Angela Watson to keep showing photos of her only from the rear, but it’s hard not to because she has some of the best back and shoulder size and symmetry that we have seen put together into one package on the figure stage. So Angela gets two photos this time, so you can see that she has it all in a front posing stance as well, including great abdominal and quad conditioning. Tanya Merryman made a memorable return to the stage and placed 8th, and only needs to bring up her arm and delt development a bit to move up.

	Angela Watson	Tanya Merryman

Robyne Roveccio-Palmer placed 6th in her one piece, but fell to 13th in her two piece, yet another of the disparities we were seeing during the evening. We have no explanation as her lines were great in both and she has an excellent midsection. Sandy Scamman has a cute look and needs to work a little bit on her upper body symmetry, while Melissa Thalhamer was not in as good a shape as in 2006 when she placed high here, and she probably hurt herself with the judges with her unconventional “hips out” posing stances. Nola Trimble’s suits were a little bit off, while Melissa Deal looked great in her one piece and could have placed in the top ten.

Robyne Roveccio-Palmer	Lindsey Cope	Erin Parrish

Two FigureRX favorites, Erin Parrish and Lindsey Cope, came in perfectly shaped and conditioned but were penalized for their muscularity. We feel that both exhibit figure, and not bodybuilding, physiques and would need to make unwelcome changes to switch over, so we hope that they will stay in figure to change hearts and minds in the sport. The first instincts of individual judges in the NPC are usually correct, the “wow factor,” and they judge based on a combination of size, presentation, beauty, symmetry and figure lines. In this class competitors who were listed for first call-outs by individual judges were moved to later call-outs, suggesting that there was an unfortunate NPC “overly muscular” override at the top.

Jessica Wright	Jamie Reed	Nancy Georges

We love Figure Class F (over 5’6”) and the close battles that occur within the class all year long. Word is going around that this class will be 5’7” and up next year, but most of the favorites are tall enough to remain here. First call-outs at the USA’s were exactly the same in the one piece and two piece pre-judging rounds, although they *weren’t* quite the same for the finals but we’ll get to that later. Jessica Wright is finally moving on to the IFBB professional ranks after scoring top three finishes in all of her shows this year, and we are very happy for her. Team FigureRX’s Jamie Reed (see Jamie’s back stage forum here) continued the improvements that she has been making over her past two shows and came in with a perfect package, moving up from 4th in New York to 3rd here. Jamie will now be looking forward to the off season and 2008, when we know she will turn pro. Nancy Georges looked remarkable as usual (we liked her hair style much better in her two piece), with some of the best overall shapes of the entire competition, and we think she has the inside track to win the class over Alicia Marie at the North Americans in late August.

Texan Stephanie McDonald made some last minute tweaks to her physique and her presentation and moved up from 14th in New York to 2nd here. A tight midsection and great legs propelled last minute entrant and California State class winner Maria Rogers into the top five as well. We were pleased to see Jamie Justin finally move up the ranks, Jamie really stands out in her one piece with her overall shape but needs to make sure she is smiling consistently.

Maria Rogers	Jamie Justin	Ali Huston

Team FigureRX star Ali Huston (see Ali’s back stage forum here) placed 8th, continuing her string of top ten finishes during her first year on the national NPC stage. Ali has all the tools and then some, but needs to continue the transition that her body has been making from world class powerlifting to figure. We look forwarding to supporting her efforts and seeing her improvements next year.

Brandie Gardner	Jeanne Nimmer	Jessica Livingston

Among the rest, Brandie Gardner always looks great and came in close to the shape that she exhibited in Chicago when placing top five. Mendi Sakamoto made a splash in her debut but was unfortunately sent out on stage among the top five during the evening show, and had to be called off because it was an error. Jeanne Nimmer has a tight physique and could have placed top ten, while Arizona’s Jessica Livingston presents one of the better packages in the class and deserves to move up significantly.

We welcome any comments that you may have about this article at FigureRX@verizon.net.