FigureRX Contest Report: 2007 NPC National Fitness
November 16-17, 2007
Welcome to
FigureRX's coverage of the NPC Fitness Nationals! Thanks to all you fitness athletes and fans for your patience as we have ramped up on this side of the sport, and our goal in 2008 is to be just as reliable with our fitness coverage as we are with figure coverage. This is a huge show, with two pro cards being awarded in each of the three fitness height classes. The numbers are pretty good with 33 total competitors, and the C class is the most competitive with 15 athletes.
Here are the FLASH RESULTS!
Overall Title -
Tina Durkin
Class A
1.
Kristina Rojas - IFBB Pro Card
2.
Tonya Burkhardt - IFBB Pro Card
3. Breean Robinson
4. Mary Stockbridge
5. Victoria Larvie
6. Stephanie Irick
7. Angela Reineck
8. Babette Mulford
9. Cicely Kyle
Class B
1.
Tina Durkin - IFBB Pro Card
2.
Siene Silva - IFBB Pro Card
3. Lishia Dean
4. Jessica Clay
5. Colleen Baldwin
6. Wendy Wolbert
7. Liz Ressequie
8. Tyler Marie Powers
9. Abby Rhoades
10. Venus Ramos
Class C
1.
Tanya Merryman - IFBB Pro Card
2.
Traci Redding - IFBB Pro Card
3. Jo Marriner
4. Violet Mundy
5. Pam Drury
6. Alissa Carpio
7. Celeste Turner
8. Leigh Koester
9. Amanda Marinelli
10. Deidra Wesley
11. Betsy Harris
11. Sara Krajnik
FITNESS ROUTINES
The fitness routines were fairly average this year, with just a few standing out, and it will be interesting to see how that meshes with the scores in the physique rounds.
Tina Durkin had the best routine and she appears to be a lock for a card. According to our friends over at Bodysport,
Sandi Stuart's absence this morning can be attributed to dehydration last night and she has dropped out of the competition.
Breann Robinson has deserved her IFBB card for a while but the cards in
Fitness Class A appear to be up for grabs. Can newcomer
Kristina Rojas, who had a very impressive routine, grab a card at age 20? The second card after Tina in
Fitness Class B is also very uncertain.
Fitness Class C is the deepest and the insider buzz has been surrounding
Tanya Merryman and her hamstring injury. Many have her pegged to win the overall. We think that
Alissa Carpio was very competitive in this group and we absolutely love
Violet Mundy's physique, but she may have lost some ground in the routine rounds.
TWO PIECE PRE-JUDGING - FITNESS CLASS A
First call-outs: Kristina Rojas, Breean Robinson, Stephanie Irick, Tonya Burkhardt
This is how we would have called out the one piece as well,
Stephanie Irick deserves a look. Tonya, Kristina, and Breean all look incredibly stunning and it likely will come down to their routines. The order in the photo below is Stephanie, Kristina, Breean, and Tonya. This is going to be a very tough call for the judges, but we think the 3rd place finisher will get her card in 2008.
TWO PIECE PRE-JUDGING - FITNESS CLASS B
First call-outs: Siene Silva, Lishia Dean, Jessica Clay, Tina Durkin, Wendy Wolbert
The surprise here is the absence of
Colleen Baldwin. The order in the photo below is Tina, Jessica, Siene, Lishia, and Wendy. We would give the physique round to Siene, she has beautiful lines and a tight midsection as well, but Tina has a superior routine. We are thinking that the strength of Siene's physique should elevate her to 2nd and a pro card.
TWO PIECE PRE-JUDGING - FITNESS CLASS C
First call-outs: Alissa Carpio, Traci Redding, Tanya Merryman, Violet Mundy
This is the same group as the one piece absent
Sandi Stuart who has withdrawn. Again the buzz is surrounding
Tanya Merryman, who may win the routine round even though she had to scale things back due to injury. Tanya has such a great lower body that it can overwhelm her upper body on stage, creating an inbalance (see comparisons below) which she will probably need to rectify to be more competitive in the pro ranks.
Traci Redding is a veteran who has taken off some muscle and she looks good here, and regardless of what happens there are four great athletes here. We want Alissa to go pro and we also will be walking away from this as huge fans of
Violet Mundy.
Here is our commentary from the Friday night pre-judging.
ONE PIECE PRE-JUDGING - FITNESS CLASS A
First call-outs: Kristina Rojas, Breean Robinson, Angela Reineck, Tonya Burkhardt
Stephanie Irick was the
FigureRX spotlight athlete at the 2007 NPC Heart of Texas Figure (see Contest Info - Texas section). She placed 2nd in figure at that show and she also won the fitness title at the NPC Lone Star earlier in the year.
Tonya Burkhardt placed 2nd in this year's Junior USA's short class, and we really like her physique. We'll see how she fares in the routine rounds.
--
-------------------Stephanie Irick-----------------------------------------Tonya Burkhardt
Tulsa girl
Breean Robinson is so beautiful and polished that we sometimes forget that she isn't a pro already, it seems like she has been overdue for a card for a while. She won the overall fitness title at the 2006 Junior Nationals.
--
-------------------------------------------------Breean Robinson
Kristina Rojas has really impressed but we have not seen much of her ... she did win the overall fitness title at the 2007 NPC John Sherman and this is only her third show! Her first fitness show was the Laredo Gateway in the teen division, where she also placed first. Kristina is 20 years old and a former arena football league cheerleader - and already she is competitive at the top of fitness Nationals!!
--
---------------------------------------------------Kristina Rojas
ONE PIECE PRE-JUDGING - FITNESS CLASS B
First call-outs: Siene Silva, Colleen Baldwin, Lishia Dean, Jessica Clay, Tina Durkin
Tina Durkin looks well conditioned from the front but we'd like to see tighter hamstrings, and
Siene Silva really stands out for her symmetry and beauty in this group as well. Siene has an edge in the physique rounds but obviously everything can change with the routines on Saturday morning.
--
-----------------------------------------------------Tina Durkin
--
-----------------------------------------------------Siene Silva
--
--------------------Lishia Dean--------------------------------------------Colleen Baldwin
ONE PIECE PRE-JUDGING - FITNESS CLASS C
First call-outs: Alissa Carpio, Traci Redding, Sandi Stuart, Tanya Merryman, Violet Mundy
In the photos above the competitor order is Stuart, Carpio, Merryman, Mundy and Redding.
There were few surprises in this call-out other than the vast physique improvements exhibited by
Violet Mundy. We last saw her competing in Figure at the 2006 Team Universe in New York, where she did not place (a lot of great athletes did not place at that show in 2006). Violet also has dramatically improved her posing and she really held her own the call-outs.
Alissa Carpio also looks to be in great shape, she is a perennial
FigureRX favorite.
--
---------------------------------------------------Alissa Carpio
--
-------------------------------------------------Tanya Merryman
--
-------------------------------------------------Violet Mundy
--
--------------------Traci Redding--------------------------------------------Sandi Stuart
