FigureRX Contest Preview: 2007 Palm Beach Pro Figure
October 8, 2007
The second annual edition of the Palm Beach Pro Figure competition promises to be just as exciting as the first. Promoter John Organ resurrected this show last year and placed it perfectly on the calendar to maximize participation, just two weeks after the Olympia. As a result some of the biggest stars in the IFBB ranks will be here fresh off their Olympia appearances, while others will take advantage of geography to compete in their home region. The prize money, which is larger than typical at shows of this type, is also a draw.
At
Team FigureRX, we will be doing full on site coverage so look for us there! If we could we would stuff 5-6 competitors into the top three at this show, it's that competitive with numerous superstar athletes. We predict that we are going to see some surprises, with one or two athletes possibly placing significantly higher than they did at the Olympia while others will place lower.
FigureRX Palm Beach Pro Figure Featured Athlete - Latisha Wilder
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Our feature athlete for this show is
Latisha Wilder, who is coming off an 11th place finish at the Olympia and we project her to make the top five here.
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----------------------------------------------------Latisha Wilder
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Real Gainz Magazine is running a monthly physique contest. Once per day, up until October 29th,
please go vote for our friend and top NPC Figure Athlete
Terri Jett!!
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Holding almost perfect shapes and conditioning for an entire month isn't easy for anyone, but
Gina Aliotti is at the top of her game right now and if anyone can do it she can. After her win at the Tournament of Champions and her second place finish at the Olympia anything other than a win for Gina here would be an upset. Not that she needs it, because Gina is figure perfection right now, but the short history of the Palm Beach Pro is also on her side. Last year the second place finisher at the Olympia went on to take the Palm Beach figure title (
Amber Littlejohn). Gina also placed second at Palm Beach last year.
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------------------------------------------------------Gina Aliotti
After Gina we think the field is wide open, which will make it very exciting to watch but will give a lot of power to the judging panel. At
FigureRX we like three athletes who we believe all have a chance at a second place finish, and all of them are from the State of Florida. The first is
Paola Almerico, who frankly should have been on the Olympia stage with the total package that she presents. Paola has been consistently placing near the top at all of her pro shows during her debut year, ever since her head turning appearance at the Motor City Pro. She has an ideal, sleek figure shape for her height, and when her conditioning is on (as it was in California) we can't detect any flaws in her physique. Among her most outstanding traits are her side abs, arm and delt vascularity, and small elbow and knee joints. In our opinion it's time to elevate Paola solidly into the top three.
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---------------------------------------------------Paola Almerico
You won't be surprised to find out the identity of our second top three contender,
Heather Green, because at
FigureRX we have made it no secret that we are big supporters. Heather is one of those rare athletes with the ability to expand the sport, as
Monica Brant has done for so many years. Her combination of physique and beauty seems to have universal appeal, admired by weekend warriors and triathletes who read Oxygen to those of us who like to see a lot of substantive muscle on the figure stage. Heather placed 2nd at the Atlantic City Pro in a tough field and not only do we expect her to place in the top three here, she is an athlete who has the combination of muscle, symmetry and presentation to give Gina a run for her money if she falters.
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----------------------------------------------------Heather Green
The third athlete in our Florida trifecta is
Danielle Hollenshade, the 2005 national figure champion. Danielle is another genetic marvel who is hard to beat when she is on with her conditioning and presentation, but she faltered a little bit in Atlantic City and didn't get the looks that she deserved at the Olympia. One of the ongoing keys for Danielle will be to show up ready to remind everyone that she was one of the top up-and-comers on the scene in 2005 and to recapture that career trajectory. Her upper body and overall structure can hang with anybody's and if she can bring her hamstrings up a little bit and dial in her conditioning look for to exceed her 4th place finish here last year and to be a formidable force throughout the 2007-08 season.
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------------------------------------------------Danielle Hollenshade
Tennessee athlete
Tivisay Briceno will be making her pro debut at this show, and she may be a little less well known because she won her pro card this past July in Pittsburgh by sweeping Class A and the overall at the Masters. Tivisay has a unique look that we think will be very successful at the pro level after a year when a lot of shorter competitors like
Jennifer Gates and
Meriza DeGuzman showed they could hang with the tall girls and made their way to the top. Not only is Tivisay beautiful but she has an overall figure structure that you usually see on taller athletes, with a tiny waist, muscular (but not overwhelming) quads, and an excellent lat flare-out. We like Tivisay a lot and are excited to be there to see her professional debut.
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--------------------------------------------------Tivisay Briceno
Speaking of people we like, Georgia athlete
Claire Parmley has to be one of the most overlooked competitors in the IFBB. Claire brings the quintessential pro physique and in many ways she represents what other competitors are striving to achieve, with capped delts, tight abs and some of the best glutes and legs in the pro ranks. At
FigureRX we have to think that Claire is just being hurt by her long absence from the stage, and that as she continues to perform at this level (as she has all year) she will see better looks and placings from the judges. Judges tend to take more criticism when they deviate from the norm, so it is often safer for them to place the same athletes at the top and the middle than to shake things up. Claire needs that one breakthrough pro show and then we think she'll be up there near the top to stay.
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--------------------------------------------------Claire Parmley
As we said after the Olympia,
Natalie Benson is one of those athletes who has the tools to place anywhere from the top three to the middle of the pack on any given day at the pro level. We think she is due to bounce back and will challenge for the top five in Palm Beach, but the reality is that the judges tend to accept more muscle in some physique areas but are less accepting of muscle thickness in other areas. Natalie has one of the best overall structures in the sport and her delts, hams, glutes, calves and back are as good as you will see on the stage. She looks outstanding from the front and the rear but her weakness is her look from the side (see picture on the left below) which can create an illusion of too much thickness in her quads and upper arms, especially her triceps. For Natalie to place near the top on a consistent basis we'd like to see her bring her upper arms and her quads down just a little bit not just to strip muscle but to aid her overall symmetry.
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----------------------------------------------------Natalie Benson
This is our first opportunity to talk about Floridian
Christine Wan, even though we've seen her working the GNC booths at shows for a while! Christine is another athlete who impresses with her overall structure, and particularly the combination of her back, glutes and quad sweep (accentuated by her small knee joints). She brought her best to the 2007 Arnold stage and finished 9th and we look forward to seeing if she will do the same here in her home area. Christine finished 5th at the Palm Beach Pro last year.
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----------------------------------------------------Christine Wan
This is an incredibly solid field of competitors, and you can tell given that we are just now talking about
Melissa Pearo who has top ten potential in any pro show that she enters. Melissa came in a little bit smooth at the Europa and placed 11th, but if she can tighten up her abs, glutes and upper legs she will move up significantly here.
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----------------------------------------------------Melissa Pearo
Californian and Olympian
Meriza DeGuzman is a final week entrant and will be making the trip from the left coast with superstar
Gina Aliotti. Meriza is the biggest wild card in this entire field, with the ability to finish anywhere from 2nd place to outside the top ten depending on the judging. We know from her past two shows that Meriza will bring one of the best backs to the stage and her legs will be outstanding as well.
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-------------------------------------------------Meriza DeGuzman
Even though she is a Mississippi girl,
Zena Collins is very familiar with the Palm Beach area because the NPC figure show that bears her name is held in Palm Beach Gardens each November. One of our
Team FigureRX athletes,
Danielle Rouleau, did her national qualifying show there in 2005. Zena is a bit of a wild card, because she tore up the pro circuit with a lot of high placings in 2006 including 5th at the Pittsburgh Pro and 6th in Palm Beach. At the time she had some of our favorite arms in the IFBB pro ranks. In 2007 Zena took a little bit of a step back primarily with her conditioning, placing 15th at the Arnold and 21st in Pittsburgh. We'll have to see what type of presentation and physique that Zena brings to the stage for the new season.
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----------------------------------------------------Zena Collins
Marie Gibbon has a physique that is far superior than her placing indicated in Atlantic City, but we're unsure about how she will be treated in Palm Beach. We really like Marie's upper body, she has a great back and an etched midsection. We'd like to see a little bit more hamstring conditioning and more quad sweep to elevate her into the top on a consistent basis.
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----------------------------------------------------Marie Gibbon
We have to admit that we haven't seen
Cynthia Sharp in a very long time, but we're very interested to see what she brings to the stage because we absolutely loved her package at the 2005 IFBB North Americans. Beyond that we will be looking and learning about Cynthia like everyone else. We know via that grapevine that
Sherma Del Tergo is an excellent personal trainer who has worked with David Angotti, but we do not have any photos. Rounding out the field is
Helen Turley, another athlete for which we have little information (and we can't determine how and when she earned her IFBB pro card). If anyone has additional information please feel free to drop us a note at
FigureRX@verizon.net!!
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---------------------Cynthia Sharp-------------------------------------------Helen Turley
