FigureRX Contest Preview: 2007 Sacramento Pro Figure
October 28, 2007
Welcome to
Team FigureRX's preview for the 2007 Sacramento Pro Figure Grand Prix. This is shaping up to be an average-sized show as far as numbers but there are a several stars on hand who have a lot of experience placing very well in pro shows! Some prominent west coast athletes like
Gina Aliotti,
Meriza DeGuzman, and
Nancy Georges will be sitting this one out after competing at the Tournament of Champions. There is one notable IFBB debut, Californian
Huong Arcinas, who went pro by winning
Figure Class A at this year's nationals, and a second debut by
April Fortier.
Michelle Mayberry will be making her pro figure debut after rocking the fitness stage in Palm Beach and stunning everyone in the physique rounds. As usual,
FigureRX will be providing coverage of the show but we will have a local California team on hand at this one and taking one of our national teams to Kentucky the following weekend.
The first proven champion gracing this stage is Arizona girl
Andrea Dumon, who won the Atlantic City Pro, placed 6th in Houston and finished 14th at the Olympia. Andrea's rear shot is one of the best in figure, her back, rear delts and calves are perfectly shaped and well defined. We also liked the level of upper leg conditioning that she exhibited at the Olympia, and thought she was even better conditioned in Las Vegas than in Atlantic City. If Andrea nails her presentation than look for her to grab that 2008 Olympia qualification early.
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----------------------------------------------------Andrea Dumon
An athlete who we think has an excellent chance at a top five placing here is Oregon's
Kristi Tauti, who took some time to work with her trainer to put on some size after doing four shows early this year. Kristi placed as high as 9th at both the California State and the Jan Tana, and given the tools that she already has at her disposal (including physical beauty and an incredible midsection) a little added size especially in her delts will make her a force to reckon with at this show and in the future. We trust her and her trainer and we're excited to see the physique that Kristi will unveil in Sacramento.
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------------------------------------------------------Kristi Tauti
If we had to put odds on an actual first place winner for this show we'd pick
MaryJo Cooke, because she has proven time and again that she is not only an excellent athlete but she is also a winner. Part of what makes figure so interesting is there are so many championship physique types, and what works on one athlete might not look good on someone else. MaryJo is tall with an ideal joint structure, so as she adds a little size her curves fill out even more and she gets better at every show. Every area of her physique is already solid, so with MaryJo it is just a matter of fine tuning and bringing some areas up in a minor way so that she can make the leap from winning pro shows to being competitive with the top finishers at the Arnold or the Olympia.
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-----------------------------------------------MaryJo Cooke-Elliott
Two more phenomenal athletes round out our selections for the top five.
Michelle Mayberry was our break-out competitor at Palm Beach, and even though she competed in fitness there her physique belongs at the highest levels of figure competition. Her routine was excellent and should not be discounted, but she placed third in the one piece posing round and fourth in her two piece. So to sum up Michele's 2007 season, the Washington resident won Class F figure and the fitness overall at the Emerald Cup, took her pro card in fitness at Team Universe, placed 11th at the Europa and 5th in Palm Beach (where she was named
FigureRX break-out athete
) and now she's taking aim at the top of the Sacramento Pro Figure. Michele has every single physique tool and if you watch the videos you'll see some other reasons why we're so impressed. For example: Can you guess at what age Michelle started gymnastics?
VIDEO - MICHELLE'S SHORT ROUTINE FROM PALM BEACH
VIDEO - MICHELLE'S TWO MINUTE ROUTINE FROM PALM BEACH
VIDEO - PART ONE OF MICHELE'S FIGURERX INTERVIEW
VIDEO - PART TWO OF MICHELE'S FIGURERX INTERVIEW
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-------------------------------------------------Michelle Mayberry
Last but not least, we also expect Coloradan
Heather Mae French to contend for the top at this show based on her showing at the Tournament of Champions where she placed 6th. As we mentioned at the time, Heather has really elevated her game in the past few months since the Colorado Pro and she has a top level pro physique with an outstanding back and delts. Add to that excellent presentation and one of the best chest-delt tie-ins on stage. There are not as many athletes at this show with immovable political connections so Heather has a real chance for an Olympia qualification in Sacramento, and some of the positive press and recognition that she deserves.
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------------------------------------------------Heather Mae French
Now we have a special treat, because a competitor with some of the best legs in all of a figure has decided to make her debut at Sacramento, near her home town! As previously mentioned,
Huong Arcinas won her pro card this year at Nationals and she brings one of the best "shorter" physiques that we have seen. Huong has capped delts, a very tight waist, perfect calves, and quad separation that rivals Valerie Waugaman's at the Arnold. How high she places will depend on how the judges treat her in her first time on the IFBB pro stage, but there's no reason why she can't finish near the top.
PLEASE NOTE!! FigureRX will be highlighting the careers of all the IFBB pro athletes, starting with the 2007 figure pro card class (
LINK). To see specific information on Huong Arcinas please go
here.
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-----------------------------------------------------Huong Arcinas
Up until now we knew
Waleska Valle as the cover model of
HardFitness Issue 15, the one that featured our own
Danielle Rouleau and her photo shoot at the 2006 Arnold. So needless to say this will be our first opportunity to see her on the pro stage, as she won her pro card back in 2004 so has been a little bit off our radar screen. We've been learning about Waleska and we're very impressed at what we are seeing, she carries a lot of muscle but carries it extremely well. Waleska has gorgeous delts and quads and her abdominals remind of us of
Karen Zaremba, which is a huge compliment. She always has that solid tie-in area between the quads and glutes that announces her hard work in the gym. Waleska may get docked a little bit for her muscularity, but she really shouldn't be penalized that much because she has balance between her upper and lower bodies and is very symmetrical. She placed as high as 7th at the 2006 San Francisco Pro show and then finished 14th at this year's California State Pro.
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----------------------------------------------------Waleska Valle
Team FigureRX will be featuring Texan
Darlina Brown as a spotlight athlete in the contest report for this show, and then again with a short interview at Kentucky. Darlina had not competed for a while prior to this year, when she hit the stage at two pro shows in Texas and did well at both. We think her quad, hamstring and glutes overall shape is one of the best on stage and she excels with the other focal points too, including stand-out delts. We think she'll continue to place higher as she reintroduces herself to the scene and we look forward to learning more about her.
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----------------------------------------------------Darlina Brown
Arkansas native
Michelle Flake started her figure career at the "Battle of the Bluff" in 2003. We're just mentioning that because it's pretty cool how a lot of southern shows are named, especially in Tennessee and Arkansas! By 2005, Michelle had won the Emerald Cup and she turned pro at that year's USA's by winning not only her height class but the overall title - making her a member of the incredible 2005 pro card class (
LINK). So just to be clear, at the 2005 USA's Michelle defeated
Gina Aliotti,
Amanda Savell,
Andrea Dumon, and vastly underrated athlete
Shelly Taucher. That's the caliber of athlete we're talking about, and in 2006 Michelle competed at the Arnold and qualified for the Olympia. Look for Michelle to do very well at Sacramento, her first trip to the pro stage in 2007.
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----------------------------------------------------Michelle Flake
Unfortunately this may be
Chrissy Garcia's last show, as she has indicated that she plans to retire, although we have no doubt that Team Flex Wheeler will be rolling along as strong as ever. Chrissy was in great shape at the Tournament of Champions and we expect Sacramento to be a continuation and for her to finish strong in the top ten.
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----------------------------------------------------Chrissy Garcia
There are several international competitors competing at Sacramento and at KentuckyMuscle, and we hope that they are all treated well and rewarded for their physique accomplishments.
Celeste Gonzalez has an Olympia caliber physique and should have placed higher on that stage.
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-------------------------------------------------Celeste Gonzalez
A last minute entry by fitness crossover athlete
Kirsten Nicewarner injects a little more uncertainty into the mix at the Sacramento show. We only know Kirsten from talking to her at the GNC booth (she is sponsored by them) at various shows since it has been a while since she has hit the stage. She placed 8th at the 2006 Tournament of Champions and 12th at the Arnold in 2005. We would say from a purity standpoint that Kirsten has more of a fitness physique, with a very strong back that sometimes overpowers the rest of her body. It will be interesting to see how she fares at this show.
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-------------------------------------------------Kirsten Nicewarner
We're very impressed that Czech athlete
Petra Mertl is competing at this show, given the length of her season earlier in the year which started with the Pittsburgh Pro and ended with the Europa, with a total of five competitions overall. Petra has a great upper body overall shape but needs to come in a little bit more conditioned and bring up her calves in order to move up.
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-----------------------------------------------------Petra Mertl
At
Team FigureRX we think that
Rosa-Maria Romero is a genetic marvel, with an ideal textbook figure physique that includes solid muscle, large rounded delts, quad separation and a great back. She looks almost too perfect on an overall basis that even though she is not overly big she can look larger and a little too hard on stage. We decided to coin a new phrase that we are calling the "Claire Parmley" penalty
, and that's when an athlete looks so good that it confuses the judges and they have no idea what to do with her!
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------------------------------------------------Rosa-Maria Romero
Aleksandra Kobielak last appeared on the Olympia stage in 2003 and 2004, but she has struggled to crack the top 15 at several pro shows since then including the Tournament of Champions in 2006. We don't even know if we'll see the blonde Aleksandra who graced the stage in 2006 or the brunette from some of the Bill Dobbins photo shoots early in the decade. In 2006 she had a little bit of an imbalance in her physique because of her overpowering back and triceps, and we will wait to see if she has made improvements in the past year.
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-------------------------------------------------Aleksandra Kobielak
Crossover athlete and hair stylist
April Fortier will also be making her IFBB pro debut in her home area. April went pro by winning Figure Class D at this year's USA championships (
Link to contest report), after also competing in fitness for an impressive number of shows throughout the year. She is one of three (of thirty) 2007 pro card winners who we have been unable to reach for her interview and profile. Perhaps we will be able to learn more about her in Kentucky when she competes the following weekend.
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-----------------------------------------------------April Fortier
Maiken Emborg last competed on the pro stage in 1999 but she's making a serious comeback here and in Kentucky. We'll know more after both shows, her look was a little softer in the late nineties and we will see if she has adjusted to reflect the judging criteria a decade later. In the meantime you can check out some pictures of her at her newly launched website
http://www.maikenemborg.com/.
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