2008 Arnold Amateur Figure - Class C Preview
FigureRX Online Magazine Volume 3
February 10, 2008
Official 2008 Arnold Amateur Figure Class C Preview
Figure Class C will be competitive from top to bottom, especially after several Class B athletes have been moved over. In fact the depth here is tremendous, which is not something we could say about the lower-mid height classes at the national level last year. Figure stars who will impress in this class include several Canadians and a few talented Texans, among many others, and that's even after two favorites decided not to compete!!
Class C Old Height Class: Over 5'3†and up to and including 5'4†(21 athletes)
Class C New Height Class: Over 5'2-1/2†and up to and including 5'4†(24 athletes)
The original competitor lists used the old height classes, but all athletes will be measured and placed in the new height classes on site. We have already moved several competitors from Class B to Class C and the list and preview that you see below has been adjusted to the best of our knowledge. If we have not been able to reach someone to make an adjustment we will make the correction in the contest reports!!
FigureRX Class C Spotlight Athlete - Casey Jovan
Casey Jovan was selected as our spotlight athlete for Class C, and after several days of phone and e-mail tag we have decided to plow ahead and to catch up with her on site. Casey is one of the athletes who has trained with superb Salt Lake City-based trainer and contest prep expert
Sandy Hancock and she turned a lot of heads while winning the figure overall title at the 2007 NPC Northern Classic. Casey has national level potential based on her outstanding overall package so look for the Arnold to be her big arrival announcement.
-------
NPC Figure Arnold Casey Jovan Draper Utah
Another athlete who we already know will be one of the best in 2008 is Michigan's
Pamela Soper, who is gorgeous with a superb physique including excellent glutes and abs. Pamela had her arrival party at last year's NPC Pittsburgh, and followed it up with two top five finishes at the national level. This personal trainer is an IFBB professional waiting to happen and she will begin her year by challenging for the top three on this stage.
-------
NPC Figure Arnold Pamela Soper Flint Michigan
It's such a treat to have many of the top Canadian competitors here, and we hope to sit down in Ohio and learn more about
Leah Berti, a rising star from Calgary. The 24-year old Leah is drop dead gorgeous with just the right amount of muscle. We'll save more for our contest report but not only are we excited to see her compete at the Arnold but we think she's in for a great year competing in Canada as well.
-------
NPC Figure Arnold Leah Berti Calgary Albert Canada
Now we get to two-step to some Texas quality and talk about the first of three Lone Star state competitors in this height class.
Esmeralda Saxenian from Bellaire in the Houston area has a great total package physique with specifically outstanding abdominals, arms and vascularity. She's also impressive as a fitness model, and we think "Laly" will perhaps do as well here as she did at the 2007 NPC Texas State.
-------
NPC Figure Arnold Esmeralda Saxenian Bellaire Texas
The second Canadian star in this height class actually won the fitness short class at 2007 Nationals.
Allison Black-Stirling has a
FigureRX-style physique (muscle, symmetry and conditioning) with awesome delts, back, and V-taper. Allison is solid all over but with a fitness-type physique, so how she fares will really depend on the direction of the judging - but we would place her near the top.
-------
NPC Figure Arnold Allison Black-Stirling Edmonton Alberta Canada
Bernadette Marturano competed at the NPC Ironman Figure where she was spot on except for her upper leg conditioning, which seemed to be a couple weeks out (you can see pictures of her competing at the Ironman by going
here). That means here at the Arnold, two weeks later, she could impress. You can't deny Bernadette's beauty and her genetics, which give her supermodel-type physique lines, so if she can dial in that last component she will do very well.
-------
NPC Figure Arnold Heins Bernadette Marturano Temecula California
Emily Little would have been one of our Ohio surprises at this show, because we love her physique, but she already appeared on our radar screen while finishing 15th in her class at North Americans last year. Emily seems to be able to move seamlessly between a gorgeous softer look when she does fitness modeling and a much tighter look on stage, and if she can dial in her conditioning just a little bit more she will be a force to reckon with nationally.
-------
NPC Figure Arnold Emily Little Dublin Ohio
19-year old Texan
Laura Cavender is a future star who is already a veteran of top level modeling, and who is gradually putting on the muscle to stand with the big girls at the national level. We wouldn't sell her short because she definitely has that "it" factor and a great figure shape, but Laura is probably a year away from taking what are her obvious raw tools and turning them into top five finishes outside of Texas.
-------
NPC Figure Arnold Laura Cavender Victoria Texas
----------___________________________________________________________________
----------------Visit NPC Figure Star Danielle Rouleau at
http://www.DanielleRouleau.com!!!
-------------
----------___________________________________________________________________
Trish Rice-Hogan is the 2006 NPC Southern Classic overall champion, and she also placed 6th in Class C at this year's highly competitive Europa. Her outstanding physique, especially her abdominals and her teardrops, is further testament to the depth in this height class.
-------
NPC Figure Arnold Trish Rice-Hogan North Little Rock Arizona Arkansas
Thanks to our friends at HDPhysiques for helping us to get a hold of
Ann Titone from St. Louis, and for the pics! Ann has a very interesting story which we will share in the contest report, but for now we will tell you that she is an up-and-coming athlete who won first place in her class at the Missouri State Ozark Championship and the NPC Caveman Classic. She has been working on putting on some more muscle in her legs to go along with her standout upper body, and after this show you will be able to see her compete at the national level.
-------
NPC Figure Arnold Ann Titone St. Saint Louis Missouri
Our second Missouri athlete in this class looks much younger than her 45 years old, in fact
Amy Kessler won first place in the Short Class and first place in the Masters Division at the 2007 NPC Continental.
-------
NPC Figure Arnold Amy Kessler St. Saint Louis Missouri
We like both
Tina Davis and
Qawnana Crockett as well. Tina already has a pro style physique, with an amazingly tight waist and tiny joints, and she placed 2nd in figure short at the 2007 NPC All South. Qawnana competed at the 2007 North Americans and placed 9th in Class C, and she stands out for her back and delt definition.
-------
NPC Figure Arnold Qawnana Crockett Gainesville Virginia Tina Davis Fortson Georgia
With apologies to
Rochelle Cannon,
Deanna Harvick from Beaumont is a quad queen. Her legs are so outstanding that she'll need to work to show balance between her upper and lower bodies. Deanna placed 5th in Class C at the ultra-competitive 2007 NPC Texas State.
-------
NPC Figure Arnold Deanna Harvick Beaumont Texas
Tonya Todd from Arkansas is a ten time Team USA national arm wrestling champion, and it's no surprise that she has great arms and delts.
Terri Sileno took 2nd in her class and 1st in masters at the 2007 NPC Dutchess, while we don't know much yet about
Christina Watson other than she's beautiful but you can check out her Femflex video
here.
-------
NPC Figure Arnold Christina Watson Xenia Ohio Tonya Todd Cabot Arkansas Terri Sileno Doug Wreepsie New York
Linda Smith took 7th in Figure Class A at the 2007 Tournament of Champions and 5th in Figure B at the NPC Elite Muscle Classic, while
Sandra Brewer from Ohio competed at the 2007 NPC Mike Francois and has done the Arnold 5k pump and run in past years.
Melissa Lefebvre took 7th place in figure medium at the Canadian Championships, and we have no information on
Heather Stewart-Olds.
Olivia McGuire is another competitor who trains with Nina Luchka, so you know she will be ready. Olivia placed 12th in the Masters B class at North Americans.
-------
-------------------------------------
NPC Figure Arnold Linda Smith Charlotte North Carolina Olivia McGuire Providence Ontario Canada Melissa Lefebvre Alberta Canada
Not Competing
Pia Jansson from Norway has decided not to compete, and if anyone can read her statement to tell us the reason please do and let us know (
http://www.piajansson.com/wordpress/index.php)!!
-------
NPC Figure Arnold Pia Jansson Vear Norway
We'd like to give a special acknowledgement to
Faye Schmid from New Jersey, and although we're disappointed that we might not get to see her compete until North Americans we want to congratulate her on the reason - she will be preparing for her wedding! Faye has a beautiful physique and we'll be very supportive of her efforts whenever she is ready.
-------
NPC Figure Arnold Faye Schmid Port Murray New Jersey
