| I
had never really attended an NPC event before, unless
you consider sitting up in the nosebleeds at the NPC
USAs "attending a show", so I was looking forward
to the Cal States. One thing I wasn't looking forward to,
however,
was attending TWO days of prejudging. For me, that meant
8 hours of my life being sucked away by the leech known
as Los Angeles traffic. I may never get those 8 hours back,
but when it was all said and done, attending the Cal States
- my first - was well worth it.
On
Friday evening (May 23), the prejudging started out with
a bang with a veritable army of figure competitors - 26
in all. Surprisingly, I overheard someone in the audience
state that the numbers were even higher last year. Yikes.
Among
the fitness competitors, the standouts were: Lisa
Darelli,
the eventual overall winner, with her well proportioned
physique and great suit; Gina Camacho, who sported a very
sleek physique; Rebecca Wheeler, with awesome overall conditioning;
Vivian Dan Xu, who has some serious stage presence; and
Amy Rainaldo, the former bodybuilder who is making a great
transition into figure.
After the great showing by the figure competitors, I was
hyped up for the following day's judging. So after a minimal
amount of sleep and a trip through horrendous Memorial Day
weekend traffic, I arrived for the second day of prejudging
- fitness and bodybuilding.
On the women's side of things, fitness was up first. Out
came Christi Watkins, the first competitor. Then Tracey
MacDonald walked out on stage. And then.. well, there is no "then",
because that was it. C'mon now, you're telling me that in
the entire state of California, there's only TWO fitness
competitors that want to take it to the next level? I understand
the appeal of figure (no need for extra training, extra expenditures,
extra chance of injury), but wow, I was a little surprised.
Anyhow,
among the two, MacDonald presented a more developed physique,
and would come away with the "overall"
title.
Usually
I don't cover bodybuilding, but I made an exception at
this show. Now, its not that I'm a "hater" or
anything.. it's just that the FitSights' niche is fitness
and figure.
When I first opened the site, there were very little sites
devoted to fitness/figure; however there were quite a few
sites
focused on the bodybuilding aspect of it. But having traveled
all the way to LA for the show, busting out $20 to get
in the door, I sure as hell wasn't going home after two
fitness competitors.
In
the lightweights, my hometown - or at least home county
- girl Lisa Bickels was the clear favorite. She presented
a very polished and tight package that would be difficult
for anyone to beat.
The
middleweights seemed like a tight race. You had Emery
Miller (who would end up winning
the class) with the size advantage, but Lisa Moordigan was
in awesome condition, but perhaps lacked the overall development
Emery did. It's hard to deny someone the top spot when
they come into a show in that kind of shape, though.
The
heavyweights surely lived up to their titles, with many
of the competitors packing some serious size. The biggest
was Dianne Solomons, who not only had
the size, but also the conditioning. Following her was Malissa
Robles, who
had a great overall look (including her hair), but Solomon's
legs were a bit better. But Melissa is definitely someone
to keep an eye on in the future. Shelly Fields rounded
out the top three in the heavyweights, and actually had
one of the best physiques of the night. She came in very
lean with a sleek, muscular look. However on this night,
the judges rewarded the bigger Solomon and Robles for their
size.
In
the overalls, the mighty mite Lisa Bickels overcame
the sheer size of Dianne Solomons with
her extremely polished look and presentation, and came
away with the prestigious
title of California State champ.
Hey,
maybe covering this bodybuilding stuff isn't so bad after
all.
Did
you compete at the NPC Cal States? Email
us, theres
a good chance we have additional photos of you
from the show.
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