NPC JR NATIONALS

2008 NPC JR Nationals Winners

June 21, 2008 By Isaac Hinds Leave a Comment

Congratulations to all the winners at tonight’s NPC JR Nationals contest. Below is a flash report of the winners for the women:

The six new female pros (there’s one more but missed the photo)

Fitness -
Short Class: Stefanie Irick and overall champion
Medium: Melissa Frederick
Tall: Betsy McNally Harris

Figure –
A Class – Sue Upson and new IFBB Pro
B Class – Julie Kulla and new IFBB Pro & Overall winner
C Class – Teresa Gillian and new IFBB Pro
D Class – Terri Turner
E Class – Catherine Hollan and new IFBB Pro
F Class – Jennifer Martin

Female Bodybuilding –
Middleweight – Heather Bayer
Light Heavyweight – Justine Dohring
Heavyweight – Amber Defrancesco and Overall Winner

Congrats to all! Today the vast majority of the women looked better than on Friday night. Most likely it was because they had some carbs. Ladies talk to the judges and get feedback. Many of the women I saw compete at JR USAs who competed here looked much better.

Filed Under: NPC JR NATIONALS

NPC Jr Nationals Prejuding Photos

June 21, 2008 By Isaac Hinds Leave a Comment

All the photos from last night are now posted on bodybuilding.com in the NPC JR Nationals section. There are shots of all competitors. Check back as more are added throughout the weekend
Check out the over 2,000 photos here.

Filed Under: NPC JR NATIONALS

NPC JR Nationals Update

June 20, 2008 By Isaac Hinds 2 Comments

Day one is in the books and the competition will be some of the toughest the NPC figure has seen. Last night the men and women weighed in and had the ladies heights were checked. You will see a number of women moving around in height classes from last year. This year the classes were changed in an effort to even the numbers out, particularly the A and F classes. We’re still getting a feel for how this plays out on the National stage.

The schmonation is running strong and you will see a variety of the individuals I wrote about in my photographers post. Another item I’ll be writing about later is something I hadn’t given much thought, until last night. The “schmodels”. These are the women who thrive off the attention of posing, flexing, smiling for anyone who has a camera. Ladies if you’re a fitness or figure competitor and you’re flexing your biceps for a dude with a camera phone – YOU’RE A SCHMODEL. I’ll save this diatribe for another time.

The weather in Chicago is nice, not too hot and the crazy bugs from last year are no where in sight. I ran into a few familiar faces and some new ones yesterday. When I met up with the PR Team they informed their fearless leader, IFBB Carla Sanchez, was not let on the plane with them because she didn’t have the right credit card that the ticket was booked with. What a load of poo. The women forged ahead and were sporting matching outfits for their photo shoot with JM Manion.

JM photographing the Peformance Ready girls.

It as amusing to watch traffic come to a hault and random people stop to take photos of the scene. All five women looked great and in a conversation with Jamie Meade, who is making her first trip to the national scene, I was reminded of something. No matter where you finish in this show you should be proud and happy to be on stage. Why? She works with handicapped people every day who can’t walk or have disabilities that prevent them from doing every day things. I love her outlook and she reminded me to not loose sight of the big picture.

Then there is Liza Kampstra. Liza will be a force in the B Class and one to watch. She had some fun with the group and one point sported a blonde wig. Her altered ego – “Larrissa” came out for a few shots and it was comedy at it’s finest.

“Larrissa” wanted no photos from the paparazzi until he she was ready.

Just kidding it was actually hilarious.

At check-in I caught up with a number of women, all of which mentioned HARDBODY.com. Thanks for the props and thanks to all of you for visiting regularly.I “officially” met Khristy Poteat and we chatted a bit. She tells me she is coming in a bit softer than JR USAs and I could tell in her face she wasn’t as hard and drawn in, this should suit her well. Very stunning woman and watch for her to move up from her last placing

Sara Hurrle was trying to stay calm over the airline loosing her luggage. This is Sara’s first national show and looking to keep her winning ways alive in the D Class.

One woman I’ve know for a few years and honestly did not recognize her was Betsy Harris. Betsy ain’t play’n no games and came to do damage in Chitown. She competes in fitness and the last couple of shows hasn’t fair as well as she would like due to her conditioning or lack their of. I can tell just from her face that this won’t be an issue for her this show. I’ve never seen her so lean and if she can muster up enough energy to bring the noise to the stage tonight, WATCH OUT! I’m anxious to see how she looks on stage as her routines are solid and with a conditioned physique she puts herself in the mix to turn pro.

Betsy Harris leaner than ever and ready to take the stage.

I had a chance to chat with Paola Almerico and her husband Nelson a bit yesterday. Two good peeps who are always fun to be around. Paola just finished shooting for OXYGEN magazine in Canada. The husband/wife duo prepped two figure competitors for this show. You may recall, they worked with the overall champ from JR USAs, Lenay Hernandez. Paola was chatting with a variety of people including “the man with the big book” John Stutz. She also smiled pretty for a dead ringer of IFBB Pro Mary Lado. Yes, there is a Mary Lado lookalike at the show and she calls Dallas home. Monique “momo” is stunning and you have to do a double take when you see her as she is a spitting image of Mary. Keep an eye on her in the coming shows, she isn’t competing in this show but is a striking woman.

Poala with Momo, the Mary Lado lookalike.

I’m off to get my cardio on and hit the second check-in that will be held at 9am this morning. I’ll squeeze in a couple photo shoots before tonight’s prejudging which starts at 5pm. Tonight it’s all about the women and good luck to all of them.

Filed Under: Industry News, Misc, NPC JR NATIONALS

Watch Out Chicago The Eagle has Landed – JR Nationals Preview

June 19, 2008 By Isaac Hinds Leave a Comment

I survived the flight from Denver to Chicago and happy to report I have a good internet connection from the hotel. I’ll be doing most of my blogging for the show on bodybuilding.com’s BodySpace this weekend. Check back for more updates on the things going down in Chitown.

My NPC Jr. Nationals preview is up and I know I left a few people off and if you were one of them don’t take it personally. There are close to 200 figure competitors in this show. I’ll be photographing the weigh-in/check-in tonight so look for some photos from that later on. This should be a kick ass show.

Filed Under: Industry News, NPC JR NATIONALS

Fabulous Female Friday set for June 20th

June 4, 2008 By Isaac Hinds 1 Comment

The women of the NPC will take to the stage beginning at 5pm on Friday, June 20, 2008. This year’s NPC Junior Nationals is a pro qualifier for the figure and new this year, the fitness! It’s coined “Fabulous Female Friday” for good reason, many of the best physiques in the world will hit the stage. One of the coolest women you’ll ever meet, promoter extraordinaire Pam Betz tells me there will be over 180 females competing this year. Personally, I look for that number to be over 200 come show time. Competitors are notorious for procrastinating and sending in their entry forms at the last minute. Shocker, I know. The event will be held at the Regency O’Hare Hotel Ballroom, just minutes away from Chicago’s O’Hare airport. If you haven’t booked yet make certain you fly into O’Hare and NOT Midway airport. I made that mistake two years ago and it ended up being a $50+ cab ride to the hotel.

This is one of my favorite shows of the year and everything is in one spot. The venue and host hotel are connected which makes things very easy on everyone. There are a number of quality competitors from across the US competing in this show and will definitely be worth the price of admission.