The 2014 Phoenix Pro prejudging took place on Saturday, October 25th in downtown Phoenix. Every division, except women’s bodybuilding, was on display at the event. Over 160 men and women competed over the course of 5 hours in the prejudging portion of the competition.
THE HARDBODY 411:
FITNESS 2-PIECE
It looks like Whitney Jones, Ryall Graber and Sara Kovach will be in the top three with Kelcie Gahley,, Shelly Paton and Chika Aluka in the hunt as well. Sara was moved to the middle at the end of the first callout however I wouldn’t have given her the first place nod. I would have Whitney winning the 2piece round but I’d love to see her ditch the “taking flight” flapping of her arms/hands when she gets into her poses. Physique wise it’s the best she’s looked. Sara put on quite a bit of muscle since the Tampa show and her quads were a tad over powering. Ryall looks good from the front but disappears in the side poses. Kelcie has a nice look and if she nails her routine she should finish in the top five. The fitness routines count for 2/3 the final score so it’s still anyone’s show to win. I like Shannon Siemer’s chances to move up into the top five after the routine rounds as she always brings a solid routine to the stage. Some of the women I’d put in the first or second callout were in the last callout. We’ll see who qualifies for the 2015 Olympia with a win here tomorrow. The top three will receive prize money with the winner getting $5,000, second getting $3,000 and third will earn $2,000. It’s the same prize money as the men’s 212 bodybuilding and deservedly so. I’d argue they deserve as much as the open men, especially in this line up.
WOMEN’S PHYSIQUE
The women’s physique looks like it will be between Tamee Marie and Teresita Morales. I’d give the nod to Tamee Marie but who knows. Third looks to be a lock for Heather Grace and Jamie Postill from Canada in 4th. This was the first time I’ve seen Jamie compete and she has tremendous potential. La’Drissa Bonivel, Susan Salazar and Natalia Batova will likely round out the top 7 spots. It was a little unusual to see seven women called out and especially odd to see Natalia Batova in that group. She looked great but belongs in women’s bodybuilding with the amount of muscle she carries. She was way too muscular for a first callout, at least in my opinion. The winner will receive $3,000, second $1,1500 and third $500.
FIGURE
The Figure division had me raising an eyebrow and saying huh? There was a wide variety of physiques on stage and some in the first callout I agreed with while others I never would have bet on it. It looks like Vera Mallet could win this show with Ivana Ivusic in the second place spot. I like Ivana’s look and potential in the division. Brittany Campbell has an incredible physique but looked like a physique competitor in heels. She has huge delts, massive quads and big calves. If she had competed in Physique at this show I’d have her in the top 3. How she made it into the top callout and will likely finish in the top 3 is beyond me. No disrespect to her or the judges but it’s definitely a confusing call. Rounding out the top spots will be Josie Zamora, Beckie Boddie and Tamara Sedlack. I like Tamara’s look but her suit top was not flattering from the front and I think it hurt her placing. First place takes home $3,000, second $2,000 and third $1,000.
BIKINI
Bikini has become a head scratching division. Some of the posing is mind boggling. The shaking of the shoulders to the swaying of the hips and winking is just absurd. There were some interesting choices in heels, suits and makeup. By “interesting” I mean bad. Like REALLY bad and whoever is teaching this should be embarrassed for such ridiculousness.
As expected, Sarah LeBlanc looks to be your winner. She has a nice physique and doesn’t over do the posing. Francesca Lauren could snag the second place spot and while she has a nice look I never would have bet on her being in the top spots. Why will she finish there? No clue. Lindsey Waters looks to be a lock for third but I could see her in second. She has a nice physique but the make up and the eyelashes that look to be a foot long have gotta go. Bianca Berry will finish in the top five once again and likely be in 4th. Tatiana Koshmann made the switch to Bikini from Figure and while she looked great, I wouldn’t have her in the first callout simply because of her muscularity. Rounding out the top spots were Yarishna Ayala and Alexa Hotaling. Some of the women I thought would be in the top spots were in the bottom callouts.
One thing I noticed at check-in was a competitor wearing a “Shaper”. Scratch that – TWO shapers on the outside of her clothing. This crap has gotta stop. If you wear one good for you, I don’t agree with it, but please don’t wear it to check-in. It’s embarrassing and does nothing to help the bikini argument of “we’re athletes!” The winner of the show will receive $3,000, second earns $1,500 and third receives $500.
The finals take place at 2pm Phoenix time on Sunday. For photos visit FLEXonline.com, Bodybuilding.com and/or NPCnewsonline.com.
