2001 NPC Lone Star Classic, a -jabber review... BY -jabber Preamble: Seems with these local shows, they're always almost an afterthought with me - just hop out in a rush, hoping I'll make it there on time. :-) The Lone Star Classic this year was held in the Dallas suburb of Grapevine, close to the DFW Airport. Previous years, we've seen a good crowd as it's always been held somewhere in the DFW area and promoted by Marvin Meinstein. This year another local promoter, who's always done a good job with his show the Heart of Texas in small Temple, Texas, 2.5 hours south of Dallas, was the promoter of the Lone Star. How would this show do being that in a small town, Prince always seems to get a good crowd? Well in the much larger DFW, this show was basically sold out and also had a great turn-out for prejudging, too. Obviously not as high a caliber show as the Jr. USA's held in Hartford the week before, but a well-promoted show in a good area for BB shows, DFW, well it was great seeing this big of a turn-out. When I spoke to Prince Harrison later in the week, he said next year he's going to have to find a bigger venue. Overall Atmosphere: Unfortunately, the weather in the Dallas area was a bit nasty that weekend - in fact I have a tree in my yard that was struck by lightning and on its side as proof of that (strangely it didn't hit my house nor my fence). Other than that, the Grapevine Convention Center, as usual, had a relatively small lobby area, but there were booths both in the lobby area as well as dotting the rear of the show area - one of those flat floor convention center layouts. Other than a fairly small stage, it was a pleasant atmosphere with decent lighting for a show of this size. This was only the second show in '01 I've seen with the new figure class - as well as fitness (I coined the term "figness" in Hartford as so many of the competitors choose to enter both classes). But strangely enough, no I wasn't running a fever, but I was dang impressed with some of the figure and fitness physiques at this show. Perhaps it's since the bodybuilding physiques weren't as advanced but the figure/fitness physiques were - I don't know - I was still baffled with that revelation. On with the brief review... Masters: 3) Mary Lavender 2) Peggy Cartusciello 1) Eliza Montgomery 3rd place Mary Lavender was a young looking black FBB, not a lot of definition but a pleasing look nonetheless. 2nd place Peggy Cartusciello was quite thin and although more defined than Ms. Lavender, IMO her shape/symmetry wasn't nearly as pleasing. Her abs were pretty good though. 1st place Eliza Montgomery, a short-haired blonde, had a bit more definition but not the thin look of Ms. Cartusciello. No probs with the judging here. Novice LW: 3) Karen Walton 2) Peggy Cartusciello 1) Eliza Montgomery 3rd place Karen Walton, while not having a lot of definition actually had a nice pleasant look, and nice mass for her size. Personally I wish she had a bit more definition and she should've won this class. I've already talked about the other two. Novice MW: DNP - Mary Lavender 3) Kristo Orf 2) Gina Robinson 1) Lori Pruitt 3rd place Kristo Orf was perhaps the most attractive FBB in the show bar none, IMO. She had an unusual optical illusion going on though. The attractive tan blonde looked wide and muscular from the front - great lats, shoulders, yet from the side, she had no thickness. A very interesting optical illusion from a striking young lady. 2nd place Gina Robinson wasn't quite as wide in the lats, but had decent upper body definition. And 1st place Lori Pruitt basically was a striking brunette with decent abs. Even with the front-to-back thickness prob, I still felt Kristo Orf was the class of this class. Novice HW: 3) Cecily Odom 2) Samantha Eckholm 1) Raquel Oliver Interestingly, I'd talked to 2nd place Samantha Eckholm about 8 months before this show and at that time she was considering entering a fitness competition. I was a bit surprised (pleasantly so) to see her flexing instead. :-) 1st place Raquel Oliver, a young black FBB had overall the best balance in this class, but this was hardly the strongest class of the night. Novice Overall: O) Lori Pruitt Yeah, I guess out of the 3 she was best. But you can see maybe why I was enjoying the fitness/figure competitors at this show - they just seemed more "advanced" in their physiques in their respective purposes. Open LW: 3) Sheron Kestler 2) Traci Zino 1) Lynette Quinn You could tell the open class as 3rd place Sheron Kestler had bigger biceps. :-) 2nd place Traci Zino, I'd seen before, an attractive but thin/streamlined brunette. 1st place Lynette Quinn, a blond, had a bit more balance between her upper and lower body - and fairly decent quads (first in the show with that if I recall). Open HW: 3) Carol Ward 2) Michelle Baker 1) Demetria Franklin 3rd place Carol Ward, a bit under the type of Novice LW Karen Walton, had actually big quads for her size. With a bit more definition, her legs would be pretty impressive. 2nd place Michelle Baker and 1st place Demetria Franklin were actually worlds more advanced than any other FBB in the show - the attractive brunette Ms. Baker gave Ms. Franklin a run for the money, but Demetria, who I've seen at many shows before, won it with excellent biceps and great abs - she's a bit under a Heather Foster type, IMO. Open Overall: O) Demetria Franklin Easily, Ms. Franklin kicked it during the Overall, outclassing Lynette Quinn in every bodypart if I recall. Fitness: DNP - Cissy Lee Brown DNP - Susan Hughes 3) Jennifer Switzer 2) Patricia Mayberry 1) Mary Lila Nance When I saw the fitness class, hmm, what an attractive bunch of muscular young ladies I thought. Seeing Cissy Lee Brown walking around during the show, no one would think she's anything but an FBB - outclassing most of the Novices, IMO. All 5 of these young ladies were balanced, muscular, and attractive. The only standout among this arguably good crowd was Mary Lila Nance, who goes by Lila. A no-brainer here, she was more balanced and muscular than most of the Open FBB's, not just the Novices. I had the privilege of doing a shoot with her the next day in Grapevine. Stay tuned for pics from that shoot. An incredible young lady with great balance - this blond was toying with entering the Jr. Nationals but has decided the USA's will be her next show. Her look was reminiscent of fellow Austin resident Jennie Hankie with a few other fitness competitor looks thrown in for good measure. Seeing her in the lobby though, you'd swear she was an FBB. Her physique was that damn good. Figure: DNP - Sue Webb DNP - Donna Robinson DNP - Phoylin Vongkham Chanh 3) Cissy Lee Brown 2) Lesli Russell 1) Mary Lila Nance Other than a serious case of Deja Vu here, we had some overlap obviously. Most of the figure competitors, IMO, had better balanced physiques at this show than the FBB's (and yes I found that highly unusual). Everyone was attractive and muscular. Special mention goes to Phoylin Vongkham Chanh (yes that's difficult to type no less pronounce :-) ) who in addition to being positively adorable, had incredibly muscular thighs, blowing away every FBB on stage. In addition to of course Ms. Lila Nance deservedly winning 1st place here by sporting the exact same look as she did in the fitness class, tall 2nd place brunette Lesli Russell, although a touch thin, also had a refined very classy physique. Overall Observations: Am I going soft? Being more impressed with "figness" (fitness and figure) than the FBB's? Hmm. Indeed the line was always blurred between the fitness and figure, but in this show, another line was blurred when we see figure competitors outright more muscular than some FBB's and most with better balance and symmetry. Three of the biggest name celebrities in the audience of this show were, in no particular order: Angie Rojas from McAllen, 2nd place LW at the '00 Jr. Nationals and also competed in the '00 USA's. Currently off-season, she plans on competing in the '01 Team Universe as well as the '01 Nationals in Atlanta. I'd had the pleasure of doing a shoot with her last year in South Padre Island, TX. Karina Nascimento originally from Brazil, now hailing from Ft. Worth, 1st place '99 Ronnie Coleman Classic Novice, 1st place '00 Iron Games Open (in Oklahoma), 1st place Heavyweight and Overall '00 Iron Maiden (in LA). I'd also had the pleasure of doing a shoot with her in Ft. Worth, TX last year. Her competition plans this year are the IFBB World Women's BB and Fitness Amateurs in her home country of Brazil - specifically held in Rio De Janeiro. Sheilahe Brown from Dallas. Always a frequent performer at Texas shows with her dance troupe, Universal Funk, she does a good job of hiding being angry with me for never having scheduled our shoot together since November '00, when she finished top 5 Heavyweight at the Nationals. :-) Seeing her in her off-season shape at the show, I said to her, "your off-season condition is a LOT better this year than last year, I'm impressed!" I believe her plans are again only the Nationals. There were a couple other very attractive highly muscular women in the audience, too. Texan Monica Auvenshine who placed 12th at the '00 Nationals for example. There was also a less muscular Debi Laszewski look-a-like running around. :-) Overall, it was a great place to people watch. Although the weather WAS damp and dreary that weekend, Grapevine was indeed a happening place that night. Until next time, I remain... -jabber