1999 NPC Texas State (Bodybuilding) By -jabber Like many local shows, unfortunately, for this show, they did not have a competitor roster, nor did I have a clue where the host hotel was (as at some shows, the host hotel has a judges' scoresheet the next day), so I could either 1) botch up everybody's names, or 2) ask someone. Luckily I asked the promoter, Kevin Wagner, who recommended I speak to fellow promoter, Marvin Meinstein (who will be promoting the Lone Star Classic in Ft. Worth on 9/25 with a little known small fbb as guest poser; her name is LESA LEWIS!). I copied the handwritten competitor's names (which did leave a little to be desired, but better than nothing). Upon returning to our seats (not bad for the last minute), I got ready to try to make up lost picture-taking time from missing the Prejudging. I kinda tried... Masters Women: In 4th place was a young looking 43 year old named Bobbie Thomas. In 3rd was a tall blonde who I'd seen a couple times before, Patricia Howard. In previous shows, to me, her condition and appearance was similar (in other words she isn't really improving nor getting worse). In 2nd was an impressive looking brunette who happened to be the first fbb of the evening to show her face, Theresa Greene. Nice thickness, only overshadowed by someone truly good. Margaret Negrete, 39, indeed was that "good" competitor. Another brunette, she simply overshadowed her competitors and did NOT look old enough to be in a masters competition, and definitely deserved 1st. So far, so good with the judging - which tends, IMO, to be better at these level shows. Novice Women: Unlike at South Padre, these novice women didn't look like they were awestruck or had never seen a stage before in their life. In 3rd place was a short-haired tan blonde who I thought should've placed 2nd in this class. It wasn't until I saw her side-by-side with the 2nd place finisher that I agreed with this decision, also. The 2nd place finisher was the young looking Bobbie Thomas, who we saw in the Master's class, also. At these shows, you see a lot of the same names cross-pollinating the Master's and the Novice or the Master's and the Open (but never the Novice and the Open). A new name in 1st in the Novice class was Kimberly Phillips, overall a good blonde fbb. Again, there was no reason to throw orange peels at the judges. :-) Open Women Lightweight: In 2nd place was a bit of a surprise for me, but not a bad decision. Margaret Negrete, who tore up the Masters class got runner-up here. In 1st place was an ultra-aesthetic Valerie Tyree, who's only 26. She has that broad back, thick powerful-looking thighs, and wide shoulders that simply looks like an art form when viewed on stage. But she wasn't that detailed for this show. Hmm, Ms. Tyree, where have we heard that name from before? I'd taken some pictures of her back in March when she had entered a powerlifting competition (along with Jill Brown). Yes, a powerlifting competition! Timna (from the fitness class) was sitting next to me at the time. I told her it was neat, Ms. Tyree (who almost looks delicate until you see how thick her thighs and upper back are) was in a powerlifting competition, she cleans the chalk off her thighs, dons a dress, and looks great for pics! Pretty amazing, no? Those pics are available at: http://www.thevalkyrie.com/picthumb/p/powerlift01/index00.htm Oh yeah, there's also some pics of Jill Brown there, too (hope you don't mind too much :-) )... Open Women Middleweight: Another class of 2nds. Theresa Greene, who got 2nd in the Masters, also got 2nd here (she looked exactly the same as she did 20 minutes earlier :-) ). In 1st was an aesthetic blonde with one of them fancy names, Leighsa Bailey. So far, it's looking like a good overall posedown was in store. Open Women Heavyweight: In 3rd was Patricia Howard, the tall blonde who also got 3rd in the Masters. Before the show, when I was talking to Marvin Meinstein, getting the names of the competitors written down, I told him look out for this female, Angela Segovia. This was the Negrita Jayde lookalike I was so impressed with last weekend in South Padre and was "hoping" she'd show up at the Texas State. Angela, in South Texas, indeed had phenomenal worldclass thighs. Thus my hype to Mr. Meinstein. But winning this class was not meant to be. She was much softer in her legs (her strongsuit by a longshot last week) that she almost looked balanced upper to lower body. Still a very attractive muscular package, her peak was definitely the week before. Ms. Segovia is from San Antonio (kinda between both shows). In 1st was someone I'd seen at previous Texas shows in the audience. She was one of those ultra classy women you scratch your head and say, who is that? Cursing yourself that you don't know (or is that just me?). A truly incredible black female named Andrea (but introduced as Dree or Drea) Dillard came on stage and all eyes never wavered from the stage once. Interesting how, although her classiness and presence almost overshadowed her good overall musculature, she had one stupendous bodypart. Which she flexed the hell out of: her abs. All kinds of shots, easily making her routine the most riveting in my eyes by a long shot. Open Overall: We had a good one on our hands. Lightweight Valerie Tyree had great symmetry and thoroughbred lines (not to mention she could probably outlift the heavier girls in her sleep), but alas, wasn't really detailed, especially in the upper body. Middleweight Leighsa Bailey didn't have quite the symmetry but was nicely detailed everywhere, including the abs. Heavyweight Andrea Dillard, one of the classiest physiques seen in a long time (no less a first for me), her symmetry paled a slight bit when compared with the other two, but she was the most detailed and had the abs from hell (and that's a good thing). Quite the popular decision when this Natural-Born-Guest-Poser won. The year 2000 will be a good year for National NPC competition with Ms. Dillard in the mix (along with most of the others - top 2 get nationally qualified in each class). Not a huge amount of competitors, but the quality more than made up for that shortcoming.