For anyone who may have conjured up an idea that this upstart Golden State Pro Championships would be a laid back California affair with a little flexing of muscle and lot of throwing back those exotic umbrella drinks, think again. True fans of bodybuilding who made the trek to central California had to be very pleasantly surprised.
The fellows at Spectrum Fitness Productions (Ted Williamson and John Tuman) put on a dandy contest, and with the women's Physique division holding up more than their end of the bargain with a talented group of 14 contestants and plenty of quality muscle, they easily earned two thumbs up.
Staged at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium in the state capitol where Governor Schwarzenegger used to hang out, the women's contingent took every minute of the prejudging and evening show seriously. For good reason. The clock is ticking on the opportunities to qualify for the upcoming Olympia in September.
And even though this was an inaugural women's pro Physique event, collectively this group was stacked with high-end competitors who, in several cases, had a legitimate chance to punch their ticket to the Olympia.
Hobbs Makes More History
Karin Hobbs has a decade of competing behind her and the journey has some very cool twists in the turns she has made along the way. Many of us remember her as Karin Kimura before she married. In her time on stage, she has been a bodybuilder, a f
igure competitor, and now a pro Physique star. During her amateur years she competed nearly 20 times – five times at the NPC Emerald Cup alone. And her effort to be consistent in competing with regularity has continued.
With the new pro Physique division taking hold in 2012, Hobbs was one of its first winners, taking the California Governor’s Cup title. She also placed second at the Greater Gulf States that year. Hobbs got to these pro level events in the most desirable way – she won the first-ever NPC National Physique title in 2011.
So, with three contests under her belt in 2012, she really went into high gear in 2013 entering another five events. Among them, she placed third in three contests (the Europa Super Show, the Mile High Pro, and LA Grand Prix). She also added a fourth place finish at the Greater Gulf States. With the development of the Olympia Qualification Points Series last year, Hobbs found herself with enough points to enter the first Physique Olympia, and in her sixth contest of the year she placed 10th at the Physique Olympia.
With the coming of 2014, Hobbs had not entered a Physique event until the Golden State Pro. But when she did enter, it was with guns blazing. She looked fresh, healthy and in great condition. It was also her first contest victory since that 2012 California Governor’s Cup in, coincidentally, Sacramento. So now, she has again qualified for the Physique Olympia – with no worries as to whether she will have enough points to squeeze in.
Hobbs also scored a muscular double whammy at this contest by also winning the first pro Masters Physique division event. So, she's the first-ever NPC National Physique champion, she competed in the first-ever Physique Olympia, and has now won the first-ever Masters pro Physique division event. It might be a good time to start selling autographed 8x10 glossies! For her victory, Hobbs' prize winnings came to $2,000.
Raves f
or Jilly
Ever since the competitors list for this contest was announced, the anticipation of Karin Hobbs and Jillian Reville battling for the title was the stuff that makes contests so exciting for fans and so agonizing for the competitors. In this field of 14, these two had already had Olympia experience. Reville had finished sixth and Hobbs was 10th. Many wondered if Reville could rebound from the extraordinary medical complications she endured during and after the Olympia, while others wondered if Hobbs would bounce back from a grueling 2013 contest journey that would exhaust the best of competitors. The first call-out answered all the questions. Both were spot-on and they set themselves apart from the rest of the field in rapid fashion.
The similarities in the two made the battl
e even more interesting. Like Hobbs, Reville is no slacker when it comes to entering contests. She competed three times in 2012 that included a third-place finish in the first-ever pro Physique division event – the Desert Muscle Classic. In 2013, Reville was all in, competing in five contests that included two runner-up finishes at the Europa Super Show and Mile High Pro. And like Hobbs, Reville also qualified for the first Physique Olympia on points. Reville would be the only 'points system' competitor to crack the top six at the Olympia – and she did it in a virtual state of blindness – a reality that is the stuff of TV movies.
Needless to say she's one tough señorita. And if there was a 'Comeback Player of the Year' award for 2014, second place isn't even close. Reville can revel in the fact that she looked remarkably fit – everything considered. It was great to see her back on stage. And she took home a check for $1,000 as the runner-up. So, what's next? Again, she's mired in the points system, but the Masters contest in Pittsburgh, and the Tampa Pro next week offer two more chances to make another trip to Las Vegas – and one where, this time, she'd be able to 'see' the legion of supportive fans who follow her competitive efforts.
By the Grace of Heather
By anyone's esti
mation, Heather Grace was a striking Figure competitor in her days of competing in the NPC. She was a winner at the always tough NPC Emerald Cup in 2010, and she earned her pro card at the 2011 NPC Junior USA. But her entry into the pro ranks took a turn that wasn't what she had expected. Through the 2011 and 2012 competitive seasons she competed six times and only placed better than 11th once. In 2013 she didn't appear on stage at all. But that was then. The 2014 season brought a fresh start and a new look that was, for lack of a better word, dazzling. Her physique was in supreme condition, sharp, crisp at every turn. And the weight she was carrying on her 5’4” frame was just right for the Physique division.
On the July 12th weekend, she made the trip from Denver to San Jose for the San Jose Pro Physique Championship. She finished third behind LaDrissa Bonivel and Carrie Simmons. Her reviews were extremely encouraging. It was her debut as a Physique competitor, and after those years of forgettable Figure finishes, she was ready for better days ahead. Those days came this weekend, just two weeks after the San Jose event and with it came another third-place finish, a finish where the only competitors who placed in front of her were Olympians Hobbs and Reville. Grace pocketed $500 for her third-place finish, but she may not be quite finished yet this year.
Oh, Akane! So Close!
A lineup of contestants during a prejudging never really knows how close the judging scores can be until they see the score sheets after the contest is over. Some competitors can draw conclusions about what place they may be in as the competition moves along, but it's the points in the final tally that tell the tale – and they can be either heart breaking or exhilarating.
For Akane Nigro Ismeal, she has experienced both in successive contests just two weeks apart. First she tied on points with another competitor at the San Jose event and was awarded fourth after an additional judges count. Then at this event, Ismeal came up just one point shy of third when Heather Grace totaled 17 and Ismeal finished with 18 points to finish fourth. It's never easy to lose by a point, but in Akane Nigro Ismeal's case, there are indisputable facts about the qualities of her physique.
She is highly underrated – although the reasons for this reality is that she simply hasn't yet reached the level of conditioning that will make her competitive at any level of pro Physique event of which she is capable. The key word here is 'yet'. With beautiful muscle shapes and rare genetics that create her overall structural look, her potential to place at the top of an event is only a matter of the time it takes her to reach the conditioning level she needs.
Ismeal earned her 
pro card as a Figure competitor, winning her class at the 2009 NPC USA. A pair of fifth-place finishes at pro shows in Figure that same year was merely a tease at how good she might be. She didn't compete in 2010, and in 2011 she missed placing in the top 15 at the Tournament of Champions. But if there was ever an idyllic division for a competitor with this level of physical construction, it's Akane Nigro Ismeal's presence in the Physique division. If her stock was offered on Wall Street, I'd invest.
Jennifer Robinson Part Deux
The first question asked about Jennifer Robinson entering this contest was a simple "Why?" Only Robinson can answer that question, but there are answers that make sense. With a long string of victories as an amateur dating back to 2008, she's never been shy about competing. And when she won the NPC Junior Nationals to earn her pro status in 2011, she wasted little time jumping into five pro events in 2012 placing in the top five in each of them. Last year was more of the same. She entered another four events, but with a slip in the consistency of high placings she experienced in 2012. So, when 2014 rolled around, the first contest of the season was the St. Louis Pro in early March, and Robinson was back for her third pro season looking, in a word, 'right'.
She won the contest and qualified for the Physique Olympia, an event she missed out on last year. So, the question remains, why enter the Golden State Pro in early August when she had already qualified for the Big Show? It could be as simple as the desire to give herself a physical tune-up. It had been five months since she had her last stage visit and if for no other reason, maybe she just wanted to 'get her groove back'. She is, after all, a very good Physique competitor. And while her fifth place finish here may not have been exactly what she had in mind, she was in the mix with a pretty good group. The Golden State Pro was Robinson's 11th pro Physique contest, but now that she has used this Sacramento event to put a new coat of polish on her classy chassis. Let's see what happens when she enters her 12th contest – the biggest one of her competitive career.
Outside the Top Five
6- Jodi Marchuck, Fountain Valley, California 28
7- Carrie Simmons, Culver City, California 35
8- Candrea Judd Adams, Jonesboro, Georgia 41
9- Leah Johnson, Nova Scotia, Canada 44
10- Claire O'Connell, Dublin, California 52
11- Loan Leonard, Sacramento, California 57
12- Patricia Wood, Roseville, California 58
13- Roxie Beckles, Los Angeles, California 65
14- Cathy Jackson, Highlands Ranch, California 70
Hobbs Also Masters the Golden State Masters
Meanwhile, and for the first time, the IFBB has instituted a Pro Masters division for Physique which was introduced at the Golden State Pro event, and Karin Hobbs claimed that victory as well. As it happened, all nine women entered in this Masters contest were also entered in the open event. And the final placings among this group were only slightly different than how they had finished in the open event.
At the end of this month on the 30th, it would be assumed that promoter Gary Udit's Pittsburgh Masters Pro Championships with divisions for over 35 and over 45 will draw a considerably larger entry list. The prize money for this group was $750 for 1st, $500 for 2nd and $250 for 3rd.
The Results
1- Karin Hobbs 5
2- Heather Grace 10
3- Carrie Simmons 16
4- Candrea Judd Adams 21
5- Leah Johnson 26
6- Claire O'Connell 29
7- Patricia Wood 35
8- Loan Leonard 37
9- Cathy Jackson 45
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