Articles The Wennerstrom Report Canadians Dominate IFBB North American Overall Women's Bodybuilding Titles
While Americans
have dominated the overall women's bodybuilding North American titles dating back to the early ‘80s, Canada has managed to step up to take a crown back to north of the our border on occasion. And more recently they are doing so with more frequency. When Zoa Linsey won the 2009 North American overall title, it was the first time since another Canadian – Sharon Bruneau – had won the prestigious title in 1991, an 18-year span of time. But since Linsey's 2009 win, Canadian Gillian Kovack took the overall honor in 2011, and this year not only did Tara Silzer win the overall crown, her country mate, Amanda Aivaliotis, also won the overall Masters North American title.
LIGHTWEIGHTS
This year, a field of 24 contestants from USA, Canada, and Mexico competed for the open four weight class wins as well as the coveted overall IFBB North American
crown. For the first time in recent memory, each country scored a victory in the four classes.
The lightweight class was again the smallest group with two entrants, but by the time the trophies were awarded American Patty Beard was the first-place finisher uncontested. A former winner at the 2012 NPC Iron Mountain Classic, Beard was alone on stage. At press time, it was not known if Andrea Romero Munoz had become MIA, ill, or simply dropped out. So, Patty Beard claimed the North American LW title in the least stressful competition of the day.
MIDDLEWEIGHTS
Five contestants entered the middleweight class with Mexico's well-muscled Jes
sica Gabriela Rivera Cardenas (we'll just call her Jessica Rivera) emerging as the winner in a hard fought battle with runner-up Carrie Woolridge. Rivera was the 2012 Mexican national champion and last year she won the LW class at these North American Championships.
Carrying well-conditioned muscle in all body parts, in particular her quads, shoulders and lat spreads all made for an impressive display during the prejudging, proving she was a complete physique and leading to her victory at the evening show.
Rivera joins Martha Sanchez in 1994 and Maria Segura in 2007 (both of whom won overall North American crowns) as another of Mexico's most successful participants in the North American Championships by winning a weight class in successive years.
Runner-up to Rivera was Canadian Carrie Woolridge. Originally from Nova Scotia and now living in Bermuda, Woolridge was a dynamite keg of muscle at just 4’11” and weighing 123 pounds. Last year Woolridge made her first trip to the USA to compete, and won the overall title at the NPC Emerald Cup.
A former soccer player and triathlete, Woolridge had competed in bodybuilding often in the Caribbean, but was making a return to competition after an eight-year hiatus. Clearly, her return has been a successful one, and her double biceps poses drew raves from the crowd as did her evenly developed physique. Woolridge works as a dental hygienist.
Lea Ann Scelfo c
laimed third place. A veteran competitor over the past decade that included five entries in the NPC Team Universe, Scelfo finished in the top five at each of the those events including a HW win in 2008. Earlier this year, she won the Over 45 middleweight class at the NPC Masters Nationals. Scelfo was also a runner-up finisher in the North American Masters Over 35 middleweight class later in the show.
Fourth went to New Mexico's Tomefafa Ameko. A runner-up finisher at the 2011 NPC Nationals, she has been a consistently strong placer at the national level over the past six years. Fifth went to Jennie Napoli.
LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHTS
Arizona's Kate Cooper has been a familiar competitor at the national level since 2001, and during that time she had made three visits to the North American Championships. On all those occasions she had missed placing in the top five of her chosen class. Now, a fourth time became the charm as she bested a field of six competitors, thus her victory here had to be a very satisfying one.
Along the way, she had competed in four NPC Nation
als, four NPC USAs and three NPC Masters Nationals – and all of that within a ten-year period. Cooper's most recent victory came in 2011 when she won the light-heavyweight class at the NPC Masters Nationals. But winning the open LtHW class (in addition to also winning the Masters LtHW class) at these IFBB North American Championships has to rank as her high watermark in a long bodybuilding career. As an interesting note, during her competitive career from 2001, Cooper has competed as a lightweight, middleweight, light-heavyweight and heavyweight.
Finishing behind Kate Cooper was yet another member of the Canadian contingent that had been making waves at this event in virtually all divisions – Carol Hanley. With national-level experience in Canada, Hanley was also making her third entry at the North American Championships this year. In 2012 she won the Over 35 middleweight class and had been fourth at the 2011 North American in both the Open and Over 35 divisions. At this event, Hanley showed a higher level of conditioning than Cooper, but it was Cooper's muscle density and volume that judges valued more in this class.
Third went to Jamie Taylor (a LtHW winner in the Over 45 class at the 2013 NPC Masters Nationals), with a somewhat surprising fourth-place finish going to Susanna Hand who had been a runner-up in this weight class at the NPC USA earlier in the year. Kimberly McGuire claimed fifth with Shirl Castro landing sixth.
HEAVYWEI
GHTS
As often happens, the heavyweight class carries the largest contingent of entrants and many times offers up the most drama and anticipation. And that was the case in this group as 11 contestants flexed to grab the heavyweight North American title. The drama and anticipation in this chase was a Canadian affair as last year's defending champion, Amanda Aivaliotis, was back to make it two in a row and possibly capture the overall crown.
And there was certainly no other contestant in this year's event who had been waiting longer to reach the pro level than Aivaliotis. Entering her first North American Championships in 1995 and in the four North American shows she has entered before this year's event, she has never finished worse than third in any class she has entered. In fact, she won the HW Masters Over 35 HW class in 2012, and swept both the Open and Masters HW classes last year. But the overall titles have eluded her. So, this year, hope was again springing eternal. Could she finally win the coveted trophy and pro status that had escaped her for so long?
You could call that the anticipation. But the drama for Aivaliotis came by way of countrywoman Tara Silzer. Relatively new compared to Aivaliotis in years of experience, nevertheless she was a runner-up HW at the 2011 Canadian Nationals and placed sixth HW at the 2012 North Americans. As bodybuilders, the duo is similar in height – Aivaliotis at 5’4” and Silzer at 5’5” – but in weight, Aivaliotis gives away over 10 pounds. And when that is a decidedly muscular issue, the judges are left to decide between size and conditioning as what will be the flavor of the day.
From Edmonton, Alberta, Silzer was a HW champion in the Alberta Provincials while 
Aivaliotis, from Toronto, was an Ontario HW Provincial champion in the past. So the stage was set.
Early on it was clear that Aivaliotis had the superior conditioning and muscular detail; she also showed a distinctive flare for posing classically – something that only comes with years of experience. But when it came to assessing Silzer, her size -- which looked notably bigger than Aivaliotis – and the excellent muscle and structural balance to go with a clean mistake-free routine, the judges leaned towards Silzer, leaving Aivaliotis as the HW runner-up. Harder to swallow for Aivaliotis was seeing Silzer also capture the overall North American overall title and her pro card.
No doubt crushed, Aivaliotis had one more chance to save the day. And to her credit she rose to the occasion with her entry in the Masters Over-35 event – also a pro qualifier. After a very long day and evening, Aivaliotis led the HW class on to the stage looking radiant, and most of all determined. She had seemingly re-energized her whole being and it projected to the 25th row of the auditorium.
The HW result saw Aivaliotis winning the class easily. But she was still faced with the posedown for the overall Masters title. Again, those many years of experience paid dividends. The overall North American Championships Masters title was hers. AND along with it came her entrance to the IFBB pro ranks. Only bodybuilders can fully understand how special these moments are when it comes to the years it takes most of them to reach their goals. For Amanda Aivaliotis, it was 20 years. Somehow those many years of perseverance makes for the sweetest moments of all – the kind you never forget.
Finishing third was Kristine Mele – a capable challenger herself considering she had placed third LtHW at the 2012 and third HW at the 2013 NPC Nationals.
Fourth went to Niki Stadelman, who finished second to Amanda Aivaliotis in the Masters Over 35 Division followed by Robin Hillis, who nabbed a pair of fifth place trophies in the Open and Masters Over 35 contests.
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