Articles The Wennerstrom Report Susan Smith is Dazzling in Winning the Overall NPC National Bodybuilding Crown!
It hardly see
ms possible to believe that 30 years have passed since Cory Everson won the first overall NPC National title in 1984 when she contributed mightily to a staggering growth in the popularity of women's bodybuilding through the decade of the ‘80s. Still, after all the passing years since then, over a thousand female bodybuilders have also contributed to what has become the crown jewel event on the annual NPC calendar.
This year, on the weekend of November 21-22, the NPC Nationals returned to Miami, Florida, for the sixth time in its long history. And the cavernous James L. Knight Center – no stranger to the NPC National event – once again served as the venue as it did for the first time in 1986. And speaking of traditions, promoter Steve Karel and his able crew provided a seamless event that ran in precision-like fashion.
For women's bodybuilding, the number of contestants continued to dwindle as just 25 entrants – the smallest field ever for the NPC Nationals – made their way to Miami. With the coming of the Physique division in 2011, the days of Bodybuilding fields that yielded anywhere from 50 to 80 competitors annually, are gone. Nevertheless, with four weight classes and the winners of each earning their pro status, the division presented a competitive flare that was representative of the Nationals event.
Best of Show
Okay, so let's cut to the chase. In a small group of just six contestants, the heavyweight class unearthed a jewel of its own. Her name was Susan Smith and she was a stunner. Nationwide surveys will point to the fact that 'Smith' is the most common last name in the country (and if further proof is needed, the LW winner of these Nationals is also named Smith), but there was nothing common about this Arizona-born beauty who now makes Alabama her home.
From the very start of the preliminaries, Smith owned the stage. She followed the golden rule and made no mistakes in her preparation. Her hair, makeup, proper poses and the all-important level of conditioning were exceptional. Smith easily qualifies as a prime example of why the sport of women's bodybuilding should press onward. Flowery superlatives flowed during the prejudging and evening show relating to Smith's stage persona. Her overall look was pleasing to the eye. She was sleek, balanced, structurally well-put together with just the right amount of musculature to fit her 5-6, 153-pound frame… and, relatively speaking, she's only really just getting started.
With a pair of Figure events to get her initial stage experience in 2008, it wasn't until 2011
when she entered the NPC Excalibur in Los Angeles that her victory there proved to be a breakout event even though she may not have even realized it at the time. With the coming of 2012, Smith eased into the NPC Nationals and placed third in a heavyweight class won by Juanita Blaino who would later qualify for the Olympia.
Smith's presence at that event went largely unnoticed by most. And without a competition in 2013 to keep her personality at the forefront in a world of 'out of sight, out of mind' mentalities her name on the list of entries at this year's contest probably missed raising many eyebrows… until, of course, the introductions of the heavyweight competitors at the prejudging on Saturday morning.
Bodybuilding historian Peter McGough noted that Smith appeared as "an early Lenda Murray" at the prejudging. But what everyone may not have been prepared for was her evening appearance as a dead ringer for a muscular Diana Ross complete with the accompanying hairstyle. It was a magical transformation that worked like a charm in continuing to draw attention to her riveting stage presence. With her evening appearance, McGough went a step further at the evening show by offering that Smith was, "What a female bodybuilder should be about. Shapely detailed muscle on an obviously female body. She's going to be a star." We can only hope the administrators of the sport give her that chance in the near future. As congratulations go, her parents created the chassis… Dave Palumbo detailed it!
So, the Alabama anesthesiologist took not only the heavyweight class, but also the overall title. Susan Marie Smith became the first woman bodybuilder from her state to win not only the overall, but any weight class in NPC Nationals’ history. And it was unanimous.
Runner-up to Susan Smith was veteran competitor Anne Sheehan. With national experience dating back for over a decade, Sheehan was also a runner-up at the 2013 NPC USA in the HW class behind Margie Martin. With this year's Nationals she was entering this event for the fifth time and has climbed from a 16th-placed tie in 2005 to the bridesmaid spot. From Florida, Sheehan was the heaviest competitor (and the most thickly muscled) in the class at 157 pounds. The six-competitor field averaged 154 pounds. And this was the first time in recent memory that a heavyweight competitor at the Nationals did not top the 160-pound mark.
Third went to Geor
gia's Wendy Watson. Like Sheehan, Watson showed thick development – especially in the thighs and matching biceps – to help balance her muscular physique. Weighing in at 154 pounds in a class where all six women were within five pounds of each other, the judging became more centered on overall structural lines, muscle shapes, and the ever-present intangibles that, in the end, separate the competitors. That said, Watson made notable improvement after placing eighth in this class last year. She was also an overall winner at the 2011 NPC Southern States.
4- Melissa Fanning, Auburn, Alabama
5- Jennifer Gutierrez, California (As this division's factoid oddity, Gutierrez was the only entrant from California in the bodybuilding division, something that had never occurred in a past Nationals contest! Wasn't California supposed to be the Mecca?)
6- Kacee Woods, Boise, Idaho
The Light-Heavyweights....My, My, Miava!
Competing since 2006 New Jersey's Miava Nelson has made it a habit of placing in the top ten when it's most important, but over the past three years she has had her ups and downs, which is why it's all the more impressive that she picked this year's Nationals to do serious damage in her chosen class. Here she chose the LtHW which, as it turned out, was the largest class in the division featuring 10 contestants. But it was Nelson who used an outstanding overall structural and muscular balance to distance herself from challengers.
Nelson's biceps and calves served as bookends to her strong balance and although she missed a sharper level of muscle separation, she provided Susan Smith with her stiffest challenge in the posedown for the overall. With a tighter overall look, particularly in the quads, she can move into the pro level. Nelson's last entry in the NPC Nationals came in 2012 when she finished 7th in this class. A former NPC New Jersey HW champion in 2013, Nelson finished 2nd at the 2013 IFBB North American Championships as a LtHW. For this event Nelson weighed in at the top of the class – 140 pounds.
Giving Miava Nelson a run for the top spot was Florida's Kristine Mele. At 5’5” and weighing the same as Nelson, Mele was in a tighter level of conditioning than Nelson but fell a bit short in her overall structural balance when compared to the eventual winner. Beginning as a Figure competitor in 2010, by 2011 she had moved into the Physique division briefly at the NPC Junior USA. But by the end of that year she gave the MW class a try at the NPC Nationals finishing tied for 16th.
Big improvements came in 2012 when she placed 3rd at Nationals as LtHW, and repeated that placing again at the 2013 Nationals, this time as a 152-pound HW. She added another 3rd-place HW finish at the 2014 IFBB North American before dropping back to the LtHW class for her runn
er-up spot at this event. Mele appears to be the type of competitor who has the capacity to float between the LtHW and HW classes with relative ease. With plenty of muscle at 140, the LtHW class might be her best bet for a future top placing considering her ability to be tightly defined.
Texan Nancy Porter landed a top-three placing despite giving away 13 pounds of bodyweight to both Nelson and Mele. As the lightest competitor in the LtHW class at 127 pounds, Porter managed to outflex seven other competitors to earn her third-place finish. A runner-up at the 2011 NPC Branch Warren Classic and a 5th-place finisher at the 2013 NPC Masters Nationals Over-45 class, Porter's only flaws came with what judges considered awkward poses that missed flattering her structure and muscularity. That said, she was still good enough to finish third.
4- Yahaira Agosto Vives, Puerto Rico
5- Kristy McGrael, Georgia
6- Ingrid Valentin, Florida
7- Maureen Clary, South Carolina
8- Myra Adams, New York
9- Cheryl Faust, Michigan
10- Kristina Frey-Keller, Tennessee
The Middleweights – What's In A Name?
For the past 30 years female bodybuilders have been winning the NPC National titles in four weight classes. It's a large and distinguished group of women from all over the country. Their names ar
e familiar to those who competed during the years the champions won their titles. But none will carry a more lasting effect in terms of a unique moniker than Tomefafa Ameko. She's the newest NPC National middleweight champion, and no matter how unique her name, she let her physique do the talking in winning the MW class.
From New Mexico, Ameko has been hovering within the top five of the MW class since 2011 (although she has been competing since 2003) when she was the runner-up to Laura Boisacq. In 2012 she slipped to 5th at the Nationals. In 2013 she backed off the national level and won the overall title at the NPC Rocky Mountain Championships. This year she returned to the IFBB North American Championships to place 4th again as a MW. Here, Ameko held off a strong challenge from Cassie Bates as the judges found Ameko's overall bodylines and muscle shapes a more desirable look for the top spot, while Bates held a higher level of conditioning.
Of all the classes in the women's bodybuilding division this year, there was no more spirited battle for a class title than between middleweights Tomefafa Ameko and runner-up Cassie Bates. And with Ameko getting the eventual nod for the victory, Cassie Bates was cast into what must now be a consistent state of high anxiety whenever she ventures into national-level events over the past few years. But that's not all bad. You see, Bates is often in the mix for a high placing… very high. In 2012 she was the runner-up MW at the NPC Nationals while Ameko was finishing fifth in the same class. In 2013 there was some redemption in taking home the NPC USA MW title, and interestingly enough it was a 1-point victory over Jaquita Person-Taylor who won the B Class in the Physique division at this year's event! Later in the year Bates landed third at the NPC Nationals. Earlier this year at the NPC USA she was back to playing second fiddle again in the MW class to Marie Lomax.
The third position went to Virginia's Heather Osborne. A recent winner of the 2014 NPC Jay Cutler Baltimore Classic, it was only three years ago in 2011 that she was placing a distant 15th in the Figure class at the NPC Eastern USA. By 2013 she was placing 8th in the Physique division at the NPC Nationals, and now she has moved into a top three position in Bodybuilding. All this might not be so surprising if it weren't for the fact that Osborne is a former US Marine Corporal who is considered a disabled veteran. OORAH!
4- Erin Dugan, Connecticut
5- Sophie Seals, Mississippi
The Lightweights, A Trio Con Brio
With competitors in this class weighing under 115 pounds, the smallest contestants in the Nationals also made up the smallest weight class with just three entries flexing for the lightweight National title. Leading this trio was the ageless Linda Smith from Charlotte, North Carolina. A regular entrant in Masters events since 2006, it’s sufficed to say she is past 50… which, of course, is the new 30, especially in her case.
Beginning in the Figure division her training brought a higher level of muscularity, and over time she has managed to accumulate a wagonload of runner-up trophies both in open and masters divisions. Most recently Smith was the LW runner-up at the 2013 NPC Nationals, and LW runner-up at the NPC Masters Nationals the same year. Here, she used every bit of the 115 pounds she carries on her 5’3” frame to emerge as this year's National lightweight champion.
In winning, Linda Smith is the eldest competitor ever to win an NPC National class title at 56 years of age! Smith is North Carolina's second National LW winner joining Mary Ellen Doss who won in 2001.
Finishing second to Linda Smith and weighing a pound less was New Yorker Vanessa Adams. At just 5’0” and weighing 114 pounds this former track & field athlete and Figure competitor won the NPC New York Metropolitan Championships earlier this year and put up a strong challenge to Smith's effort, but fell short with enough overall muscular detail along with the appearance of a wider waistline in frontal poses.
Third went to Florida's Frauke Diaz. Regardless of the fact that only three competitors took part in this class, she had to feel a sense of triumph considering she had placed 9th at the 2011 NPC Nationals as a middleweight. Diaz is also a former winner of the 2011 Miami Classic.
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