Articles The Wennerstrom Report 2010 IFBB North America Womens Report: Jones and O'Connell Jump To Pros!
In the March 2010 issue of Ironman Magazine I penned an article entitled ‘The North American Championships - An Easy Path to the Pros? NOT! If by chance you missed it, the gist of the story was that there are competitors who assume that because the North American Championships have not traditionally had the numbers of entries enjoyed by contests such as an NPC USA or NPC National Championships, it may be a quicker path to qualifying for the IFBB pro ranks. Well, the fact is, year in and year out, that has not proven to be the case with outstanding women earning pro status in this event.
With past North American winners Cory Everson, Lenda Murray and Kim Chizevsky accounting for all the Ms. Olympia victories from 1984 to 1999 as a graphic illustration as to the quality the North American Championships has produced, the quantity of outstanding bodybuilders entering this contest has been consistent as well.
Promoted again this year by Gary Udit and staged at the classy Renaissance Cleveland Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio, the event has, under Udit's guidance, become an annual and stabilizing force among events that lead to qualification in the IFBB pro ranks.
With a long and distinguished history dating back to 1982 when Cory Everson won the first North American, overall champions and an impressive supporting cast of weight class winners have all helped continue to bring the spotlight to this event as it invites competitors from Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Annually, the North American Championships not only uncovers an outstanding array of women who are aspiring the reach the pro level, but the event also offers results that set each year's competition apart from all the rest.
Last year Canadian Zoa Linsey was a dominate force in winning the heavyweight and overall title while weighing in at a dramatically developed 181 pounds. She became the largest contestant to win the North American title in the history of the event. Linsey's victory was also the first for a Canadian since Sharon Bruneau won the crown in 1991.
Just two years before Linsey in 2007, Mexico's Maria Segura also claimed the overall title with an impressively muscled physique and became the first competitor from Mexico to win the North American contest since Martha Sanchez in 1994.
This year a total of 30 contestants were entered in the open division (many of which were cross-over contestants in the Masters division), with a variety of physiques throughout the weight classes.
The Lightweights
It is doubtful Claire O'Connell will forget this day for sometime. After an agonizing miss in her desire to snag pro status at the recent NPC USA after winning the lightweight class at that event, this contest was to be O'Connell's second shot at 
the magic ring. But on this blustery day in Cleveland, O'Connell not only won both the masters and open lightweight divisions convincingly, she added an overall victory in the Masters competition to secure that long-awaited pro card.
Claire O'Connell began moving weights around when she was 14 ½ years old, and by the time she was 16 she had entered her first contest. In 1987 she was the NPC Teen National lightweight champion. Then life took over before O'Connell was back on the competitive track in the new millennium. Her successes over the past several years have been fulfilling, but nothing like the exhilaration she is no doubt feeling about now.
Only a month away from her 43rd birthday, and 26 years after entering that first contest, Claire O'Connell has made it to the pro level. Distributing 115 pounds on her 4-11 ¾ frame, she was polished, well-prepared, and in the best overall condition she's ever attained - all the necessary ingredients for that final step to the pros.
In both the Masters and Open divisions, O'Connell was competing against Canadian Barbara Stannard - the only other entrant in the class. Stannard, who has been competing primarily in her native Canada, was the 2005 Canadian National Masters champion in the Over-50 division. Minimal math points to the fact that Stannard is at least 55 and looked impressive in her ability to carry notable definition throughout her physique. Of the six entrants in this class from 2009, Stannard was the only returnee.
The Middleweights
From the early moments o
f the prejudging North Carolina's Sherri Gray commanded a stage presence in the MW class that put her in the proverbial driver's seat with the judges. At 5-4 Gray was evenly developed and in sound overall muscular condition. Like O'Connell, Gray entered both the open and Masters and won both convincingly. Relatively new to the contest stage, Gray is putting together an enviable contest resume having won the 2009 NPC North Carolina along with runner-up finishes in the MW class at the 2009 NPC Junior USA and the 2010 Arnold Amateur Grand Prix. Her two victories here mark her as a solid entrant at the NPC Nationals should she decide to take that step.
Canadian Heather King chased Gray to the wire for a runner-up finish. From the province of Ontario, King has experienced good success on Canadian soil with a LW class victory at the 2006 Canadian Nationals, and a runner-up MW finish at the 2009 Canadians. Here, she used nice quad separations and a back double biceps pose that showed strong detail throughout in her first entry in the North American Championships.
With just three entrants in this class, the third place finish went to Terri Vona. A mother of four children, Vona has been active competitively in Florida since 2004 and was the HW winner at the 2009 NPC Florida. Her move down to the MW level here gave her considerably more muscular detail. As icing on the competitive cake, Vona also added a fourth-place finish in the Masters division.
The Light-Heavyweights
Where do you begin to describe the journey Michelle Brent has taken as a longtime entrant of the IFBB North American Championships? Put simply, she had entered this contest many times and never won. She was close, but never won. That all changed on this night.
Like O'Connell and Gray before her, Brent also found herself winning both the Open and Masters divisions. A veteran among veterans, especially at the North American Championships, Brent first entered this contest in 1991 where she finished second as a MW. That becomes an important stat when realizing Brent has been a runner-up SIX times at this event as either a MW or LtHW. The 2010 North American entry is Brent's NINTH - a record no one comes close to. Her two victories no doubt sweetened her feel for this event considering the fact that she finished sixth in the HW Open division, and seventh in the Masters division at the 2009 event - a substantial turnaround to be sure. The footnote for Brent, however, is that the illusive pro card still escapes her grasp.
The runner-up placing went to Canadian Janeen Lankowski, who, coincidentally, finished second to Brent in both the Open and Masters divisions. A strong finisher at the Canadian Championships as a MW or HW over the past five years, Lankowski moved up from the fourth position she took in this class in 2009. A stylish poser with clean bodylines, Lankowski only needs to further dial in the separation between her muscle groups to move up. All indications are she's on the right track.
The third spot went to Pennsylvanian Emily Holder. A stalwart competitor over the past decade, especially as a Masters entrant, Holder was the 2005 NPC Masters National HW champion, and before that she added the 2003 NPC Junior National HW title. In her only other entry at the North American she finished fourth as a HW in 2004.
Fourth went to Chicago's Natalie Ariel. A recent runner-up finisher in the LtHW class at the NPC USA, the highly detailed Ariel makes for a striking presence on stage. With continued cultivation of her physique and more importantly filling out her frame, higher placings should come sooner rather than later.
Canadian Maria Mikola claimed the fifth place position with an impressive level of muscle volume. Mikola also entered the Masters division and scored a fourth-place finish in a group largely made up of crossovers from the Open divisions. Competing regularly since 1997 Mikola finished fourth at the 2009 North American as a MW.
6-Kate Cooper, Arizona
7-Jo Lynn Shane, North Carolina
8-LaDawn McDay, Michigan
9-Sharon Mould, Ontario, Canada
10-Roxanne Edwards, New York
11-Justine Dohring, Delaware
12-Myra Adams, New York
The Heavyweights
It was just a matter of time. Everyone recognized the potential. Monique Jones was a diamond in the rough. But at this year's North American Championships, she's still a diamond, but the roughness has been buffed out to a much sharper 
degree. Like recent NPC USA overall winner Sarah Hayes, and a host of others who are now becoming too numerous to mention, Monique Jones came by way of the Figure division in her early contest efforts beginning in 2005. But it has only been as recent as 2008 that Jones has become locked in as a certifiable bodybuilding star waiting to happen. She was simply too muscular for Figure, and a blessing for bodybuilding. In the past two years Jones, who is 5-4 and usually competes in the mid-160-pound range, has been clearly visible on the radar with a third-place HW finish at the 2009 North American Championships as well as a third-place HW spot at the 2008 NPC Nationals. She was also a HW runner-up at the 2008 NPC Junior Nationals. So the clock was ticking, and tonight the alarm went off. Monique Jones topped a HW field of 13 competitors.
With LW winner Claire O'Connell out of the posedown for the overall due to her overall Masters victory and pro card award, it was left to class winners Michelle Brent and Sherri Gray to out-flex Jones for the overall North American title. That task was simply not in the cards. Monique Jones now joins that distinguished group of previous overall North American champions mentioned earlier.
Although Monique Jones made for an impressive presence in the heavyweight class, runner-up Heather Parsons did not go quietly into the night. Standing 5-10 with a well-balanced and equally well-conditioned structural quality that also has the same potential as Jones displayed, Parsons made Jones work for her title. With nearly a decade of experience on her contest resume, the recent NPC Indiana overall champion placed fourth at last year's North American Championships leaving many with the feeling that she only needed to further detail her formidable muscular qualities. She did exactly that and the result was a move up to the doorstep. Like Jones before her, it is now only a matter of time for Heather Parsons as well.
Finishing third behind Parsons was Jennifer Gutierrez entering her first North American Championships. A fourth-place HW finisher at the recent NPC USA, Gutierrez is making notable improvements throughout her physique with each passing event. Having placed fifth at both the 2008 and 2009 NPC Nationals, her third-place showing here should be of little surprise - and she can go higher. Further proof of her abilities also surfaced in the Masters divisions where she captured the HW title in a field of 11 contestants. Overall the former Californian finished up with a good night's effort.
Fourth placer Bonnie Pappas is also on track having just won the 2010 NPC Masters National heavyweight class in the Over-45 class. A former overall winner at the 2007 NPC New England and 2008 NPC Eastern USA, Pappas looks to be a threat at any future Masters event. Along with her fourth-place Open finish, Pappas also garnered the runner-up HW spot in the Masters division behind Gutierrez.
Rounding out the top five was the always powerful presence of Angela Rayburn. Building a stack of strong top-five finishes at several national-level events, Rayburn was the biggest competitor at the NPC USA when she weighed in at 174 pounds. Well-balanced, her bodyweight at this event would have also been nearly the same. Last year Rayburn finished fourth in both the Open and Masters North American events. Here, she equaled her Masters efforts placing fourth once again.
6-Victoria Dominguez, California
7-Yamile Marrero, Florida
8-Lauren Laplante-Rottman, New Jersey
9-Maria Holt, North Carolina
10-Olivia Terry, Georgia
11-Kathy Connors, Florida
12-Tischa Thomas, Illinois
13-Marilyn Lajoie, Florida
The Masters North American Results
Lightweight
1-Claire O'Connell, California*
2-Barbara Stannard, Alberta, Canada
Middleweights
1-Sherri Gray, North Carolina
2-Ellen Woodley, Florida
3-Heather King, Ontario, Canada
4-Terri Vona, Florida
5-Lynn Davis, Ohio
Light-Heavyweights
1-Michelle Brent, Connecticut
2-Janeen Lankowski, Canada
3-Emily Holder, Pennsylvania
4-Maria Makola, Canada
5-Jo Lynn Shane, North Carolina
6-Kate Cooper, Arizona
7-Sahron Mould, Ontario, Canada
8-LaDawn McDay, Michigan
9-Justine Dohring, Delaware
10-Roxanne Edwards, New York
11-Silvia Chavez, Mexico
Heavyweights
1-Jennifer Gutierrez, Washington
2-Bonnie Pappas, Massachusetts
3-Juanita Blaino, Illinois
4-Angela Rayburn, Mississippi
5-Robin Hillis, Ontario, Canada
6-Lauren Laplante-Rottman, New Jersey
7-Maria Holt, North Carolina
8-Yamile Marrero, Florida
9-Julie Peavey, Illinois
10-Olivia Terry, Georgia
11-Kathy Connors, Florida
12-Tischa Thomas, Illinois
13-Marilyn Lajoie, Florida
*Awarded IFBB Pro status
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