Articles The Wennerstrom Report Victoria Dominguez: This winner takes all at the NPC Nationals!
Victoria Dominguez: This winner takes all at the NPC Nationals!
By: Steve Wennerstom, IFBB Women's Historian
On the weekend of November 
22-23 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, promoters Steve Karel and Pam Betz along with their highly capable and experienced staff once again worked their collective magic to stage another mega NPC National Championships extravaganza.
And within the six-division event featuring nearly 1,000 entrants, a field of 30 contestants in the women's bodybuilding division flexed for the opportunity to score an overall National Championship title and/or a weight class victory that would lead to qualification for an IFBB pro card.
By the numbers, the 30 bodybuilding entries this year was the lowest ever in NPC Nationals history, but the event has a long tradition of producing a few nuggets who make their way to a notable competitive career at the pro level. The same will likely be true this year. As has also been a longstanding tradition, the field this year saw many veteran competitors who have entered multiple NPC Nationals as well as several who have been competing in the bodybuilding division for over a dozen years. But it is the mix of newcomers in tandem with the stalwart veterans that make for an interesting competition. As things turned out, the four weight class winners produced a little bit of both.
PATRICIA WATSON MUSCLES UP FOR LIGHTWEIGHT WIN
If there was ever a great time to be a lightweight at the NPC Nationals it was this year. In a field of just five contestants, the winner only needed to out-flex four other competitors. With many of the smaller women flocking to the Physique division carrying dreams of a better chance to reach the pro level, the lightweight class has suffered greatly. Looking back as far as 20-25 years ago, it was often that this class needed an elimination round to get the field cut to a top15. Twenty to 25 contestants in this class was not unusual. Matching the 2011 National LW field of five, this year's competition equaled the smallest ever in NPC Nationals history. So, if your goal was to reach the pro level, what better place than in a field of five contestants.
From Fredericksburg, Virginia, Patricia Watson is no stranger to the NPC Nationals. Each year since 2009 Watson has entered the lightweight chase finishing as low as 11th in 2009 and until this year as high as a runner-up spot in 2011. Last year she added a fourth-place finish.
An active competitor for the past dozen years, Watson has also won her share of notable titles including the US Armed Forces Championships in 2002, the NPC Junior USA LW class in 2009, the NPC Team Universe LW class in 2011 and the IFBB North American LW class last year. Watson also placed fifth LW at the IFBB World Amateur Championships in 2011. But 2013 could actually be considered a breakthrough year for the veteran competitor with the NPC USA lightweight title already in her back pocket, the victory here and finally earning her pro status marks the high point in competitive career.
Whether she will continue her bodybuilding efforts as a pro, or switch to the Physique remains to be seen, but either way she will bring a level of cultivated musculature to the stage. Watson is the first Virginian to win the NPC National lightweight title since Denise Gerard in 1998.
Chasing Watson and finishing in the bridesmaid position was North C
arolina's Linda Smith. A very active contest entrant since 2006, Smith has entered both Figure and Bodybuilding classes along the way. A former Figure competitor dating back to 2006 she has competed in five previous NPC Masters Nationals, but her best success was in 2012 where she was second in both the Masters Nationals and NPC Nationals as a LW bodybuilder.
This year she was once again a runner-up at the Masters Nationals as a LW. Her most recent overall victory came at the 2011 Elite Muscle Classic in North Carolina.
Miami's Frauke Diaz made her return to the Nationals a successful one dropping down a weight class from her ninth-place finish as a middleweight in 2011. Here she claimed the third-place spot. Diaz was also the middleweight winner at the 2011 NPC Southern States.
San Francisco's Sue Epperson grabbed the fourth-place spot in this class and was making one of the longest comebacks in this year's field. Epperson's last visit to the NPC Nationals came in 1995 when she placed 12th in the middleweight class. She also competed in the NPC California that same year.
Her best national-level placing came a year later in 1996 when she finished second at the NPC USA as a MW. Epperson qualified for this year's Nationals with a runner-up MW placing at the NPC Contra Costa before dropping down to LW here.
The fifth-place spot in this division went to Virginian Karen Holliday. A consistent top-five placer at the NPC Masters Nationals and IFBB North American Championships the last three years, she finished second at the North Americans in both the LW open and LW Over-35 Masters classes earlier this year.
ALANA IS SHIPP SHAPE IN MIDDLEWEIGHT CLASS
Some might say it's easy to stand out in a group of three competitors in a bodybuilding lineup. But in the case of New Yorker Alana Shipp it may not have made much difference what the size of the middleweight class was considering overall physical qualities.
A first time entrant at the NPC Nationals this Guyana-born bombshell left little doubt as to her muscular arsenal – and her first impression was a strong one. With dynamite detail in her back double biceps poses, equally impressive separation in her frontal quads, 8-pack abs, and gluteal/hamstring tie-ins to further prove her head-to-toe completeness, she carried every bit of the ability to play giant killer in a posedown. So much so, several observers felt she would be talented enough to challenge for the overall National crown.
Shipp also has an interesting past where, after marrying (she has two children), lived in Israel where she was first introduced to serious weight training. Competitively, her contest resume is a short one. In 2012 she competed in the NAC Ms.Universe in Europe placing third. And as a qualifier for the Nationals she won the LW and overall titles at this year's Steve Stone NY Metropolitan Championships. Shipp's win made it two in a row for New Yorkers in this class, following in the footsteps of 2012 MW winner Rene Marven. Next, she'll have the opportunity to step into the pro arena where the going will be considerably more competitive.
Running second to Sh
ipp was Washington's Leann George. A familiar face and physique at the national level, George was making her third appearance at the NPC Nationals where she placed 15th MW in 2009 and 8th in 2011. Her best effort came when she won the MW class at the 2012 IFBB North American Championships. George has competed annually at the national level since 2007 at events including the NPC USA and NPC Masters Nationals as well as the Nationals and North Americans.
Third went to Cassie Bates from Frisco, Texas. Showing a balanced overall structure, Bates was off the conditioning level she showed in winning this class at the NPC USA earlier in the year. Her ability to be competitive at the national level was also evidenced at last year's Nationals when she placed second in this class behind Rene Marven.
MATHISON WINS LHW CLASS IN SHORT ORDER
Perhaps the best way to describe newly-crowned National light-heavyweight champion Sarah Mathison would be as a shorter version of former NPC National overall champion Sheila Bleck. And the comparison is justified by the fact that the resemblance of their physical qualities are striking.
At 5-1½, Mathison is five inches shorter than Bleck, but in several other ways the two are very similar. Beginning with an almost sister-like facial resemblance, Mathison's muscular arsenal also follows Bleck's look with broad shoulders and nice delt shapes, excellent muscle separation in her quads, and a pleasing taper to her torso – all were and are strengths in Bleck's physique. Put simply she made for a strong representative as the winner of this class, and it will be interesting to see if she makes an attempt to match Bleck's high end posing performances when she enters the pro ranks. Mathison weighed 135 pounds in her winning effort.
A veteran competitor who began competing in 1996 (in fact she finished second to Debi Laszewski in her first contest), Mathison was the overall winner at the NPC Wisconsin in 1997. Since then she has been a strong placer at the national level on several occasions including a light-heavyweight win at the 2010 NPC Junior Nationals, and added runner-up LtHW finishes at both the 2011 NPC Nationals and 2012 NPC USA.
She joins Janice Ragain, Dena Westerfield, Kristy Hawkins and Laszewski as former winners of the LtHW division, and in winning she became the first female competitor representing Wisconsin to win an NPC National title in any weight class.
Stalking Mathison in the race for the title, Californian Carla Rossi brought strong credentials to her first appearance at the NPC Nationals. Since 2008 her city, state and regional placings have been solid top placings and in 2011 she finished second in the MW class at the NPC USA.
Last year she improved on that effort by winning the MW class at the USA. Rossi's overall musculature shows considerable cultivation as evidenced by one of the best side chest poses in the entire women's bodybuilding division. The highlight of her physique was the even development throughout and the volume of her muscle shapes. Where she fell short of catching Mathison was in her lack of tighter conditioning. With that element corrected she has the physical tools to win this class next year.
Third went to New Yorker Myra Adams. A familiar competitor at east coast events, Adams was entering her fifth NPC Nationals here. To her credit she has battled her way up from a pair of 14th-place finishes in 2007 and 2009. Last year she reached fourth place in this class, so her climb continues. A two-time MW winner of the NPC Eastern USA, Adams has also competed at the IFBB North American Championships and NPC Masters Nationals. Her finish at this event is her best-ever placing at the national level.
New Hampshire's Melanie Landry placed fourth. A middleweight winner at the NPC Masters Nationals earlier this year, she was also a lightweight titlist at the 2012 NPC Junior USA.
Michigan's Cheryl Faust has been a regular competitor at both the NPC Nationals and IFBB North American Championships since 2007. Having competed five times in each of those events, Faust has consistently hovered around the top-five spot. Her fifth-place 
LtHW finish here was her best effort at the Nationals having competed as both a lightweight and middleweight in the past few years.
DOMINGUEZ IS VICTORIOUS IN THE HW CLASS
For those who follow women's bodybuilding closely, Victoria Dominguez has been a work in progress over the past five years. And while watching the progress, some felt that her ultimate competitive success wouldn't be a matter of if, but when. And so this Saturday evening became the 'when' as she flexed her way to a heavyweight – and eventually – the overall NPC National crown.
After competing in some local events in her native Los Angeles, Dominquez jumped into the national level contests in 2010 placing sixth as a heavyweight at both IFBB North American Championships and NPC Nationals. A year later she won the Muscle Contest.com contest in Los Angeles before once again finishing sixth at the North American show. But there was marked improvement in her overall look and she was filling out – showing impressive arms, thighs and notable thickness in her back poses. She was looking more and more like a national-level contender.
At 5-6, she was reaching the 150-pound level and the weight was well distributed. By 2012 Dominguez had taken her development to another level and she experienced a breakthrough season with a victory at the Gold Coast Muscle Classic before placing fifth in the open class and third in the Over-35 masters division at the IFBB North American Championships. But it was her runner-up finish at the NPC USA that sparked the reality that she was prepared to challenge for a top spot.
In July this year Dominguez once again entered the USA – a convenient event considering she had recently moved to Las Vegas. She notched a solid third-place finish and again she ramped up the improvement showing nice balance and muscular detail on her 152-pound frame. But the real eye-opener was at the check-in here as Dominguez tipped the scales at a robust 170. That weight was short-lived however as she dropped water and by the time she walked on stage she was a well-conditioned 162. The weight suited her well and the result was a unanimous vote in the class of 17 contestants.
Following Dominguez's convincing win, the final tallies showed a very spirited race between Keli Watkins and Kristine Mele for second and third. The final results found Watkins topping Mele by a single point – 12-13. While contestants never know just how close the scores are until after the official results are posted, the realization of losing by a point leaves those frustrating questions for competitors as to whether their quads were flexed throughout the prejudging, if all bodyparts were tight in a given complusory pose, or if they showed a level of stage presence that created a reason for judges to notice them.
So often at this level, it's the little things that can make the difference – even hairstyle, makeup or suit selection. Those seemingly little things can become a deal breaker. In this case Watkins won out to take the runner-up spot.
For Watkins, it was her first entry at the NPC Nationals although she had strong pre-National results placing fourth at the Masters Nationals, and second at the IFBB North Americans earlier in the year.
Kristine Mele made for an impressive contest run to reach this event, having been a Figure competitor as late as 2010 when she placed sixth at the NPC Show of Champions in Orlando. In 2011 she placed 16th in the Physique 'B' division at the NPC Junior USA. Then last year she made yet another division jump (as well as a weight class) to Bodybuilding and placed third at the NPC Nationals as a light-heavyweight. She now has a calendar year to think about that agonizing single point.
Fourth went to Florida's Jennifer Kennedy. A stellar competitor within the bodybuilding ranks, Kennedy showed excellent overall structural balance and muscle shapes from the very beginning of her contest efforts. A heavyweight winner at the 2000 NPC Michigan, Kennedy stepped aside from contest entries until re-surfacing in 2011 with runner-up finishes at the NPC Florida and NPC Nationals – both as a HW. Then last year she once again finish second, this time at the NPC USA. Here, she missed a higher placing when her overall sharpness was missing. In top form she can challenge for the HW title at either the USA or Nationals next year.
Fifth-placer Alyssa Stroud is another former Figure competitor who has made a successful transition to Bodybuilding and it took just three years. After a series of low Figure placings in 2008 and '09, Stroud scored a light-heavyweight victory at the 2010 Europa Super Show. Since then, Stroud has established herself as a legit heavyweight scoring a third-place finish at the 2011 USA and a fourth last year at the same event. Here, she weighed in at 159 pounds and it featured a pleasing structure with very broad shoulders and proportionate muscular for her frame. She possesses a skeletal structure that can carry more weight and still look pleasing. Time will tell.
Just outside the top five was Ohio's Robyn Blankenship. Competing at the NPC Nationals in 2011 she placed 11th in the LtHW class. Then after an overall win at the 2012 NPC Mike Francois Classic, her finish here points to a top five finish next year.
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