Monday Catchup: Florida Sass-O-Meter

Whoops, that was fast. Magazine deadlines and a family Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh followed by more deadlines, and somehow the  comments on the rest of the Fort Lauderdale Cup pro shows were still in the Notepad app. Fortunately, invitations to the Arnold Sports Festival, a.k.a. the ’11 Ms., Fitness, Figure and Bikini International competitions, are expected in a week or two, so those notes are still of interest—least to me. For one thing, the all-gal Florida event marked the end of the 2010 pro season, and the headliners there—and at all the post-Olympia contests—are sure to be fresh minds of those who issue the invites to the Arnold. That will be particularly true in bikini, where 2010 left plenty of standouts to choose from.

If there’s a trio that more clearly illustrates the breadth of the bikini field after year one of pro competition than the gals who took the top spots in Florida on November 20, I can’t imagine who they’d be. The winner’s circle was a veritable cornucopia: In first you had sweet sass, local favorite Nicole Nagrani, who was coming off a well-deserved third-place finish at the Olympia in September. In second you had newcomer sass, Justine Munro, a bouncy blond Canadian whose personality leapt out even in the still photographs. In third you had sultry sass, Nathalie Mur. a 33-year-old Frenchwoman whose entry into the front ranks seemed inevitable since I first saw a picture of her, a year or so ago.

Thirteen contenders came to do the stride ‘n’  snap at this one, including newly minted pro Jennifer Andrews, the ’10 NPC National champ, who made an impression in the fourth spot, Missy Coles, always a contender, strode her statuesque curves into fifth.

Photo: Nicole Nagrani.

Here are the complete results.

’10 Fort Lauderdale Cup Pro Bikini

1) Nicole Nagrani*
2) Justine Munro*
3) Nathalie Mur*
4) Jennifer Andrews
5) Missy Coles
6) Nicole Guerrero-Moneer
7) Lindsey Morrison
8) Zara Pineda-Boorder
9) Khanh Nguyen
10) Nicole Coleman
11) Desha Rodriguez
12) Samantha Morris
13) Gemma Williams
*Qualifies for the ’11 Bikini Olympia.