Reported on July 29, 2002
’02 NPC USA Women’s Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships
New Shooters Coming Out
Las Vegas—Two first timers nabbed the Overall trophies in the women’s divisions at the NPC USA Championships on July 27, where a record 111 women bodybuilders and fitness athletes congregated at the Artemus W. Ham Hall to roll the dice for prestige and pro cards. In women’s bodybuilding, Middleweight champ Rosemary Jennings moved up from third at the ’01 Nationals to earn top honors in her very first trip to the USA. In Fitness Julie Childs moved over from another organization to reign supreme in her first-ever NPC national show. Here’s a rundown on all the movers and shakers.
Women’s bodybuilding. Only the Overall champ gets a pro card at this contest, and Jennings, a 5’2”, 131-pound symmetrically muscular New Yorker, whose look is more than a little reminiscent of Juliette Bergmann’s, did not have an easy day. She squeaked to the Middleweight title with two-point win over a tight, defined Jeannie Paparone, then faced another tough battle against a determined Collette Nelson for the Overall. The 152-pound Nelson, also a New Yorker, had just won her second USA Heavyweight title in a row and was clearly itching to move up to the next level. With her fabulous upper body and hot-blonde look, Nelson netted a perfect score in the Heavies (after highs and lows were tossed out), the most decisive win of the evening. In the final posedown, though, the judges went with Jennings’ more complete package.
Lightweight Melanie Thompson also won her division in a squeaker, relegating last year’s runner-up, Shannon Rabon, to second-class status again by a point or two. Ultimately, Thompson’s thick, hard-but-not-ripped muscularity tipped the scales in her favor over the more aesthetically packaged Rabon.
In the Heavyweights another newcomer to the USA, Alley Miesche-Nie finished second with an almost-perfect score, displaying a solid, balanced physique to knock last year’s runner-up, Michelle Tuggle, down to third.
Fitness. The top fitness ranks were rife with flexible females who’d flipped over to the NPC from other organizations within the past year. Besides Julie Childs, the class winners included the 4’11” Nicole Rollolazo, who beat the former Julie Shipley at the ’00 Fitness America (Julie was third) but lost the Overall to her at this competition in a tie-breaker. Other recent migrants included Tall-class second-placer Adria Klein, a multi-title holder in yet another organization, who will now follow her twin sister to the pros, and short-class third-placer Rose Hendricks, a sure bet to do likewise real soon.
Medium-class winner Kimberly Scheidler won two out of three rounds, including the routines, to score a 21-point victory over Kim Lyons, but she was out of her league going up against polished veterans Childs and Rollolazo. Since the top two in each class earn pro cards, all four of the ladies mentioned in that sentence went home happy.
Rollolazo rolled out the best routine in the show, flipping and dipping new life into “Greased Lightning” from Grease. Her retooled physique earned her first and third in the Short-class body rounds for a 23-point win over Clarissa Carter. The Over-5’4 1/2” division had the toughest—and closest—competition. It was the only class in which the placings changed after the judges voted again at the finals. Childs, who’s also a performance whiz, won the routine round and was five points ahead of Elizabeth Maurice going into the evening show, with Klein but three points behind that. At the final showdown in one-piece suits, however, Klein edged past Maurice to earn the runner-up pro card.
Look for complete coverage of the USA Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships in the November ’02 IRONMAN.
’02 NPC USA Women’s Bodybuilding Championships
Overall: Rosemary Jennings*
Heavyweight
1) Colette Nelson
2) Alley Miesch-Nie
3) Michelle Tuggle
4) Heather Policky
5) Annie Rivieccio
Middleweight
1) Rosemary Jennings*
2) Jeannie Paparone
3) Tonia Williams
4) Cindy Dowies
5) Debbie Bramwell
Lightweight
1) Melanie Thompson
2) Shannon Rabon
3) Michelle Burdick
4) King Raub
5) Jamie Troxel
*Qualifies for an IFBB pro card.
’02 NPC USA Fitness Championships
Overall: Julie Childs
Tall
1) Julie Childs*
2) Adria Klein*
3) Elizabeth Maurice
4) Melissa Babers
5) Kristen Rosen
Medium
1) Kimberly Scheidler*
2) Kimberly Lyons*
3) Sandie Ward
4) Angela Semsch
5) Peggy Sue Crawford
Short
1) Nicole Rollolazo*
2) Carissa Carter*
3) Rose Hendricks
4) Melissa Maffioli
5) Heather McCormick
* Qualifies for an IFBB pro card.
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