New York Pro Fitness: Camela’s Big Win in the Big Apple

Sure, she was the favorite, but Camela Rodriguez more than earned her first-place finish at the New York Pro Fitness on Saturday night, capturing the judges’ fancy in both the physique and routine competitions for a 30-point victory over runner-up Bethany Wagner and a lineup of 17 at the Tribeca Performing Art Center. As both women were already on the Fitness Olympia invite list due to their top-six finishes at the International in March, the big swag here was the third-place qualification.

The judging made clear that Camela and Bethany would be first and second in the body round, in either order, and they were bound to be at or near  the top of the routine scores. Based on the callouts, a keen observer might also be keeping an eye on Kristina Rojas, always a threat to do well, and Jodi Boam, a rookie from Canada who has a rep as a killer in the routines. That would not have been taking into account the newfound power of the routine round, now two thirds of the total score, to change things.

In this case it was another newbie, ’10 NPC Junior National champ Michelle Blank, who overcame a sixth-place evaluation in the comparisons by getting second in the routines, leapfrogging over Rojas to take third overall by a single point. It was only her third fitness contest ever. Now, that’s what I call a hot rookie.

Boam  rounded out the top five.

Camela, who did look swell in the swimsuit portion of the program, was not as tight as she’d been at the Fitness I in March. Admittedly, she was shooting to peak this coming weekend at the Fibo Power Pro Championships in Essen, Germany. We’ll see if her luck—and her shape—hold up.

The Fibo event, produced by Ed and Betty Pariso, will also include pro competitions in women’s and men’s bodybuilding.

Photo: Camela Rodriguez.

Here are the complete results from the Big Apple:

’11 New York Pro Fitness

1) Camala Rodriguez*
2) Bethany Wagner*
3) Michelle Blank*
4) Kristina Rojas
5) Jodi Boam
6) Stacy Wright
7) Carrie Simmons
8) Nicole Duncan
9) Hollie Stewart
10) Sylvia Tremblay
11) Victoria Larvie
12) Allison Ethier
13) Ryall Garber-Vasani
14) Tamee Marie
15) Stacy McDowell
16) Venus Nguyen
17) Melissa Frederick
*Qualifies for the ’11 Fitness Olympia.