Weekend Update, Part 1: Brownie’s Revenge and More

Playing catchup again, or I would never have let a week go by without a mention of Cheryl Brown’s big repeat victory at the Kentucky Pro Muscle Figure festivities on November 13. Brownie looked smashing in earning a unanimous nod from the panel, with the decision also unanimous for runner-up Chelsea Morgenstern and third-placer Candice Keene, who all locked up their invites to the ’11 Figure Olympia.

Ava Cowan was the judges’ unanimous choice for fourth in the lineup of 28, as was their selection of Emily Nicholson to round out the top five.

I have to admit, I’m thrilled to see Cheryl bounce back after her 11th-place landing at the Olympia, and not just because I had predicted a top-four finish for the hot mama from Florida in her Big O debut. Was she a little leaner in Kentucky than she’d been in September in Vegas at the O? Maybe just enough, considering that Candice beat her by two placings there.

BTW, I stand by my statement that Cheryl is worthy of a high finish at the sport’s top shows, despite my having had to apologize to her for unleashing the “Ruthless curse” on her. It was in the wee hours after the Olympia banquet. I was chatting with Jessica Putnam and Binca Binno, themselves the recipients of disappointing Olympia placings, in bikini, at a bar in the Orleans Hotel when Brownie came up to thank me for my prediction and faith in her.

A sheepish grin crept over my face, but before I could say anything, Jess chimed in. “Last year she predicted I would win!”

Whoops. Well, ladies, it’s all in fun, you know, and Brownie got her mojo back in Kentucky, taking the stage—and the first-place check—with confidence. Find complete results from the Kentucky Muscle Pro below.

Photo: Brownie looked smashing in September at the post-Olympia banquet as well.

In other news, the IFBB Pro League published its contest schedule for the 2011 season. The highlights include a couple of new pro events out of the United States, and six women’s bodybuilding contest, four fitness competitions, 14 figure events and 13 bikini shows to go before the Olympia, which will take place a week earlier in  2011, on September 16 and 17. There’s also a post-Olympia season even bigger than the current one, which wraps up today with the big doings in fitness, figure and bikini in Florida at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Cup.

Find the complete Pro League Calendar of Events here.

In still other news, at long last the NPC has made an official (as opposed to unofficial) announcement about the new women’s physique division. I’ll cover that in a separate entry shortly; just wouldn’t want any readers thinking I’d been in a cave for the past five months.

’10 Kentucky Muscle Pro Figure Championships

1) Cheryl Brown*
2) Chelsey Morgenstern*
3) Candice Keene*
4) Ava Cowan
5) Emily Nicholson
6) Gennifer Strobo
7) Stephanie McDonald
8) Teresa Gillian
9) Ella Horton
10) Jackie Hoppe
11) Ann Pratt
12) Mavis Tozzi
13) Tiffany Procopio
14) Shalmieno Paper
15) Elisha Archibold
16) Tina Marie Bloomfield
16) Jennifer DeJoya
16) Valerie Haines
16) Charmayne Jackson
16) Cea Anna Kerr
16) Amy Lee Martin
16) Danielle Reutter
16) Natalia Lenartova Revajova
16) Shala Singer
16) Mikaila Soto
16) Natalie Waples
16) Sandie Ward
16) Tina White
*Qualifies for the ’11 Figure Olympia.