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The
2003 NPC Team Universe competition was held at the Tribeca Performing
Arts Center in New York City on August 8-9th. This is an event
that continues to grow each year. In addition to the Team Universe
for both men and women's bodybuilding and fitness, the NPC added
the National Figure Championships in 2001 and the New York Pro
Figure this year.
The
NPC National Figure Championships has turned out to be a monster!
Everyone was surprised when 50 competitors showed up in its inaugural
year and they were additionally shocked when 80 lovely ladies
competed last year. This year, the numbers were even more impressive
with an incredible 174 women competing for 12 pro cards for the
professional figure division.
As
for the men's bodybuilding, this year's Team Universe competition
could have been dubbed the Return of the Champions. After last
year's ruling that prohibited former class winners from competing,
this year's contest dropped that restriction which allowed many
former champs to return for a very competitive event. In addition,
the NPC sweetened the deal by offering an IFBB pro card for the
overall winner of both the men and women's bodybuilding.
The
favorite going into the Team Universe was undoubtedly Jeff Willet.
Jeff is no stranger to winning when it comes to this competition.
He won the light heavyweight class in 1999 and the heavyweight
class in 2001 before taking a very impressive fourth place at
this year's highly competitive NPC USA Championships in Las Vegas
on July 26th.
Also
returning to this year's Team Universe was last year's overall
winner Skip LaCour. Skip is the only bodybuilder to have won two
overall victories at this top level event and he actually earned
an IFBB pro card after last year's win. Skip chose not to accept
his pro card and instead took on the difficult task of trying
to win an unprecedented third title at this year's Team Universe.
Another
bodybuilder who created a lot of interest in his return to competition
was the Hawaiian Hurricane himself, Chris Faildo. Chris is somewhat
of a legend in the natural bodybuilding field due to his incredible
definition, animated posing and winning track record (he won the
lightweight class at the Team Universe from 1994-96). This would
be Chris's first competition in five years since taking second
to Ricky "Tricky" Jackson at the 1998 Team Universe
contest.
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| Top
three at the Team Universe Bantamweight class |
Ronald
Nurse, winner of the bantamweight class |
Jose
Raymond is another natural bodybuilder who has earned the right
to turn professional by virtue of his victory in the lightweight
class at the 2001 NPC Nationals. Jose also decided to keep his
amateur status and continue competing in the NPC. He took an impressive
fourth place at last year's NPC USA Championships in the middleweight
class and had trained hard all year specifically for this event.
In
the bantamweight class, Ronald
Nurse was returning after taking first place in this division
last year. Ronald had the most complete physique in the class
and was a unanimous winner with the judges. Although second place
finisher Kurt Windisch was even more refined, Ronald had the winning
combination of thickness and proportion that could not be defeated
on this day.
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Top 4 competitors in the Lightweight class |
Anthony
Miller, 2nd place in the Lightweight class
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In
the lightweight class, the
very impressive Owen McCurty, last year's winner, was not competing.
This left the field wide open for a new winner. I pegged Anthony
Miller for first place as he had a great combination of thickness,
proportion and definition. However, Allan Terrell was able to
garner the first place trophy due to his harder physique. The
lightweight class this year was the least contested with only
four competitors vying for the title.
The
most competitive class of the entire contest was the welterweight
class. Two champions were set to do battle for first
place and neither was about to give up without a vicious fight.
Chris Faildo and Jose Raymond were both in top condition and their
battle was probably the highlight of entire evening.
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| Comparison
photos of Chris Faildo and Jose Raymond. |
At
the pre-judging Friday night, Jose appeared to have a decided
advantage over Chris who appeared to be slightly smoother than
the ripped physique he brought to the stage in previous Team Universe
competitions. Jose was both big and ripped. His massive quads
and deep abs were highlighted with incredible vascularity and
definition.
The
judges compared these two champions repeatedly as they tried to
decide between Faildo's great shape and symmetry vs. Jose's hardness
and conditioning. They both fought hard as Chris attempted to
return to his championship status and Jose was looking to knock
out a legendary competitor who has inspired him since he began
training.
On
Saturday night, Faildo was noticeably harder as he posed with
passion and fury during his free posing routine. Jose was also
impressive during his routine which highlighted his hardness and
definition. Jose surprised the audience by ending his routine
with a backflip before waving to Faildo's large fan club (over
30 friends and family who traveled from Hawaii to support him)
with the well known "Hanging Loose" hand gesture which
is a staple among the natives of Hawaii. Needless to say, the
Hawaiian Hurricane fan club was not amused.
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| Chris
Faildo during his posing routine. |
Jose
Raymond during his posing routine. |
As
promoter and MC Bev Francis paused before announcing second place,
Chris and Jose conducted their own mini posedown before the final
decision was announced. By a slim one point margin, Chris Faildo
pulled ahead and brought home first place over a disappointed
Jose Raymond. Shape and symmetry won out over hardness and definition
on this day as an emotional Chris Faildo wept tears of joy when
his arms were raised overhead in victory.
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The
top three in the welterweight class (L-R):
Paul O'Hearn 3rd, Chris Faildo 1st, Jose Raymond 2nd. |
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The
top three in the middleweight class (L-R):
Angelo Bezzole 3rd, Tricky Jackson 1st, Bill Moschelle 2nd. |
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The
top three in the light heavyweight class (L-R):
Clyde Norris 3rd, Jeff Willet 1st, Darrell Monson 2nd. |
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| Comparison
of light heavyweight class during pre-judging. |
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Top
3 in the Heavyweight Class (L-R):
Norrence Smith 3rd, Skip LaCour 1st, Rick McMillan 2nd. |
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| Jim
Manion, Art Atwood and Steve Weinberger present the overall
award to Jeff Willet. |
In
the middleweight class, veteran
competitor Ricky "Tricky" Jackson was returning after
a few years away from the Team Universe. Ricky has been doing
very well at the prestigious NPC Nationals the last couple of
years, placing a close second in the middleweight class in 2002.
At this year's Team Universe, Ricky was a little off and was not
as ripped as he could have been. However, his impressive size
and proportions (incredible quads!) were so superior to everyone
else in the class that he was able to pull off another victory.
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| Ricky
"Tricky" Jackson won the middleweight class. |
A
disappointed Bill Moschelle accepted the runner-up position. Bill
has competed in this competition for several years and he was
in his standard ripped condition again. He must have thought this
would finally be his year after seeing Ricky's subpar
conditioning but it was not to be. Last year's middleweight class
winner, Angelo Bezzole, took third place with a physique that
looked slightly bigger but less defined than last year.
In
the light heavyweight class,
contest favorite Jeff Willet came onstage in the same hard condition
he brought to the stage in Vegas two weeks earlier. Jeff has incredible
quads and abs so he looks very impressive standing relaxed. His
huge arms are another asset and his size coupled with his outstanding
definition made
for a unanimous victory. Former class winner Darrell Monson took
the runner-up position. Darrell was known for his extremely striated
glutes during his winning years but he was not quite up to that
standard this year. Veteran competitor Clyde Norris took third
place.
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| Skip
LaCour during his posing routine. |
Comparisons
of the heavyweight class during pre-judging. |
In
the heavyweight class, Skip
LaCour scored another easy victory. Skip attempted to duplicate
the incredibly refined physique that won him the overall title
last year. His legs from the side are truly a sight to see. The
freaky muscularity in Skip's legs and glutes are even more detailed
than the pros on the Olympia stage display. This year, Skip was
able to attain that same crazy refinement and hardness. He seemed
somewhat flatter on Saturday night than he did on Friday so perhaps
he dropped too much weight in his attempt to repeat his winning
condition from last year. Rick McMillan moved up from 5th place
to 2nd this year and Norrence Smith took 3rd.
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| Lat
Spread comparison for the overall title. |
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| Rear
Double Bicep comparison with Chris Faildo, Tricky Jackson,
Jeff Willet and Skip LaCour. |
In
the Overall Posedown, Chris
Faildo could not match Willet's hardness and Skip LaCour could
not compete with the shape of Willet so it was a clear victory
for Jeff Willet. A very ebullient Jeff Willet happily accepted
the overall trophy and a possible pro card from promoter Steve
Weinberger, NPC President Jim Manion and IFBB Pro Art Atwood.
In
the women's bodybuilding competition,
heavyweight winner Mercedes Bazemore won the overall title. Mercedes
has very defined quads and a great back which helped her to take
home the winner's trophy. Second place went to last year's heavyweight
winner, Carolyn Bryant who was not as ripped as the year before.
Illinois resident Debbie Patton took first place in the middleweight
class while Jamie Lynn Troxel grabbed the first place trophy in
the lightweight class. Overall winner Mercedes Bazemore is also
now eligible for professional status in the IFBB.
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Class
winners Mercedes Bazemore, Debbie Patton
and Jamie Lynn Troxel pose down for the overall title.
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Team
Universe overall winner Mercedes Bazemore. |
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| The
class winners of the Team Universe Fitness Championships.
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Terri
Mooney, overall winner of the Team Universe Fitness. |
In
the rapidly fading women's fitness
competition, Teri Mooney won the overall after winning the
medium class over six other competitors. With a total of only
12 competitors, this once highly competitive event is now losing
the majority of it's participants to the new figure division.
Janet Koehler won the short division over veteran Nita Wilson-Marquez.
Nita brought the house down with her outstanding fitness routine
at the evening show. A pro card is surely in Nita's near future.
Aja Perkins was the victor in the tall class.
In
contrast, the National Figure Championships
brought in a remarkable 174 competitors who competed in four different
height classes. Some classes had as many as 60 competitors! The
judges really had their work cut out for them in judging this
enormous amount of competitors. The pre-judging on Saturday morning
lasted from 9am to 4:30 pm.
When
all was said and done, Christine Wan took first place in the short
division, Chondra Coffey, who was second at the Jr. Nationals
in this class earlier in the year, won the medium class, Michelle
Adams won the medium-tall division and Amber Littlejohn took an
impressive victory in the biggest class of the evening, the tall
class.
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| The
top 4 competitors in the Figure Nationals medium class: Misty
Yee 3rd, Zena Collins 2nd, Gabriella Anton 4th, Chondra Coffey
1st. |
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The
class winners in the Figure Nationals (L-R):
Amber Littlejohn, Michelle Adams, Chondra Coffey, Christine
Wan. |
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| Amber
Littlejohn, overall winner of the Figure Nationals Championships.
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In
the overall, Amber Littlejohn won the National
Figure Championships. With her long, lithe body and
beautiful face, Amber is sure to receive her fair share of photo
shoots and endorsement offers as well as a promising career in
the growing figure professional ranks. She reminded me of another
new beauty that took everyone by surprise only a mere two years
ago.
That
newcomer, Davana Medina, is now one of the top professionals in
the figure division. In the New York Pro Figure Championships,
Davana came out on top again, defeating a very impressive line-up
of 29 professional figure competitors.
Second
place went to the equally stunning Dina Al-Sabah who is rapidly
establishing herself as one of the top competitors in the pro
fitness arena in only her first year as a pro. Third place went
to veteran pro fitness competitor D.J. Wallis who made a very
successful transition to figure with her very lean physique. Sharon
Kouvaras placed fourth in good condition and Elaine Goodlad rounded
out the top five. The top three competitors qualified for the
new Figure Olympia in Las Vegas on October 24th.
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