Hey all. Back safely from Atlanta, with many of my goals accomplished.
I got lost on the way up Friday evening, so missed the men’s prejudging. “Peachtree Street/Road/Avenue/Way/Circle/etc” is Atlanta residents’ little joke on damfool tourists. Oh well, I got a nice tour of the city. And gas was $1.91 a gallon down Tifton way! I kid you not.
Gene (hi Gene, it was great to see you again!) has the contest results on his site. What it comes down to is, at this level, a valid argument can always be made for anyone in the top 3 of each class to win.
Carla Salotti took the lightweights, and looked fantastic. Ellen Woodley took second in the middleweights behind Norma Nieves.
In the light-heavyweights, Debi Laszewski came in looking better than I’d ever seen her, with incredible separation and hardness. I had her picked for middleweight and overall, but she was bumped by a very impressive, but definitely softer, Dena Westerfield.
In the heavyweights, on the other hand, Mimi Jabalee used her awesome conditioning and separation to defend against an wonderfully balanced Jody May. Jody really had the total package, with great size in the arms, chest, and abs; but Mimi had better calves and delts, and was harder and more striated.
So as usual it wasn’t crystal clear what the judges were looking for, as there seemed to be something of a contradiction between the winners of the classes. Since Debi didn’t make it into the final round, there’s no way to know for sure– and again, at this level, valid arguments can be made for almost everyone up there. All I can say is, shows like this make me appreciate how difficult a judge’s job can be.
Anyway, the fitness shots are up— low-hanging fruit, don’tcha know, I hope to have the rest of the shots up no later than Wednesday evening, then you can make your own decision.