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Published on Sunday, 22 May 2011 02:56
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Written by Steve Wennerstrom, IFBB Women’s Historian
Charleston, South Carolina, May 21, 2011: It was exactly 30 years ago in Salinas, California, that the AFWB staged the first ever Junior USA, and with the passing of those 30 years and over 2,700 miles of distance to Charleston, the 2011 NPC Junior USA did its part in posting several more firsts as the anxiously anticipated birth of the new Women’s Physique Division took center stage this weekend. Beautifully promoted by Tres Bennett and staged at the Charleston Performing Arts Center, this year’s Junior USA held tremendous interest for both female bodybuilders and figure contestants as many from both those divisions converged in the WPD. Coincidentally, 22 women filled each of the two fields where the ‘A’ class - under 5-4 - saw 22 women compete, followed by another 22 entrants checked in for the ‘B’ class over 5-4. In total, the 44 entrants represented 22 states. For this new division, discussion had gone on for months in and effort to zero in on a set of criteria that would fit somewhere between figure contestants and women’s bodybuilding. And after this first event, it’s clear that more time and competitions will be needed to settle on what an idyllic physique will be. But it’s a good start. A bit confusing as beginnings go maybe…..but a start nonetheless. Dana Bailey Gets an ‘A’ for Effort in the ‘A’ class.With the 22-contestant A class taking the stage for the first time, the first callout in the new division included Dana Bailey, Rachel Baker, Ann Caliri, Lori Brooks and Susie Torres with Bailey placed in the middle of the lineup. Only Ayanna Carroll from the second callout changed the final top five bumping out Caliri. With just three callouts to make a decision as to what judges had decided upon as desirable for the new division that group included 11 different women.
For Bailey, the switch from Figure seemed to suit her well. Beginning in 2006 she won the NPC Pennsylvania overall Figure title. But by 2010 there were mixed messages as she won her class at the Tracy Greenwood Classic, but slipped to 12th in her class at the NPC Team Universe. Here, Bailey was well-prepared and she distributed a well-balanced bodyweight on her 5-4 frame, and things went glowingly for the Reading, Pennsylvania native. She quickly made history by piling up some memorable ‘firsts’. First, she became the first winner of a class in the new WP division. Next she became the first overall WPD winner in the NPC. And finally, she added a first by becoming the inaugural recipient of an IFBB Pro Physique card. So, from 12th in her Figure class at the 2010 Team Universe, to an IFBB pro one year later. Not a bad night’s work.
Following Bailey in the runner-up position was Rachel Baker from Luthersville, Maryland. Like Bailey, Baker had taken her share of lumps in the Figure division going unplaced in the 2009 NPC Nationals, and finishing ninth at the 2010 NPC Team Universe. In her single bodybuilding effort, she placed eighth at the 2010 NPC Masters Nationals as a LW. So her second-place finish at this event no doubt brought a welcome relief - as well as hope for her future competitions. 
The mileage award had to go to third-placer Lori Brooks who traveled all the way from Honolulu, Hawaii. Like Rachel Baker, Brooks also looked approvingly on her top-three recognition. With national level Figure contest entries dating back to 2007 and placing outside the top ten at the Nationals and USA, her most notable Figure finish came last year when she placed fourth in her class at the IFBB North American. The switch to Physique will suit her well. Rounding out the top five were Georgia’s Susie Torres in fourth and Maryland’s Ayanna Carroll in fifth. If there was a success story among the top five in this class, Susie Torres
wins hands down. In 2008 she weighed in at 209 pounds…and that’s saying something considering she’s only 5-1 ½. By 2009 she was competing in local Figure events, and last year she experienced victory at local events as well as disturbingly low placements at the national level. A change was needed and WP provided the opportunity. The results of her past three years culminated here as she showed a nicely balanced and well-developed physique – good enough to squeeze into the top five. 
Carroll, on the other hand, got her start in Figure nearly a decade ago in 2002 at the NPC Atlantic States, but switched to bodybuilding by 2006. A former track athlete in high school and college, the 5-1 Carroll was another of the smaller competitors in the ‘A’ class. In 2007 she finished sixth at the Arnold Amateur Classic. Among the most notable contestants who missed out on a top-five 
placing was the striking Ann Caliri from Aberdeen, North Carolina. Caliri made the first callout, and was brought back in the second call. A veteran bodybuilding competitor dating back as far as 2000, she has been an NPC North Carolina State overall champion, but more impressively she has been a top three placer at three previous NPC Junior USA’s in 2003, ’05 and ’07 – once as a LW and twice as a MW. She was also a third-place LW finisher at the 2007 Arnold Amateur Classic. Seemingly, she is tailor-made for the WPD, but apparently not at this first event.
The ‘B’s Create a Wide Variety of Physiques Within the Top Five Finishers.
No one said the judging of this first WP division was going to be a cake walk, but the ‘B’ contingent caused judges far more difficulty in arriving at a final top five, due in large part to the fact that any competitor over 5-4 offers a very broad range of contestants that potentially drives the judging towards the old apples and oranges scenario. Eventual winner of the ‘B’ class – Amanda Braun – is a glowing example. From Kinston, North Carolina, Braun was the tallest competitor in the class at 5-9 and her physique showed her background as both a Figure competitor and bodybuilder. A HW and overall bodybuilding winner at the 2007 Atlantic Coast Crystal Cup, and a third-place finisher in the tall class of the Figure division at the 2009 NPC Junior USA, judges found her to be best suited as a winner of this class. Her structure was sound and her calves were an eye-catching plus in the overall evaluation of her physique. The victory earns her an IFBB pro card for the new Physique division along with Dana Bailey. Maryland’s Natalie Leon finished second to Braun and was notably different structurally compared to the winner - as well as many of the women in this class - and several who never even made one of the four callouts at all. Brought out in the first callout with Nola Trimble, Heather Payne and Braun, the lack of a fifth competitor in the first group signaled the judge’s difficulty in deciding on a top five. The second callout included Trimble and Payne with the addition of Jillian Reville and Tiffany Reffner. A third callout saw Payne and Reffner with Jessica Wasserman, Rauchelle Schultz, Leonie Rose, and Lindsey Cope-Spitler for the first time. In the final callout, Braun, Leon, Trimble and Reville were compared….a decidedly wide array of physiques to sort out. 
In the final tallies, Maryland’s Natalie Leon prevailed as the runner-up with Nola Trimble claiming third. In a recent return from a tour in Iraq, Trimble has been a seasoned Figure competitor since 2004 with numerous national level entries on her contest resume. Most notably, Trimble has competed at the Junior USA on three occasions placing third in 2006, sixth in 2007 and ninth in 2008. Those placings were more or less the handwriting on the wall. After a 15th-place finish at the NPC USA in 2008 she made the switch to bodybuilding and her placements improved immediately including a seventh-place finish in the MW class at the NPC USA. The Physique division will benefit from her presence as the years progress. 
With an overall structure which many considered to be the cream of this crop, Jillian Reville earned the fourth-place spot with a pleasing 5-5 frame that looked deceptively taller. From Connecticut, this striking competitor only needs some fine tuning in a few areas to be a solid contender for a top finish at events in the immediate future. New York’s Heather Payne finally forced the judges to decide on a fifth 
member of the top five, but it was no easy matter. And it is likely that until there is additional height classes or a move to weight classes the judging of this particular class won’t get any easier. Among those who missed a top five spot was Nevada’s Lindsey Cope-Spitler. Although she wasn’t altogether ignored with a third round callout, Cope-Spitler was dazzling. A striking blonde with pleasing muscle from top to bottom physically, more than one observer felt she could have given women’s bodybuilding winner Judy Gaillard a run for her money. But in the Physique division it was her down fall. Decisions, decisions. The first Women’s Physique contest is now in the books, and as the year progresses, much of how this division will move along will come into a finer focus. In a quick perusal of the contest resumes of many women who competed at this event, a common thread was that many had experienced harsh placings as Figure competitors who were simply deemed ‘too muscular’. The Women’s Physique Division can and needs be the oasis from those journeys, and muscle will have to play a part in it. Only time will tell. 
Judy Gaillard Flexes Her Way to Jr. USA Bodybuilding CrownIn any other year Judy Gaillard would be getting much more ink for her victory in the bodybuilding division of the NPC Junior USA. But this year saw the birth of the new Women’s Physique Division and big sister - women’s bodybuilding – took a back seat in the process, but not before North Carolina competitors won three of the four weight classes.
With only seven entrants spread over four weight classes. The bodybuilding judging and the evening posing rounds were finished in supersonic fashion. Middleweight Leslie Jones of Fayetteville, North Carolina, won the 
MW class unopposed, claiming the easiest victory of the weekend.
In the heavyweight class, another North Carolinian – Shenequika Perry went pose-for-pose with Georgia’s Cassandra Wilson to garner that title. Perry’s previous claim to fame was as the 2009 overall winner of the 
NPC Excalibur contest in California. She now owns a weight class victory at the national level and the unofficial nod as the most muscular contestant of the bodybuilding field. Wilson, on the other hand, has had more competitive experience having placed sixth at the 2010 NPC Nationals as a light-heavyweight. At 5-3, Wilson showed the sleek physical results of her years as a sprinter in high school and college, but was simply out-muscled by Perry.
A trio of lightweights flexed for the Jr. USA title with Crystal Rieke of Louisville, North Carolina getting the final point tally needed for the win. A lightweight runner-up to Michelle Burdick at the 2010 NPC North Carolina state contest, Rieke returned this year to claim the overall North Carolina state crown as well as the ‘Best Symmetry’ award. That symmetry and a good degree of muscular detail made it an easy decision for the judges. In winning, Rieke topped Georgia’s Donna Sweat in second, and South Carolina’s Amy Sutter - the 2011 LW winner at the NPC Pittsburgh - latching on to third. 
The big winner, however, was light-heavyweight champion Judy Gaillard. From Ripley, Mississippi, Gaillard became the second competitor from her home state to win the overall Junior USA – the first being Debby McKnight in 1988. McKnight went on to become Mississippi’s first female IFBB pro after winning the overall NPC USA crown in 1989. And it’s certain Gaillard would be anxious to follow that trail. With plenty of national-level experience, Gaillard made her third visit to the Junior USA a charm after placing sixth LtHW in 2007, and second HW in 2009. Gaillard has also competed at the Junior Nationals, NPC Nationals and Masters Nationals. But this victory will stand as the most satisfying effort of her competitive career. An easy winner in her class, Gaillard’s overall balance with plenty of muscle spread throughout her physique, she carried the judges favor right through to the final posedown.
It is interesting to note that at last year’s Junior USA a total of nine contestants competed, and discounting overall winner Olivia Terry, none of the eight other entrants returned to this event.
It should also be noted that for those with a short memory, RXMuscleGirls Editor-in-Chief Gail Auerbach won the overall Jr. USA title in 2009 and preceding Aurbach, New Yorker Tammy Patnode took home the overall crown in 2007.
