2010 Battle on the Bluff Results

The NPC 2010 Battle on the Bluff Bodybuilding, Figure and Bikini was held July 24 at Sam's Town Hotel and Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. Promoter Chris Caudy, owner of Next Level Training, Memphis (also an NPC judge and bodybuilding champ), delivered an outstanding event as expected! As you may know, this is just the second year for NPC bikini events, and the bikini girls really turned out!                       

We were so disappointed that we didn't get to attend (Jimmy was competing at the Nationals in Pittsburgh) but Chris was kind enough to share results with me so that I could share them with you!  

Special shout out to Dottie Wendler, Nicole Conner and Terry Kimble for their first bikini competitions! Great job! Also, shout out to "Rabbit" Broadnax, without a doubt my favorite high-energy crazy man to watch in the gym! 

Here are some facts to know about the competitors and entry requirements:

• Novice means first contest ever. 
• Masters Men's Bodybuilding is age 40 and over. 
• Grandmasters Men's Bodybuilding is age 50 and over. 
• Juniors are those who have never won an overall title in an NPC contest and have not ever placed in an NPC open contest.  
• Only the top 5 in each class were awarded trophies. 
• Women's Figure Short is up to and including 5'4", Medium is over 5'4" and including 5'6" and Tall is over 5'6". 
• Women's Bikini Short is up to/including 5'3" and Tall is over 5'3". 
• Women's Master Figure is 35 years and older. 

Women's Bodybuilding weight class is as follows:

• Lightweight: up to and including 125 lbs
• Middleweight: Over 125 lbs and up to/including 140 lbs
• Heavyweight: Over 140 lbs

The weight classes are all slightly different between men's novice, men's junior and men's open. Here are the weight classes for Men's Open:

• Lightweight: Up to and including 154.25 lbs
• Middleweight: Over 154.25 lbs and up to/including 176.25 lbs
• Light Heavyweight: Over 176.25 and up to/including 198.25 lbs
• Heavyweight: Over 198.25 lbs

Okay, without delay, here they are. Be sure to check out the end of the post for additional links to Battle on the Bluff resources.

2010 Battle on the Bluff Results
(placement, name, competitor #)

Teenage Bodybuilding 
1st Tyler Starich (1)
2nd Reid Nichols (2)

Men's Novice Bodybuilding 

Novice Lightweight
1st Jim Kurtz (6)

2nd "Rabbit" Broadnax (5)

3rd Scott Quick (4)

4th Mars Pope (3)

5th Adam Geoff (9)

6th Jerry Thomas (8)

7th Johnnie Richardson (10)

8th Ron Grubbs (7)

Novice Heavyweight 
1st Christopher Beaty (16) Overall Novice Winner

2nd Tony Lucas (14)

3rd David Allen (15)

4th Austin Barr IV (13)

5th Jesse Johnson (11)

6th Sidney Ray Eudy (12)

Masters 40+ Men's Bodybuilding 

Masters 40+ Lightweight
1st Tad McCarty (91)

2nd Jim Kurtz (17)

3rd Johnnie Richardson (19) 

4th Marty Shettlesworth (18)

Masters 40+ Heavyweight
1st Kirk Warren (21)
2nd Nathan Palmer (20)

Grandmasters 50+ Men's Bodybuilding
1st Mike Kimble (22)

2nd Spike Huber (25)

3rd Kevin Anthony (24)

4th Mike Farah (23)

5th James Boyd (26)

Bikini

Bikini Short
1st Heather Bell (32) Overall Bikini Winner

2nd Brooke Mozley (27)

3rd Aya Nakane (34)

4th Nikki Rollins (33)

5th Nicole Conner (31)

6th Karen Avent (28)

7th Ashley Pauletic (29)

8th Terry Kimble (30)

Bikini Tall 
1st Anna Hurt (36)

2nd Dottie Wendler (37)

3rd Callie Steward (35)

Bikini Masters 
1st Anna Hurt (40) 

2nd Karen Avent (39)

3rd Callie Steward (38)

4th Terry Kimble (41)

5th Michelle Huber (42)

Figure 

Figure Short
1st Carolyn Ocampo (44)

2nd Amanda Benton (46)

3rd Shea Bakeris (47)

4th Jo Chambers (43)

5th Lavoris Anderson (45)

Figure Medium 
1st Yelena Lapoua (48) - Overall Figure Winner

2nd Cindy Steele (49) 

3rd Crystal Wheeler (50) 

4th Janna Demonbreun (51)

5th Amanda Rogers (54)

6th Kelly Easby Smith (55)

7th Erin Fitzpatrick (52) 

8th Tenelle Jones (53)

Figure Tall 
1st Kristen Carver (58)

2nd Tymika Glenn (57)

3rd Angela Panozzo (56)

Masters Figure

Masters Figure Short
1st Carolyn Ocampo (60) - Overall Masters Figure Winner

2nd Amanda Benton (62)

3rd Shea Bekeris (63)

4th Jo Chambers (59)

5th Levoris Anderson (61)

Masters Figure Tall 
1st Kelly Easby Smith (64)

Junior Men Bodybuilding

Junior Lightweight
1st Mike Kimble (66)

2nd Tyler Starich (65)

3rd Igor Butorsky (67)

Junior Middleweight
1st Ronnie Shumpert (68)
2nd Marty Shettlesworth (69)

Junior Heavyweight
1st Bayne O'Grady (70) - Overall Junior Men Winner

2nd Shane Pickard (73)

3rd Kevin Anthony (71)

4th Sam Bradshaw (72)

Bodybuilding Women

Women Lightweight 
1st Leslie Heidmann (74) - Overall Open Women Winner

Women Middleweight 
1st Brenda Skillern (75)

Open Men Bodybuilding

Open Lightweight
1st Rick Kaiser (76)

2nd Justin Hamm (78)

3rd Reid Nichols (77)

Open Middleweight 
1st Tad McLarty (80)

2nd Rob Stamey (81)

3rd Farsha Jones (79)

Open Light-Heavyweight
1st Deshawn Glass (84) - Overall Open Men Winner 

2nd Kirt Warren (82) 

3rd Spike Huber (83)

Open Heavyweight 
1st Sam Gidden (90)

2nd Antionne Scott (89)

3rd Brett Cotter (85)

4th Cornelius L. Smith (86)

5th Nathan Palmer (87)

6th Tracy Evans (88) 

Links
Chris Caudy, Owner/Trainer, Next Level Training
Battle on the Bluff, Facebook
Battle on the Bluff website/entry form

NPC GNC Teen, Collegiate and Masters National Championships 2009

My husband Jimmy just competed in the 2009 NPC GNC Teen, Collegiate and Master's National Championships held July 16-18 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This was a remarkable national level competition by promoter Gary Udit. There were over 400 competitors in the categories of bodybuilding, figure, bikini and fitness. The event was held at the Sheraton in Station Square in the area of Pittsburgh called the "South Side". We encountered friendly and helpful people everywhere. It was a tremendous effort and a very well organized show. This is definitely a show to see. The official photographer is J. M. Manion but you can see competitor pictures and competition results (placement) already on Muscular Development.

The interesting thing about this one was the fact that it was focused on particular age groups; teen, collegiate and masters. The masters group is basically defined as men age 40 and older, and women age 35 and older. Teens must be 19 or younger and collegiate had to be 25 years or younger. All competitors had to be members of the National Physique Committee (NPC) and US citizens. In addition, the event was an IFBB Pro Qualifier. Pro cards were awarded to the Overall Winner of Men over 50, Men over 60, Women's Bodybuilding over 35 and over 45, Figure over 35 and over 45, Bikini over 35 and the top 2 placers in the Men's Over 40 Overall. Needless to say it was quite an exciting weekend and the energy was palpable for three days solid.

We arrived on the day of weigh-in/check-in. Jimmy weighed in at 180 for this one, about 7 pounds shy of the top weight for his class, which was Men Over 60 Middleweight. He had put in a lot of work on his training, diet, posing and general preparation all year, but especially during the last 3 weeks. We packed a lot of the food he would need, and figured out that the way to fly with a cooler is to use bags of frozen veggies as ice packs to get through security! He also measured 6.4 % bodyfat two days before prejudging. This was his leanest ever.

Front Double Biceps pose before Prejudging

On stage at Prejudging

I'm slowly learning some of the tricks to prep week for these competitions. For many, the beginning of the week shows the nice results of a very lean diet and being fully hydrated. Then the real fun begins by manipulating sodium, potassium and water for the leanest, driest look possible. This makes a big difference in muscle and vein appearance during judging. Oh, but that's not all. Many competitors (my husband is now one of them) also have to throw in strategic carb manipulation during the last 24-48 hours to fill the muscles out if they have a flat look. This is quite a tricky process and while there are some basic guidelines, it varies from individual to individual. Not so lucky for me was the fact that Jimmy's trainer, Chris Caudy was not there! Chris is a bodybuilder, personal trainer, event promoter, NPC judge and owner of Next Level Training in Memphis. He gave me a crash course before we left and we were on our own to get it right.

Most Muscular pose before the Evening Show

The competitors were fascinating to me. I enjoyed walking around and seeing them all during the weekend. We watched a few photo shoots from a distance and met several competitors and their friends/families. It's amazing to see what bodies over age 35 can accomplish. The hotel lobby was quite a site at any given time of the day. Chairs were covered with sheets due to all the spray tanning and everywhere you looked you could see competitors eating from disposable containers. Most of the time it was chicken, oatmeal, eggs, white or sweet potatoes, brown rice, steak, etc. The guys have it tough enough with all the exfoliating, shaving or waxing, tanning, and posing, but it's hard to believe what the women go through. They have to do all of those things plus pick out a suit, decide on hair and jewelry, and for the figure girls, learn how to walk in 4-6 inch heels!

I'm very proud of Jimmy. He looked and presented himself the best ever at this one. It's not easy when you are doing it naturally. He won 1st place in his weight class, Middleweight Men Over 60. He did a super job and earned it! Once you win your class, you then compete against the winners of the other classes in your age group. After being taken through some quarter turns and mandatory poses, the pose-down begins. It's a fun free-for-all style posing for 30-60 seconds to determine the overall winner. The heavyweight guy won it, but Jimmy had fun and it was good experience! Of course I'm not biased, but I thought Jimmy looked the best! He feels very blessed to be able to train the way he does, especially going into his sixties.

Posing for the photographers at the trophy presentation. It's hard to take a picture while you're screaming.

A sign the grandbabies made before we left for the trip!

This year one of the long-time competitors, and a several-time winner of the Men Over 70 group, turned 80 years old. He called the promoter and said "what do we do now?". The promoter discussed it with the NPC and a category for Men Over 80 was added. He was the sole competitor in his age group and took home a first place trophy. He still looks good and presents himself well! He rocked the house with his 60 second routine to music at the evening show and got a standing ovation.

Whether you compete or not right now, if you're not training, get with it. You never know if you might find yourself on stage in front of a packed house in a posing suit at 80 years old!

Chris Caudy of Next Level Training is Jimmy's trainer in-season. Jimmy is a member of the NPC for competition purposes. See my disclosure statement.