CRAIG PRODUCTIONS LLC

Emerald Cup 2001: The Jewel of Northwest Physique Contests

by Mark Mason

Whoever coined the phrase "the biggest star shines the brightest light" had to have the 2001 Emerald Cup in mind. This year's show was a virtual who's who of bodybuilding and fitness's biggest names featuring the top contenders from the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

The nineteenth year of the Emerald Cup boasted guest posing by three-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman, reigning Ms. Olympia Valentina Chepiga, IFBB Pros John Pierre Fux and Melvin Anthony. Also appearing was "Little Hercules" Richard Sandrak as well as a strength demonstration by the legendary power athlete Bill Kazmaier.

A Weider Super Star Seminar was presented Saturday after pre-judging. The expert panel was made up of the Incredible Lou Ferrigno, IFBB stars Lena Johansen and John Pierre Fux. Mr. O himself, Ronnie Coleman, was thrown in to further sweeten the line-up.

The "Mouth That Roared", that "Dancing MC", Kim "Kong" Farrison was the voice of the show for his tenth year running. Kim has become synonymous with the best physique shows the Northwest has to offer.

The extravaganza brought forth top photographers and writers from all over North America. Steve Wennerstrom of Women's Physique World Magazine and Canada's ace photographer Mike Bailey were on hand to capture the event. J.P. Ericksons from Irony and Steve Neece of Muscle Mag were also in town covering the "Cup." Videographer Roman Moreno of ESPN-2 fame shot both nights of competition for airing sometime this spring.

The fitness expo was bigger than ever this year. Venders of 70 booths covering all areas of health and fitness were on hand to lend their expertise. There were all the big names present: Weider, Pinnacle, Universal, MaxMuscle and OHS. Representing the Puget Sound area were Emerald City Smoothies, MC Bodywear, the Men's Wearhouse, Stacked Northwest Magazine, "Carbo Wave" Dave Wilson and more.

Dozens of VIPs were on hand throughout the two-day affair to sign autographs and meet with fans. The fitness couple of the 21st century, Aaron and Brandy Maddron, came up from Medford to support the "wild bunch" from Oregon. Dennis Newman and fitness wonder Jenny Lynn were seen having a chat with Mandy Blank. I saw former Ms. International Vickie Gates and national contender Brad Hollibaugh talking diets. Fitness guru Marc Castillo and beautiful Brenda Kelly were in obvious good spirits. Budding fitness stars Christina Homan and Catherine Crane milled about giving last minute inspiration to many of the fitness and figure competitors.

NPC president, Jim Manion served as head judge with an assembly of top judges participating each evening. Notables included IFBB and NPC judge Debbie Manion, Oregon NPC Chairman Ron Smith, National Judging Coordinator Sandi Ranalli, the irrepressible Von Ray Johnson, Donald Baker from Hawaii and the list goes on.

Friday's show began in the afternoon with the Emerald Cup's first-ever bench press competition. The event was held at the Iron Works gym, which is just a stone's throw from the Meydenbauer Center. The competitors vied in three events: the best bench at bodyweight, the most repetitions, and the biggest bench. Judges were champion powerlifters Grant Higa and Paula Houstan. Strongman Bill Kazmaier roamed the gym floor tying rebar into pretzels and bending frying pans like a tacos. Seattle's own Bull Stewart was added his own one-of-a-kind excitement to the meet.

Nightfall brought on the fitness competition. Two women's classes and one men's class highlighted some of the brightest talent in the area. Kennewick's Kelli Packard returned again after last year's close second. This year she took first in the short class, followed by Stacy Jensen and Christi Hughes. Bobbie Altamirano, Lydia Ludwig and seventeen- year-old Amanda Reynolds all presented exciting fitness routines.

First place in the tall class for Kirsti Zenkner of Puyallup was a popular decision. Her one and two-piece showings were near perfect and her routine of aerial acrobatics really got the crowd's attention. That's saying a great deal after Jill Holland's and Kristin Rosen's phenomenal routines. Later in the evening, Zenkner was presented the overall Emerald Cup fitness award.

The men's fitness competition was smaller than previous years but no less spectacular. Terry McKinnon and Roderick Mabry went toe to toe in a high spirited battle of bodies, strength and showmanship. McKinnon, last year's runner up, was declared winner. Incidentally, McKinnon pumped out 102 push-ups to Mabry's 100. That's how closely these two gentlemen were matched.

One of the highlights of the already stellar evening was an amazing guest-posing exhibition by Richard Sandrak, aka Little Hercules. Eight-year-old boy wonder wowed the multitudes with his displays of marital arts, flexibility and bodybuilding poses. Aside from his physical strengths, Richard has received his high school diploma and is working on his second year of college trigonometry. Believe it or not!

Day two began with the prejudging of the women's figure divisions and the bodybuilding classes. As an added bonus, Craig Productions presented a Weider Superstar Seminar. The distinguished panel fielded questions from spectators and competitors for well over an hour. The highlight of the event was Lou Ferrigno's recounting of the 1974 Mr. Olympia battle with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Saturday evening, a standing room only crowd jammed the auditorium anticipating a night of world class physique competition. Over thirty women turned out to take part in the new NPC figure contest. The ladies were judged in one and two-piece swimwear in two height classes. Their physiques were scrutinized as the judges took them through a series of quarter turns and side-by-side comparisons.

A word must be said here for Marc Castillo. Marc has trained the majority of the national and regional fitness and figure competitors from the Puget Sound area. His philosophy is that of hard work, perseverance and positive mental attitudes. Judging from his list of clients in the winner's circles, his methods pay off. They paid off in a big way for Sandy Grant, who was unanimously declared the winner of the 2001 Figure competition.

This year's Junior Men line-up was outstanding. Jake Duffy, Jim Hartley, and Kelly Engum presented builds worthy of the open classes. Courtney Jensen's posing was A-1 and he deservingly took home the first place trophy.

The Emerald Cup always attracts an excellent masters competition. This year was one of the best in recent memory. Participants from as far away as Anchorage, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles competed in forty, fifty and sixty year-old age groups.

Bellevue's own Michele Burdick took the women's masters award. Judging from the response of the crowd you'd think half the hometown turned out to cheer her on. Sonja Goheen took second and one of my favorites, Merry Christine Harris, placed third.

Osiris of Gold's Gym in Seattle won the men over forty class with stiff competition from Richard Sealy and Tim Loflin. 2001 Rocky Mountain masters champ, Frankie Rongo, took fourth with an artistic posing presentation that could rival the great Russ Testo.

Fit Over Fifty author Jerry Hogevoll took first in the fifty class...again. "Hoge" has won just about every masters competition he has entered in the past couple of years. Familiar NW face Ernie Lewis took second with big Blake Crowley third.

Ron Walters came all the way from Mission Veijo, California to win the grandmasters class edging out a much-improved Robert Musshel. Last year's winner, 84-year young, Sang Hoon Park was back again and was delighted to walk away with third place and a standing ovation from the Meydenbauer Center's capacity crowd.

The caliber of the open women classes is one of the reasons that the Emerald Cup has become one of the most sought after titles on the NPC calendar. Lightweight winner Maureen Bydalek's proportions will no doubt take her far in the nationals. Second place Nicole Talley's rock-hard muscularity and superb free posing routine belied the fact that the Emerald Cup was only her second show.

One of the toughest clashes of the night was in the women's middleweight. Cindy Dowies, Linda Wells, and Maria Guzman were so close in physique, posing and muscularity it was nearly impossible to pick a winner. I think it was Dowies' indomitable spirit that carried her on to victory.

There was little dispute that Gerri Deach owned the heavyweight class. Gerri is a veteran of several Emerald Cup competitions. Each year she comes back bigger, harder and more defined. 2001 was the year of her payoff. As well as sweeping her class, she was awarded the women's overall title. It goes to show that perseverance pays off. Way to go Gerri.

Talk about a muscle war, the "Battle in Seattle" paled in comparison to the open men's fracas. The middleweight class had no less than thirteen bodymen in peak condition. The light-heavies boasted twelve. The morning pre-judging was a marathon session of quarter turns, straining biceps and top notch showmanship. Pity the poor judges who had to come up with the class winners.

Bantamweight Heath Warren won his class by out posing Kirk Jensen. Warren has one of the most incredible stomach vacuums in the business. Along with some classic posing and a winning smile he is a hard man to beat.

Owen McCurty and Roy Manuel vied for the lightweight award with McCurty winning with his razor sharp definition. Still flying high from his NPC Rocky Mountain win, Iron Mike Davis placed third.

In the middleweights, Brian Lee edged by Tony McCurty with Elias Jerome Clark taking third. Matt Hicks, Cruz Altamirano, and Mateo Savado all looked sensational. The middleweight was one of the best classes I have seen in the past few years. There were no losers among them.

The same holds true for the light-heavyweight competitors. Kennewick's Brian Clyde had phenomenal arms and he knew how to show them. Klint Sheets' symmetry was near perfect and his posing was even better. At any other show, Marty Scheinder would have walked away with the winning trophy. Marty looked great but had to be satisfied with third place.

Big John Smith took first in the heavy weights and John Sullivan was right behind him in a close race. Gary Harden from Bally's Fitness in Kent took third.

When the big boys took the stage and squared off, the crowd stood up and took notice. The super heavyweight posedown looked more like a WWF battle royal. Jeff Markoff and Ty Stone fought for position while Darren Toma and Noah Chambreau matched each other pose for pose. The judges gave Markoff the win and set the stage for the overall.

Through the din of 3000 bodybuilding fanatics, Farrison did his best to call the class winners through the mandatory poses as the judging panel made their tabulations. Moments later when Jim Manion passed the results to be read, the contestants froze in a line. An unnerving silence possessed the crowd as if waiting for a heartbeat. When the overall winner was declared, a loud roar broke out as if from one giant throat. The sound of rolling thunder built upon itself congratulating Owen McCurty as the 2001 Emerald Cup winner.

Once again Bellevue's Azteca restaurant was the scene of the after-show party. It was there that fans and competitors alike got together and celebrated the many thrills and chills of another Emerald Cup gone by. It was a great way to end a fabulous weekend.

Incidentally, next year will be the 20th year of the Emerald Cup. You can rest assured that Brad and Elaine Craig will have something very special in mind for the 2002 show.