Articles The Wennerstrom Report Wennerstrom's 2012 Europa Show of Champions Report: PATRICIA MELLO : FIVE FOOT NINE AND SHE IS FINE!
Wennerstrom's 2012 Europa Show of Champions Report:
PATRICIA MELLO : FIVE FOOT NINE AND SHE IS FINE !
Orlando, Florida, A
pril 27-28: Okay, so there have now been five Pro Physique division contests this year, and as might be expected, this fifth edition was notably different than the prior four. For starters, it was the largest event thus far with 21 entries and the range of the field included six international entrants, several contestants making their debut at a Physique division event, and of course the stalwart Marina Lopez entering her fifth Physique contest as the only competitor who has entered all five.
Staged at the spacious Orange County Convention Center, this venue is no stranger to hosting high level bodybuilding events. In fact, the 1992, '94 and '99 NPC National events were staged at this site launching a large number of future pros including overall winners Vilma Caez, Michele Ralabate and Drorit Kernes.
With Ed and Betty Pariso as promoters and Europa as the title sponsor with prize money totaling $5,000 along with the winner earning an automatic invite to whenever the first Physique Olympia is staged, the interest in these contests is growing. It might also be said that the contestants are growing as well. In this group of 21 entrants, at least six were over the 5-7 mark, and four were as tall as 5-9.
Among those who topped off at 5-9 was dazzling Brazilian Patricia Mello, and her victory here came on the heels of her impressive runner-up finish at the LA Grand Prix just two weeks earlier. With LA Grand Prix winner Sara Hurrle comfortable with two Pro Physique wins to her credit, she was absent from this contest, and Mello stepped up to earn the top spot. Showing nice bodylines, and muscle shapes that complemented her overall structure, plus a back pose that really put the exclamation point on her overall qualities (a strong point that seems to exist in virtually all Brazilian competitors), Mello now has her first IFBB Pro victory since turning pro in 2008 and along with her previous experience at the 2009 and '10 Figure Olympias her presence in the new division will make her very competitive.
As a two day event with prejudging on Friday afternoon and the final on Saturday afternoon, the contest gave fans more opportunity to judge for themselves who they felt cornered the existing criteria for the Physique division.
With the first call-out of prejudging, a quartet including Patricia Mello, Jillian Reville, Petra Mertl and Joele Smith came forward. All four would become a majority of the final top six. With a second call-out that included Jennifer Robinson, Jennifer Smythe, Ayanna Carroll, Marina Lopez, and Canadians Cea Anna Kerr and Kim Tilden, the eventual top six was solidified.
So, with Patricia Mello locking up the top spot winning the fifth pro Physique division event of 2012 and collecting $3,000 in prize money, she joins fellow Brazilian Karina Nascimento to put their homeland on the map as a country that may also become known as a prime producer of outstanding Physique competitors.....and we're still waiting to see another pair of Brazilians – Juliana Malacarne and Larissa Reis – venture into this division. For the record, Mello's victory was, as the point totals showed, a unanimous one.
As a final note on Mello's win, she no doubt savored her victory considering the fact that she had not won a contest since 2004. And although she did place third in two pro figure qualifiers in 2008 and 2010 to earn entrance into the Figure Olympias in 2009 and 2010, the remainder of her placings as a pro figure contestant had been surprisingly low. In fact, in seven contests including the two Olympias she had never placed higher than 16th, and on two occasions she had finished 19th and 20th! So clearly, the Physique division has given her new life on the competition stage.
In the same unanimous fashion which Mello flexed her way to the Show of Champions title, runner-up Jillian Reville's point totals revealed she was a solid choice for second place. Edging ever closer to a top finish, Reville returned for her second entry in the Physique division after placing third at the inaugural Desert Muscle Classic back in February. Continuing to show a strong level of stage presence and well-choreographed moves to display her physique, Reville has nonetheless improved her overall look since earning her pro status after winning the 2011 NPC Nationals. All the while, she continues to rack up the valuable points towards qualification for major events in the future, it also looks like it will simply be a matter of time before she locks up a victory with several more contests to be staged this year. For her efforts Reville accepted a check for $1,000.
Placings 3 through 6, on the other hand, were anything but unanimous. In fact only four points sepearated third-placer Ayanna Carroll and Joele Smith in fourth. And fifth-placer Jennifer Robinson lurked just three points behind Smith. Meanwhile, sixth-placed Petra Mertl was just three point behind Robinson. The log jam in these placings made for much in the way of several different opinions as to how these four competitors could have placed differently.
The closeness began with Baltimore's Ayanna Carroll who was making her pro debut – and it was an impressive one. With many observers leaning her way as a potential runner
-up finisher to Mello, the 5-1, 123-pound dynamo got plenty of attention. With four years of track & field in high school and two more in college, Carroll may make a speedy dash to a top placing with more experience. Competing since 2002 when she entered her first figure contest, Carroll gave bodybuilding a try in 2007 at the Arnold Amateur placing sixth in the lightweight class. Since then she has greatly improved her overall look and her third-place showing was surely a strong motivation to stay the course. Like Reville, she pocketed $1,000 for her third-place finish.
Another huge crowd favorite was fourth-placer Joele Smith from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The striking blonde showed a great stage persona that helped carry her to a strong finish. Placing sixth at the recent LA Grand Prix (just one point out of fifth), Smith followed Carroll by only three points. A newbie to the competitive stage beginning with a victory at the NPC Steel World in 2010, Smith won her class at the 2011 NPC Nationals to qualify for pro status. Her presence at the pro level will fit any Physique division lineup very well.
Just three points behind Smith was Jennifer Robinson. At 5-3 she once again showed a well-balanced overall look – one that enabled her to capture the overall Physique division title at the 2011 NPC Junior Nationals. Making her pro debut at the St. Louis Pro event in March, where she finished fourth, her fifth-place spot at this event carries much more weight considering the notably tougher competition and sheer size of the field. Another former track & field competitor, Robinson has competed at the Police and Fire Olympic Games.
From the Czech Republic, Petra Mertl is one of the most interesting competitors of this event. With extensive experience as an amateur bodyfitness competitor , she was a two-time Czech champion and won bronze medals at the 2004 and '05 IFBB European Championships, together with a top-five finish at the 2005 IFBB World Amateur Championships. A veteran among veterans in the pro figure division with 25 competitions on her contest resume, the 5-7 Mertl had only cracked the top ten on three occasions since turning pro in 2006. But a breakthrough was at hand in 2011 with a seventh-place finish at the Ft. Lauderdale Pro and sixth at the Europa Show of Champions. So her return to this event a year later was a familiar one and when she was included in the first call-out of the prejudging round, a successful debut as a Physique division competitor was sealed. As a competitor, Mertl is the quintessential example of of the '3D's'...Desire, Dedication, and Determination.....not to mention her willingness to persevere. For her, the Physique division offers a fresh start, and an overall look that will improve considerably as the months pass.
OUTSIDE THE TOP SIX
7- Jennifer Smythe, Laurence Harbor, New Jersey 36
8- Cea Anna Kerr, Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada 39
9- Kim Tilden, Ontario, Canada 47
10- Marina Lopez, Aurora, Colorado 48
11- Cassandra Floyd, Marietta, Georgia 56
12- Tammy Patnode, Lake Placid, New York 62
13- Rose-Anne Duvigneaud, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 69
14- Amanda Harris, Kinston, North Carolina 72
15- Jordan Renee Seales, Tampa, Florida 74
16- Bev DiRenzo, Cape Coral, Florida 76
17- Tessa Wood, North Charleston, South Carolina 77
18- Aurelia Grozajova, Slovakia 79
19- Mikaila Soto, Hanover Park, Illinois 80
19- Stacey Pillari, Wilmington, North Carolina 80
19-Cindy Phillips Hodgkinson, Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada 80
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