ANB Asia Pacific Champs Stage Pics and Report, 12 June 11

The 25 strong kiwi team were up against some pretty hard Aussie bodies but we certainly held our own throughout the classes.  Suzie Patrick and Sheryl Shenkel looked great in the Physique u52kg class placing 2nd and 3rd respectively.  Jan Dixon had a tough class of 6 athletes in the Masters Physique class. She and the eventual 2nd and 3rd placegetter had many comparisons which even required the  judges asking the athletes to pose one leg separately.  Very close but Jan must've just nudged herself to first place with her mass.  Tracey Frost looked good but she was outmuscled by some pretty big Aussie girls in the o52kg class, the winner of this class eventually won the Overall Title.

Teneka Hyndman placed 5th in a great class of 12 athletes in the Women's Short class.  The girls here were lean and hard, Teneka had the symmetry but just needed to sharpen up a little. The winner in this class, Janet Kane, was not only lean and hard but had plenty of mass as well - qualities that won her the overall title at the end of the night.  

Novice Figure was the biggest class of the night with 17 awesome figures and kiwis Claire Torr, Nikki Te Wano, Lyn Wright and Kelly Webber were going to be in for a tough time in their effort to stand out in the field.  All the kiwis were in great condition but seems the Aussies just had that extra something that made them appear larger than us - perhaps it was the extra bling and effort they put into their presentation?!    The kiwis in the audience were ecstatic to see Claire and Nikki called out in the first call out for comparisons against the Aussie girls.  However Claire was the only one who placed 3rd, an awesome achievement in such a large field.

Gladys Matthews won the Ultra Grandmaster class over fellow teammate Moira Hughes. These ladies are an inspiration to many women showing we can still look great at any age.

Karen Montague, Kym Carter and Michelle Dixon were our reps in the Open Figure Tall class. Once again the Aussies with their bigger and leaner bodies placed highly but we didn't get outdone with Michelle placing 3d, Kym 4th and Karen 3rd.  Michelle did a really lovely routine to the theme to Forest Gump and we'll put that on video as its pretty awesome.

The slyfox Ali Gascoine revealed at registration that she was also competing in the show. She joined Lauren McLellan, Judy Duggan, Anne Jamieson and Christine Chinn in the Grandmaster Figure lineup of 9 athletes.  In this class was also the seasoned Aussie Karen Crossan.  So it was going to be a great showdown between Ali and Karen.  Although Ali says she hadn't been able to train as much as she'd like and thought she'd lost mass, she still shaped up well with great condition and leanness to take out the title.  Anne also appeared tighter in this show than we've seen her before, a quality which scored her 5th place. 

Cathy Orevich, Jacque Pederson and expat kiwi Karen Kissell battled in the class of 8 Master Figures.  Another class which outmuscled the kiwis but Karen did place in the top 5.

There was only 4 guys in the team this year and they did well in their classes.  Junior John Pyers, placed 3d, he matched the boys with mass but just needed to come in a little leaner.  Kyle Jan also had the mass to place 3rd in the Men's u70kg.  We thought Lance Te Kiri (4th) was unlucky not to place 3rd in the class of 7 Novice Men.  He presented great condition with nice cuts in his legs and a big smile which we're sure drew the judges to him. Unfortunately not big enough smile to get him 3rd but he said he had a great time and enjoyed the experience.  Grant McMellan was up against some big and lean boys in the Grandmaster class to place 4th.

Thanks Steve, Antoinetta and ANB for welcoming the kiwis and letting Go Figure do our thing and sharing the experience with our viewers!

Lisa, Go Figure
15 June 11