The 2003 INBF Capital City Natural Bodybuilding Championships

By Tina Smith

     The race for a new Governor in California was certainly a hot topic during the summer of 2003.  Of interest to our readers is obviously that the most popular bodybuilder of all time was one of those in contention!  As we all will wait until October to see if Mr. Schwarzenegger muscles his way to victory in his contest,  the capital city of Sacramento has become known for another event where incredible natural bodybuilders trek from throughout the Golden State, as well as from across the country to participate in Bob Bell & Tina Smith’s INBF pro-qualifier.  On July 12^th, over 70 athletes ranging from teens to over 50 years of age, and from first time competitors to seasoned veterans vying for that all important pro card, took the stage at Sheldon High School ’s beautiful performing arts center.

     To the delight of educators, Bob and Tina, 3 teens took the stage to begin this year’s contest.  All three of these young men had clearly been training hard, and had also done their homework in terms of presentation.   With much enthusiasm, although needing to improve in terms of leg development, Adam Schmoker was third.  Jim Nessar had nice shape and good back muscularity for second.  Seventeen year old Brad Whitsett had the whole package in terms of a thick and balanced physique.  It’s so very exciting to think of how incredible all three of these young men will be with a few more years of training!  The Women’s Masters group included Mimi Myers who was happy to receive fourth place in her first ever contest.  Monica Ewing returned from Washington this year with beautiful presentation, and a classic “Cherokee” posing routine to finish in third.  Janae Noble was another rookie with nice lines, and fantastic back width for second.  The clear winner in this group was the super shredded Joan Lopez.

     The Men’s Grandmasters (over 50) were next with a much improved Rob Croft finishing third.  In second place was Adam Ferber, an attorney by trade, who was well conditioned and had clearly put a lot of time into perfecting his presentation.  Thomas Booth was the winner with super striated quads, freaky big arms, and incredible muscularity overall.  The Men’s Masters (over 40) group was as usual, very competitive.  Rick Mitchell has been present for every “ Capital City ” event, and this year was in great shape for third place.  New to the Masters group, and last years’ Novice champion, Tracy Stephens was nicely balanced with lots of muscle for second.  An extremely striated and vascular Dave Blumgold was the winner.  Dave has incredible detail, and his years of hard training are evident from every angle.

     Six female athletes took their first shot at competitive bodybuilding to comprise the Novice class.  Christine Beyer displayed well-developed musculature in her upper body, and polished posing to inch ahead of Kelley Green for third place.   In second place, with etched abs, and well conditioned legs, Lisa Holm needs only to improve on her back to have a fantastic package.  Andrea (Enji) Khoo nabbed first place with great lines, nice shoulders, defined quads, and wonderful presentation.  Enji was also the recipient of the “Best Poser” award as she incorporated gymnastics and martial arts into an upbeat rendition of Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love”.  The 14 novice men were divided into two similar weight groups.  In the lightweight class, Val Fujii was sharp enough for fourth place, and whose inspirational posing routine with Conga drum beats got several nods for best of show.  Stephen Riley had thick musculature, and good overall development for third.  Improving his posing will clearly make winning this class within his reach.   Eddie Marsalla was the clear choice for second, and he displayed the best hams and glutes of all of the Novice men.  Dawayne Crite standing a few inches shorter than Marsalla was a unanimous choice for first with balanced and full muscles overall.  The heavyweights were next with a very enthusiastic Robert Cheeke edging teen contender, Jim Nessar, for fourth.   Bryan Francis was very well conditioned with superb abs and great arms for third. Joe Eberhart had great symmetry, and he definitely packs a lot of muscle.  He had the best developed quads for sure, and simply needed to be a little leaner to win.  First place honors went to a positively ripped Eli Nessar.  Though this was his inauguration to bodybuilding, Eli has obviously been weight training for some time.  Obvious from the many scars on his shins from dead lifting.  The overall was close with Dawayne edging Eli with a little better shape, and more thickness in his chest and back.

     Next up was a definite crowd pleaser, the Women’s Figure division.  Twelve women took the stage to execute a model-walk, and then perform quarter-turns for many comparisons.  As a WNBF Pro bodybuilder myself, I’m so impressed not only with how beautiful these women look, but also in terms of the well conditioned and muscular physiques they have obviously worked hard in the gym for.   I just hope I’m not an endangered species!  Remember, those of you girls out there thinking about a competition, we don’t have to wear those six inch shoes!  This is definitely a hot category…..interesting how all of my backstage crew (mostly men) found there way out to watch this class as well.  In tenth place was a very sharp Lisa Barrier who wore the most beautiful periwinkle suit.  Ninth place went to first-time competitor Regina Kyaw.  I’m sure she was nervous, but Regina had the best smile on stage.  In eighth place was a former bodybuilder, Lori Ann Martindale.  Lori has a beautiful shape, and needed only to be a little harder to place higher.  Mona Liza Reyes ran a marathon in June, and has simply phenomenal abs.  She finished seventh in her first contest, and will hopefully continue in this sport.  In a very close decision, sixth place went to a nicely developed Heather Hornbrook.  Heather has great muscularity, and improving her posing will make the difference in terms of getting into the top five.  Fifth place went to beautiful Kiersten Chambers who traveled all the way from British Columbia , Canada .  Kiersten was super tight, and had nice lines.  At only nineteen, we will look forward to her adding some more muscle.  Fourth place went to a crowd favorite, Jill Denes.  Jill has amazing long beautiful blonde hair, a true “California Girl”.  With a nicely toned upper body, a tiny waist, and well-developed quads, Jill needed only to be a little more conditioned to place higher.  The top three are eligible to compete in WNBF Figure events for cash prizes.  In third place, Enji Khoo had won the Women’s Novice competition with nice symmetry, rock-hard abs, and delineated legs.  Enji sews her own posing suits as well, and was striking in white with rhinestones.  In second place was local girl, Katina Zannakis.  Katina has amazing and glorious red hair that with her skin-tone looked fantastic with a turquoise suit.  Katina has great shape, and was tight from head to toe.  The winner in the extremely competitive line-up was Carrie Tabor.  Carrie displayed her tall and well-muscled physique in a burgundy suit.  She had just enough upper body muscle, striated shoulders, tight abs, and beautifully defined legs.  Her skin-tone and posing were flawless.  Congratulations Carrie!

     The Open women’s class had only five, but was definitely not short on talent.  In fourth place was last year’s Novice champ, Kara O’Hara- Bartram, and she has clearly added some muscle since 2002.  In third place was Alicia Validivia who has competed before, but says she’s been too nervous to try the Capital City event.  No reason to be Alicia!  She looked fantastic with great symmetry, and good overall development.  Simply tightening up her legs with make her a pro card contender for sure.   The battle for first place in this line-up was the closest ever!  After the dust finally settled, rock-hard Masters’ champ, Joan Lopez was second.  Joan has amazing hardness, and well-developed muscularity everywhere.  The difference between she, and first place winner, Marcella Rodgers was symmetry.  Marcella is also well developed overall, and though not as shredded as Joan, she presents a beautiful V-taper, outstanding shoulders, tiny waist, chiseled abs, and defined legs.   After the winner was announced, I invited Marcella’s husband, WNBF Pro Trent Rodgers, to the stage for a few extra photos.  I went on to comment that now there are TWO husband and wife teams in the history of the WNBF, the first being myself and my husband Bob Bell.   Of course Marcella was crying with happiness as Trent gave her a congratulatory hug, but as I continued to give an emotional speech about supporting the one you love, I noticed judges, audience members, and yes Bob and Trent too were wiping away tears! 

     Very exciting thus far, but we haven’t even gotten to the Men’s Open yet!  The lightweights got things rolling with a very impressive line-up.  Third place went to 2001 Novice champ Moises Torres Leon .  Moises is super hard, and has great shape.  He only needs to have a darker tan next time to accentuate his great lines.  The call Paul Alberts the “Mini Shredder” for good reason.  Paul was again simply sliced and diced!  In a close decision, he fell to second with a more muscular Mike Lopez taking this class.  Mike has great shape, and presents thick muscularity especially in his arms and quads.  The middleweights were up next with lots of familiar names in the line-up.   Kirk Bean traveled from Oregon , and had plenty of size to finish in fifth.   Fourth went to an incredibly ripped and vascular Kris Shumway.  Kris has placed well in a couple of other INBF events this year, and always comes ready to compete.  In third place was Matt Marbach, who was shredded, and had lots of detail on his well balanced frame.  Matt also needed more Pro-Tan in order for us to really see his definition.  By contrast, in second place was Tom Miller whose super dark tan looked great with his newly blonde locks this year.  Tom did some homework since 2002, and was in phenomenal condition.  He has a great shape, and good muscularity overall.  His posing had improved as well.  The unanimous winner in this competitive class was Moji Oluwa.  From Los Angeles , Moji is no stranger to bodybuilding, and he now has hopefully found a permanent home with the INBF.  Moji is ultra thick, and has perfect symmetry.  The sweep on his quads is what most of us can only dream about.  Moji was awarded “Best Poser” as well.   The light-heavyweights were next, and after weigh-ins, the class of 8 got reduced to four.  In a replay of the Men’s Masters line-up, well-muscled Tracy Stephens was third, while the shredded Dave Blumgold was second.  These two mature men might have been amazed that a young guy of 22 won their class.  No surprise to many Capital City fans though because this 22 year old was the great Lamar Wilson!  Lamar won the teen class in 1999, and has consistently taken his phenomenal genetic gifts further each year.  This time, he really focused on nutrition and presentation, and along with his amazing muscularity and perfect structure, he was awarded “Most Improved” bodybuilder for 2003.  In the heavyweight group, massive Victor Logan finished fourth.  LeRoy Perry was striated and hard for third.  In second was university professor, James Schmidke.  James has great thickness in his chest and back, and continues to improve his legs.  Clearly, it has been established that there’s plenty of competition here in California .  However, when Rodney Helaire arrived from New Jersey to win this class, he’s exactly what none of us expected.  His arms are the biggest I’ve ever seen!  Rodney has an outrageously thick upper body, tiny waist, well- developed quads, and yes, striated glutes! 

     And then…….the overall.  These four, Mike, Moji, Lamar, and Rodney were by far the best of the best.  To see them on stage together, what an inspiration!  All of them will certainly find their way to the WNBF one day.  Amazing to watch, Mike was confident, and displayed super shredded abs, Moji with those striated and huge quads, and Lamar, so young, but with the best structure of all.  In the end, it was Rodney Helaire with those freaky arms, and in just fantastic condition who took the overall Excalibur sword, and coveted pro card all they way back to East.  See you next summer!