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2007 Last Frontier:
Blows Away The Competition
Text and Photos by Mark Mason
If there were any
doubts about the success of the newly christened NPC Last Frontier
Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure competition held at the Egan Center in
Anchorage, Alaska, they were put to rest this past weekend. Thirty
competitors and four hundred spectators from all over Alaska can attest
to this. On hand to celebrate the rebirth of Alaskan bodybuilding were IFBB pros Mark Dugdale, Valentina Chepiga and Tanji Johnson. AlaskaFit
productions brought forth one of the best debuts in recent history.
Women’s Fitness
Kicking off the
show was the lone figure competitor Victoria Clark. Dressed in camos,
she came ready to fight. It is unfortunate that Clark was unopposed but
she gave her all to her routine much to the delight of the crowd.
Figure
The figure classes
had some great competition. Anchorage’s own Sherry Smith has been
making her mark all over the Last Frontier State and as far away as
Seattle. Smith has a near flawless physique with exceptional delts. It
was her delts that gave her the first place victory in the figure short
class over the irrepressible Shelia Bratten. Both ladies would be
contenders in any regional show and both are on their way south in two
weeks to the 25th Emerald Cup. The very exotic Zlata Sushchik
placed a solid third.
Tall Class winner
Desiree Clark came in with near perfect conditioning and her stage
presentation was outstanding. Second place winner Deon MacMillan’s wide
shoulders and narrow waist made her a standout in a very tough class.
Fitness champ Victoria Clark was back for the figure class was relegated
to third place.
Master’s Men Over Forty
First place winner
Norm Knowles came out like he was shot from a cannon. He tossed off
two-dozen classic bodybuilding poses and was gone just as quick. So
quickly, in fact, that it took the three hundred plus spectators a few
minutes to catch up. Chad Comeau’s routine was a total opposite of
Knowles. He took his time and really worked his way across the stage
giving everyone a good look. Third place winner, Slingin’ Britt Britt
came out with a solid routine but was overwhelmed by Comeau and Knowles.
Grandmaster’s Men
Jack Phipps
youthful exuberance belies his age. He looked as if he was having the
time of his life. He took the grandmaster’s title and gave Stormin’
Norman Knowles quite a tussle for the overall masters. In the end
Knowles went back to Fairbanks with the title trophy.
Junior Men
In the Junior
division Rory Devon came out and posed his way into the Alaskan
bodybuilding history books with his second Junior win of his short
career.
Men’s Novice Bodybuilding
Novice winner
Matthew Landers posed himself into the winner’s circle. He displayed
some great muscularity and detail not to mention a posing routine that
would have been over-the-top anywhere else but Alaska! Steve Lewis,
second place in the novice men, showed great conditioning and a lot of
heart Not satisfied with his Junior win, cocky Rory Devon tried his
hand in the novice class. He took home the third place award. Not a bad
evening at the Egan Center for Devon.
Open Women’s Bodybuilding
The open women’s
class had two competitors for the evening. As elsewhere in the US the
numbers in the women’s classes are dwindling. A women needs to step up
and revive the sport similar to what Tanji Johnson has done for the
fitness division. Who is up to the challenge, ladies?
It got down to
lightweight winner Janice Cook’s conditioning and heavyweight winner
Stephanie Figarelle shape and symmetry. The judges went for Cook but if
Figarelle ever dials in her diet she will be hard to beat.
Mixed Pairs
If there was any
type of lull in the evening Vicky and Jack Phipps’ spirited mixed pairs
routine got everyone up and ready to party. Both Phipps took home
master’s awards and their routine was a mixture of synchronized posing,
aerial acrobatics and perfect comedic timing.
Open Men’s
Bodybuilding
MC extraordinaire
Kim “Kong” Farrison called Ross Dotzlaf “Mr. Clean with a great build.”
There is no doubt that Dotzlaf cleaned up in the open men’s
middleweights. There was an exciting face-off between second place Corey
Christensen and third place Chad Comeau. Comeau pushed Christensen all
the way though prejudging up to the final posedown.
The light
heavyweight class was definitely where the action was. Michael Manczko
had victory in his sights. Manczko was thick and posed well. Thomas
Hussey felt that the light heavyweight trophy was his when he showed up
in the morning and had no intention of surrendering it without a fight.
Manczho gave him one; a real dogfight until the end. When the dust
cleared it was Hussey over Manczko and Mathew Tompkins taking
third.
The solo
heavyweight Stephen Breci took the first place award. Rumors had it of a
Hussey/Breci feud dating back a few years. This night in Anchorage it
was to be settled.
As MC Farrison
called out the master’s and open class winners for the overall the Egan
Center came alive with electricity. There was no doubt that the title
was between Thomas Hussey and Steve Breci. Both had great physiques with
few weak points; and the one’s they had they hid well. It came down to
the posedown. Hussey and Breci matched each other shot for shot as Ross
Dotzlaf pushed them both darting and dashing between.
After several long
minutes of battle Farrison broke up the melee and put everyone back into
their line. Moments later Thomas Hussey was declared the 2007 Last
Frontier Overall Champion.
Guest Posers
One of the biggest
stories of the weekend was IFBB pro and former Ms. Olympia, Valentina
Chepiga formally announcing her comeback. Chepiga still has a phenomenal
physique and promises to bring the needed femininity back to women’s
bodybuilding. Now residing in Anchorage, Valentina was on-hand to
perform her acclaimed posing routine to All That Jazz. Her
rendition has to be seen to be believed.
Multi-talented IFBB
fitness pro, Tanji Johnson, also gave a great exhibition during the
evening show and an informative and entertaining fitness and figure
seminar after prejudging. Among Tanji’s numerous titles is a new one:
The Hardest Working Woman In Fitness. She is tireless in her
selfless promotion of the sport of Fitness.
One of the featured
guest posers of the evening, “The Iron Hawaiian” Marc Kenolio was called
up for special duty in the US Coast Guard. Show promoter “Just Another
Gigolo” Garry Lodoen volunteered to pinch-hit. Lodoen hit a homer with
his high-energy performance.
The highlight guest
poser of the evening was IFBB pro Mark Dugdale. Dugdale, still in great
shape after his LA Iroman and Arnold Classic competitions, amazed the
multitude with his power routine on-stage and got up close and personal
with a jaunt throughout the auditorium. Dudgale’s DVD, Driven, is
still on the bestseller list. If you haven’t seen this DVD you are
missing out. Visit markdugdale.com to order.
There was one more
competition on April 7th that wasn’t mentioned on the card. The past few
months NPC Alaska has been going though some reorganization and growing
pains. Changes have been made and a rival organization has sprung up in
Alaska. The shows were on back-to-back weekends. Judging from the
feedback from spectators who attended both shows the Alaska NPC and most
importantly the fans at the 2007 Last Frontier came out big winners.
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