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The fourth annual Sandra Wickham Fall Classic was a record breaking event, with 130 athlete entries and a roaring crowd of over 900 in the audience. We began the show this year with Jr. Fitness, something that has never been done in British Columbia before. The judging panel for the Jr. Fitness appropriately consisted of three IFBB Fitness pros, myself, guest performer Bridgette Murray and Michelle Mayberry who made the trip up from Washington to judge at our event.
We had enough young ladies enter that we split them into two age categories, 11-16 and 10 and under. 16 year old Kaitlin Regehr kicked things off in the 11-16 category with a big smile throughout her routine. 12 year old Karla Smith stole the show with some amazing strength moves, great costume and stage presence. Karla placed first in the class and Kaitlin placed second.
  Click Image To Enlarge. Karla Smith.
In the 10 and under category Lauren Hurley began the class with some cute dancing and choreography. 9 year old Brooke Kearney stole everyone’s heart dressed with an “Annie” routine with some great moves and adorable choreography.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Lauren Hurley (left), Brooke Kearney (right). Lin Kim did a “surfer girl” routine showing great flexibility and a stage presence that melted the audience.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Lin Kim. Chelsea Ruppel finished off the class with a super strong and well rounded routine containing great strength and flexibility along with a great stage presence. Chelsea ended up winning the class, with Brooke in second, Lin in third and Lauren in fourth. All the girls had a great time and they were a huge hit with our audience. We have heard they will all be coming back again next year and we certainly hope that they do!
 Click Image To Enlarge. Chelsea Ruppel.
Next we moved onto our bodybuilding divisions. For the first time ever we had a Jr. Women’s bodybuilding division with two competitors. The girls clearly had a blast at the show, with Brittany Robbins coming in second and Klara Bravenec coming in first.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Brittany Robbins & Klara Bravenec.
The Jr. Men were very impressive with two competitors as well, Paolo D'Attilio placed second and Vinnie Pontaletta placed first. We were very excited to see the younger generation coming out to compete and we hope that they’ll continue their competitive careers!
 Click Image To Enlarge. Paolo D'Attilio & Vinnie Pontaletta.
In the masters women division third spot went to Karen Mahar and second place went to Catriona Misfeldt. First place went to a shredded Kathy Saint.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Masters Women Division.
The master men’s division was extremely competitive with Kelly March coming in third, Wade Johnston taking second and David Duncan came in first.
The grandmaster women once again proved that this not a sport only for the very young. Third place went to newcomer Billie Sinclair, second went to veteran Karen Wong and first place went to Victoria Morgenstern who was very much improved from her appearance at our show before.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Grandmasters Women Division.
The grandmaster men stole the show with a very impressive line up. Third place went to Peter Makowichuk, second went to veteran competitor James Miller and first place went to a very impressive Marcus Boland. These gentlemen did not compete in the open classes, but could have given their younger counterparts a run for their money!
 Click Image To Enlarge. Grandmaster Men Division.
The level of female bodybuilders in the show this year was incredibly high. In the lightweight women’s Victoria Morgenstern (who won the grandmaster class) took third, Karen Mahar took second and Catriona Misfeldt fought it out for first place.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Women's Lightweight Bodybuilding Division. The heavyweight women’s class had seven very impressive women in the line up. Third place went to Michelle “Biceps” Russell, second to the incredibly shredded Kathy Saint and first place to the one that had the complete package that day, Heather Dulaney.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Women's Heavyweight Bodybuilding Division.
In the lightweight men division, Rob Softly took third and Jan Ruefli took first.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Rob Softly (left), Jan Ruefli (middle). The middleweight men’s class was the largest bodybuilding class of the event and they were all extremely impressive. Third spot went to Bruce Field. Juan Jimenez was given second place and the winner was Mark St. Arnaud.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Middleweight Men’s Class. In the light-heavyweight men’s class, Wade Johnston placed third, followed by Michael Moskalyk in second and veteran competitor Caine Wendt (and son of grandmaster competitor Willie Wendt) won the class.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Light-heavyweight Men’s Class. Six men hit the stage for the heavyweight men’s division. Yannick Desautels took third place while Duane Borsa landed in second. First place was given to Joel Clifford, with his extremely well balanced and conditioned physique.
When it was time for the best poser award, we had to find the athletes to make sure they were there for their trophy, so we had to tell them ahead of time that they had won. We joking told the women’s winner, Michelle Russell to “fake surprise” when her name was announced.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Michelle Russell. My entire backstage staff broke out in laughter as Michelle did a great job of feigning surprise when she took the stage. The men’s best poser went to Juan Jiminez, no stranger to this award for his outstanding routines.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Juan Jiminez.
In a tough battle, the overall women’s bodybuilding award went to the heavyweight champion Heather Dulaney. The overall men’s award looked to be a tight fight between the middleweight champion Mark St Arnaud, the light-heavyweight champion Caine Wendt, and the heavyweight champion Joel Clifford. Due to his thickness and overall conditioning, in the end, the win went to the middleweight champion Mark St. Arnaud.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Mark St. Arnaud.
We had three fitness competitors this year, down from 15 the year before. In third place was Karen Pang in her first fitness competition ever. Second place went to aerobic champion Margo Northery whose strong routine was a big hit with the crowd. First place went to veteran Linda Cusmano who was consistent in both rounds to take the win.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Karen Pang (left), Linda Cusmano (middle), Margo Northery (right).
Our guest performer was IFBB Fitness Pro Bridgette Murray. She wowed the crowd with her high flying routine and definitely brought the house down! In a speech after her routine, Bridgette said she may have to make it an annual event to come to our show to be my right hand. I’ll gladly have her!
Figure was as popular as ever. The first was the master figure class, and there were an incredible 18 women in the class. The ladies proved that experience is key in this sport. Taking third place was Lucie Hall, with Jennifer Moody taking second and a lady with a beautiful overall package, Kathy Davidson taking the first place spot. Next to come out were the figure short ladies and the final three were Dar Ashmeade in third place, a shapely Terri Yakemchuk in second place, and the gorgeous Carla Gutierrez won the class.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Figure Short Class. In the medium height class, third place was taken by Leigh Lingham, who could be the next great fitness model! Angie Morelli took the second place spot, leaving a thrilled Christy Kearny to win the title.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Figure Medium Class. In the medium tall height class, Shanna Garrioch took third place while Jessica Comandante took second. The class was won by Jennifer Moody.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Figure Medium-Tall Class. In the tall height class, Kim Jeffery took third place while the statuesque Sandy Avelar took second to Lucie Hall who walked away with the tall title.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Figure Tall Class. The overall figure decision was a tough one for the judges. They put Carla, Christy, Jennifer and Lucie through quarter turn after quarter turn. They moved them around several times and made them do their turns over and over. The crowd was super hyper and roared for their favorite. In the end, Christy Kearny took the overall title and the PVL Sponsored Athlete contract. Her daughter Brooke who participated in the Jr. Fitness division ran up on stage to give her a hug as she was presented her trophy.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Christy Kearny.
We are absolutely thrilled with our 2007 event and as always we have a long list of people to thank. To our volunteers who work so hard and make us look SO good, Bridgette Murray our guest performer, the sponsors, the fans and athletes, we appreciate the enthusiasm, support and effort everyone put forth to make it a fantastic experience for everyone involved. We look forward to another great show next year. Sandra Wickham, IFBB Pro Recommend this article to a friend by e-mail here!
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