ON THE COVER: 2002 NPC Sunshine Classic Champions, from left to right: Melba Davis and Lorenzo Alderete, Bodybuilding; and Christine Wan, Figure. (Cover Photo by J. M. Manion) (Cover Design by John Stevens)  May 2003 2003 NPC Atlantic USA 21st Annual NPC Sunshine Classic 2002 NPC Florida Gold Cup 2003 NPC American Classic 2003 NPC Palmetto Cup 2002 NPC Gainesville Championships More articles are available only in the printed magazine. Pick up a copy at your favorite gym, health club, fitness center or health food store; or to be sure of getting a copy each month, subscriptions are available. 2003 NPC Atlantic USA ..... The 2003 NPC Atlantic USA, the first national qualifier for the year in Georgia, was held on March 7 at the Cobb County Civic Center under the promotion of Georgia State District Chairman Ty Felder. ..... ..... Vladimir Kogan, 23, of St. Louis, MO took the decision in the heavyweight class and moved into the finals to capture the overall title. ..... ..... Liza Larence, 42, of Kennesaw, GA was making her come back after a 10 year absence from competition and took the heavyweight class win and the overall title. ..... ..... The Figure Division was divided into two height classes, short and tall. ..... ..... Candace Nelson, 23, of Atlanta, GA faced competition from four other competitors in the short class and emerged as the winner of the class. ..... ..... Candace moved into the finals and was the pick of the judging panel for the overall win. (Photos courtesy of Doc's Sports) Vladimir Kogan heavyweight winner open overall champion Liza Larence heavyweight winner open overall champion Candace Nelson Figure Champion 21st Annual NPC Sunshine Classic ..... The 21st annual NPC Sunshine Classic Bodybuilding and Figure Championships kicked off the contest year for 2003 in Florida on March 15 at the William T. Dwyer auditorium in Palm Beach Gardens under the promotion of Frank Dalto and his Mother Nature’s Pantry. ..... ..... The Sunshine is the first national qualifier for Florida for 2003. ..... ..... Lorenzo Alderete, 34, of Miami took the superheavyweight class win with a unanimous decision and moved into the final comparisons to take the overall title. ..... ..... Melba Davila, 52, of Miami took the middleweight class win with a unanimous decision and after the final comparisons and posedown was the unanimous choice of the judges for the overall win. ..... ..... The Figure Division was divided into four height classes: Class A - 5’2” and under; Class B - 5’2” to 5’3”; Class C - 5’3” to 5’5”; Class D - over 5’5”. ..... ..... The Class A class had seven entrants and thirty-four-year-old Christine Wan of Coconut Creek took both swimsuit rounds to take the division win and moved into the final comparisons to take the overall title. (Photo by Peter W. Potter) 2003 NPC Sunshine Classic Champions, from left to right: Melba Davis and Lorenzo Alderete, Bodybuilding; and Christine Wan, Figure. 2002 NPC Florida Gold Cup ..... Report and Photos by Peter W. Potter ..... ..... The 2002 NPC Florida Gold Cup Classic took place on November 16 in the William T. Dwyer Auditorium in Palm Beach Gardens as a promotional effort of Frank Dalto and his Mother Nature’s Pantry health food store. ..... ..... The contest, open statewide, is tested requiring competitors to be free of any anabolic steroids for a minimum of 2 years. ..... ..... While the participating bodybuilders have always been in the majority and the dominant force, this year it was Women’s Figure with a phenomenal 48 contestants in the Open, Teen, Over 40 and 30 Divisions. This is one of the largest number of figure competitors in the NPC this year. ..... ..... Carlos Rodriguez, came in at 202 1//4 pounds to take the heavyweight class win and the overall title. ..... ..... Alida Reid captured the lightweight class win and was the pick of the judges for the overall women's title. ..... ..... Jamie Shires was unopposed in the short class of the Fitness Division and took the overall win. (Photos by Peter W. Potter) Carlos Rodriguez heavyweight winner open overall champion Alida Reid lightweight winner open overall champion Jamie Shires Fitness Champion 2003 NPC American Classic ..... The 2003 NPC American Classic Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure Championships, the first national qualifier for Alabama for 2003, was held on March 22 at the Birmingham Theater in Birmingham under the promotion of Charlie Lindsey. ..... ..... Ron Wedgeworth, 36, of Northport, AL took a unanimous decision in the middleweight class and moved into the finals to take the overall decision for the title. ..... ..... Linda Campbell, 48, of Columbus, GA dominated the lightweight class and after the final comparisons and posedown was the unanimous choice of the judges for the overall win. ..... ..... The Fitness Division was divided into two classes, short and tall. ..... ..... Thirty-six-year-old Sonja Davis of Norcross, GA took the majority of the judges votes to take the short class win and after the final comparisons took a one-point (7 - 8) decision over the tall place winner Kristi Pugh, 25, of Tuscaloosa, AL for the Division win. ..... ..... The Figure Division had a total of 8 entrants and thirty-eight-year-old Tammy Hamner of Columbus, GA was making her first contest appearance dominated both rounds of competition for the overall win. (Photos by John Sheppard of American Sports Video) 2003 NPC American Classic Champions, from left to right: Tammy Hamner, Figure; Linda Campbell and Ron Wedgeworth, Bodybuilding; and Angie Crane, Fitness. 2003 NPC Palmetto Cup ..... The 2003 NPC Palmetto Cup Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure Championships, the first national qualifier for the year for South Carolina, was held on March 8 at the West Florence High School in Florence, SC under the promotional efforts of Tami and Lee Tucker. ..... ..... Thirty-four-year-old Mike Wolbert of Smithfield, NC took the heavyweight class and moved into the finals and after the scores were counted emerged as the overall champion. ..... ..... Kerri Brock, 35, of Williston, SC was unopposed in the lightweight class and after the final comparisons and posedown was declared the overall winner. ..... ..... The Figure Division was divided into three height classes and Kasie Olah, 31, of Myrtle Beach, SC was unopposed in the tall class and moved into the finals and was the pick of the judges for the overall title. ..... ..... Buffy Weinberg, 26, of Darlington, SC was making her contest debut and was unopposed in the Fitness Division. (Photos by Pat Collard) Mike Wolbert heavyweight winner open overall champion Kerri Brock lightweight winner open overall champion Buffy Weinberg Fitness Champion Kasie Olah Figure Champion 2002 NPC Gainesville Championships ..... The 23rd annual NPC Gainesville Bodybuilding Championships were held on November 9 at the Lincoln Auditorium in Gainesville under the promotion of John Babb and the Gainesville Gym. ..... ..... Twenty-three-year-old Kasper Norkus in his very first competition was unopposed in the heavyweight class and moved into the finals to take the overall title by a unanimous decision. ..... ..... Robin Terry, 22, was making her contest debut by taking the women’s middleweight title unopposed. Robin was the only entrant in the women’s division and was declared the overall women’s champion. 2002 NPC Gainesville Champions Robin Terry and Kasper Norkus Click Images for Larger View Copyright © 1999 - 2001 Southern Muscle Plus, All Rights Reserved