ON THE COVER: 2004 25th Anniversary NPC Southern States Champions, from left to right: Leslie Stefano, Figure; Rafael Jaramillo and Annette Lopez, Bodybuilding. (Cover Photo by Iaje Photography) (Cover Design by John Stevens)  October 2004 25th Anniversary 2004 NPC Southern States 2004 NPC Junior-Masters North Carolina State 2004 NPC Western North Carolina 2004 NPC Coastal USA 2004 NPC Heart of Dixie 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. 25th Anniversary 2004 NPC Southern States ..... The 25th Anniversary NPC Southern States Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure Championships were held on August 6 and 7 under the promotion of Peter W. Potter and USA Sports Promotions of Florida at the Greater Ft. Lauderdale-Broward County Convention Center in Ft. Lauderdale. ..... ..... The long running national qualifier was held in a new location and the competition was divided into two days - - the figure, women’s and men’s fitness and masters competitions were held on Friday, August 6 and the open bodybuilding was held on Saturday, August 7 with capacity crowds attending both evening performances. ..... ..... Thirty-two-year-old Rafael Jaramillo of Pembroke Pines scored all first place votes from the judges to take the heavyweight class by a unanimous decision. ..... ..... Rafael then moved into the final comparisons and pose down and once again dominated by taking all first place votes for the unanimous win for the overall title. ..... ..... Annette Lopez, 39, of Tampa dominated the lightweight class by taking a unanimous decision for the win. ..... ..... Annette went into the final comparisons and pose down and took all first place votes from the judges for the unanimous victory. ..... ..... The Fitness Division was divided into two height classes. ..... ..... Gina Crum, 29, of Tallahassee took a three-round total of 33 points to take the short class win. ..... ..... Gina moved into the finals and took a one-point (7 - 8) decision for the overall win. ..... ..... The Men’s Fitness Division had a total of four athletes competing for the title. ..... ..... Claudio Santos, 29, of Boca Raton took a total of 12 points in the rounds of competition for the win. ..... ..... The Figure Division was divided into four height classes with a total of 18 athletes competing. ..... ..... Leslie Stefano, 36, of Miami scored a two-round total of 14 points to take the Class C win. ..... ..... Leslie moved into the final comparisons and took all first place votes for the unanimous win for the title. (Photos by Iaje Photography) 2004 NPC Southern State Bodybuilding Champions Darin Page and Annette Lopez. 2004 NPC Southern States Fitness and Figure Champions, from left to right: Gina Crum, Fitness; Jessika Coelho, Teen Fitness and Figure; Promoter Maria Bellando; Leslie Stefano, Figure; and Mari Redondo, Figure Over 40. 2004 NPC Junior-Masters North Carolina State ..... The 2004 NPC North Carolina Junior and Masters Bodybuilding and Figure Championships were held at the Carolina Theatre in Greensboro on August 21 under the promotion of Quincy Roberts and his Elite Fitness Center of Greensboro. ..... ..... Akram Abboud, 36, of Durham, NC took the lightheavyweight class win by taking all first place votes from the judges for the win. ..... ..... Akram then moved into the final comparisons and was the pick of the judges for the overall win. ..... ..... First time competitor Sabrina Gurley, 34, of Greensboro, NC took all first place votes for the lightweight class win. ..... ..... There were no other women’s classes that had entries and Sabrina was declared the overall champion. ..... ..... The Figure Division had two entrants and Amanda Fisher, 29, of HIckory was competing for the second time and took a narrow margin of victory (14 - 16) for the overall win. (Photo by Patrick Collard) 2004 NPC Junior North Carolina State Champions, from left to right: Sabrina Gurley and Akram Abboud, Bodybuilding; and Amanda Fisher, Figure. 2004 NPC Western North Carolina ..... The NPC Western North Carolina Bodybuilding and Figure Championships, under the promotion of Jim Propst, was held on August 14 at the J. E. Broyhill Civic Center in Lenoir. ..... ..... Thirty-year-old Micah Minarik of Huntersville, NC took all first place votes to take the heavyweight class win and then moved into the final comparisons and pose down to take the overall decision. ..... ..... First time competitor Julie Cox, 33, of Greenwood, SC took the majority of first place votes from the judges for the lightweight class win. ..... ..... Julie went into the finals and was the pick of the judges for the overall win. ..... ..... The Figure Division was divided into two height classes with a total of ten athletes competing with five in each class. ..... ..... First time competitor Ginger Hutchinson, 26, of Hickory, NC took a two-round total of 13 points for the tall class win and moved into the final comparisons and was the choice of the judges for the overall win. (Photo by Patrick Collard) 2004 NPC Western North Carolina Champions, from left to right: Ginger Hutchinson, Figure; Micah Minarik and Julie Cox, Bodybuilding. 2004 NPC Coastal USA ..... The 2004 NPC Coastal USA, a national qualifier, was held at the Meadow Creek High School Auditorium in Gwinnett, GA on August 28 under the promotion of NPC Georgia State Chairman Ty Felder. ..... ..... Bernard Martin, 32, of Douglas, GA took all first place votes from the judges for the unanimous bantamweight class win. ..... ..... Bernard then moved into the final comparisons and pose down and was the pick of the judges for the overall title. ..... ..... Mary Bowles, 46, of Lawrenceville, GA, fresh from her 2004 NPC Georgia State win a few weeks prior, dominated by scoring all first place votes for the lightweight class win. ..... ..... Mary moved into the final comparisons and was the choice of the judges for her second overall win for 2004. ..... ..... The Figure Division was divided into four height classes. ..... ..... Simona Douglas, 33, of Roswell, GA scored all first place votes from the judges to take the Class D win. ..... ..... Simona then went into the finals and emerged as the choice of the judging panel for the overall win. (Photos by Doc Neely - Courtesy of Doc's Sports) Bernard Martin bantamweight winner open overall champion Mary Bowles lightweight winner open overall champion Simona Douglas Figure Champion 2004 NPC Heart of Dixie ..... The 2004 NPC Heart of Dixie, under the promotion of Jason Greene, was held on August 21 at the Foley Civic Center in Foley, AL. ..... ..... David Lord of Mobile, AL was unopposed in the lightheavyweight class and went into the final comparisons an pose down and took all first place votes from the judging panel for the unanimous victory. ..... ..... Andrea Fisher, 37, of Daphne, AL was the unanimous choice of the judges for the lightweight class win and due to no other entrants in the other offered weight classes Andrea was declared the overall winner. ..... ..... The Figure Division was divided into three height classes with a total of 10 athletes competing for the overall title. ..... ..... Katrina Robinson, 26, of Slidell, LA scored all first place votes in both rounds of competition to take the short class win by a unanimous decision. ..... ..... Katrina then moved into the final comparison and again took all first place votes from the judges for the overall unanimous victory. (Photo by Chip English) 2004 NPC Heart of Dixie Champions, from left to right: Katrina Robinson, Figure; David Lord and Andrea Fisher, Bodybuilding. Click Images for Larger View Copyright © 1999 - 2004 Southern Muscle Plus, All Rights Reserved