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My first bodybuilding show was the “Levrone Classic” in Glen Burnie Maryland, 1995. I started off with a bang winning the middleweight class and taking the overall title. Yaz Boyum, now an IFBB Pro, was the lightweight winner that year.
I jumped right up to the national level competing in the NPC Jr. Nationals in 1996. I took fourth place with Amy Pazzo and Gayle Moher, both current IFBB Pros, placing ahead of me.
Being a life-time drug-free athlete, I decided to compete by way of a “drug tested” competition. I began a successful run at the largest national level drug tested bodybuilding show, the NPC Team Universe Championships. I took fourth in 1998 only to come back and win first place and overall winner for the next three years in a row-1999, 2000, and 2001.
These wins sent me to compete in the IFBB World Amateur Championships representing the United States women’s heavyweight division. I brought home a silver medal from Australia in 1999. In 2000, I “eeked” into the finals by taking 6th place in Warsaw, Poland.
I had way too much on my plate that year. I was working full time and decided to take on a part-time job teaching college level “Paramedic Pharmacology”. WAY too much work while trying to prepare for the “Worlds”.
Unfortunately the 2001 IFBB World Amateur Championships were called off for the Americans due to an international travel advisory in response to the events of 9/11. I was looking forward to competing in Rio de Janiero, Brazil for my third try at the “Worlds”
In September 2001, I won the heavyweight and overall titles at the IFBB North American Championships in Canada. Thus I obtained that coveted Pro card. A real dream come true!
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