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2012 NPC Pittsburgh
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2014 IFBB Tampa Pro (Routine Round)
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2014 IFBB Phoenix Europia Games
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2014 IFBB Tampa Pro (2 Piece Round)
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2014 NPC Team Universe
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2015 IFBB Arnold Fitness International
Professional Fitness Model
I was born and raised in a small town outside of Pittsburgh, PA and was part of a very athletic family that instilled in me early on some qualities that would carry me through to the place I am today. At a very young age, I began dancing and taking acrobats which quickly led into full on gymnastics school by the age of four. I also played softball as child and into high school, as well as participated in track for different relays, mostly sprinting!)
My gymnastics center began a program called the “Fitness Showteam” in which they were choosing kids from the gymnastics program to be a part of in an effort to promote health and fitness around the community. My father was a bodybuilder actually for some time, so when this opportunity came up, my family urged me to try out for the team. I did and I made it! So, I would attend my weekly gymnastics classes, but then on the weekends we would have our “fitness showteam” practices in which we would be focusing more on physical fitness tests/obstacles/circuits and then we would put together routines to perform at local places (summer fairs, malls, local bodybuilding shows, community centers etc.) We really started getting attention and by the second year of the showteam we were performing at some of the bigger bodybuilding contests in the area, including the Mr. Pittsburgh show! We also began performing at the Arnold Sports festival and it 1997 we actually had the first ever Fitness Contest for kids. We performed individual “fitness” routines (modeled after the Fitness division) and then also competed in an obstacle course. I would say this is when I first began my obsession with fitness and my dream of one day being in the Olympia began! We had the ultimate opportunity of performing at the Olympia when it was in New York City, and I remember meeting Iris Kyle and some of the women bodybuilders and just being amazed. The whole experience at age 11 was pretty surreal. I knew that day that I wanted to pursue fitness, I just wasn’t sure how or when I would be able to.
Luckily as the years went on, we continued to perform as the “Fitness Showteam” and I continued on in gymnastics before eventually switching over to a competitive “All Star Cheerleading” program. Throughout high school I began focusing on competitive cheerleading and would compete with my team at Nationals every year and also did the individuals competition. Cheerleading became kind of my gateway into actually competing in fitness because we would do a lot of conditioning and even some weight lifting during cheer practices, which I really enjoyed. Genetically, I was already athletic and muscular (Both of parents were very athletic and muscular so it was a great start!), but cheerleading really started to develop my arms/shoulders/back and it became noticeable. In 1999, I decided I wanted to try a fitness competition, even though I was only 13 years old. The NPC decided to allow me to enter the women’s fitness at the NPC Pittsburgh, where I competed against 20 some other grown women! To say I was overwhelmed that day would be an understatement, but I did it, and even though I did not place obviously… I felt on top of the world! The promoter of the show told me that there would be a teen fitness division starting up soon, so to not be discouraged!
I stuck with cheerleading throughout my senior year of high school and also was able to compete in the Teen Fitness Nationals that started up that year, where I won first place. Again, I was still only 17 years old so I had so much in front of me. I knew I wanted to stick with fitness, but I also knew I would be going to college and wanted to experience school and do my best. I started off taking some classes at our local community college before I finally decided to apply to the University of Pittsburgh for the Neuroscience and Chemistry program. I got accepted and the following year became a PITT student. This was a really exciting time for me as I moved out of my parents’ house and into a home with roommates near campus. My experience at Pitt was really great, but very challenging. I was working a lot as a waitress to keep up with my bills, studying a lot to keep up with my grades, and also wanted to socialize and enjoy the college lifestyle. I started getting away from the gym and away from making fitness a priority in my life at that time. I still loved it, but I just was unsure how to manage at the time. Throughout my years in college I went off and on and yo-yo dieted and went from one extreme to the next! I always knew that I wanted to get back into competing I just didn’t know how or when it would “fit” back in. I graduated from college in 2008 and began putting my degree to use; I worked in several research labs over the years and was trying to find out my career path.

In 2010, some friends of mine from the “Fitness Showteam” decided they were going to all compete in Fitness American in Las Vegas together for fun and asked me if I wanted to join in. Now, this was two years after college and I had been going back to the gym more regularly, so I decided to go for it…and wow am I glad I did! It changed my course. I didn’t do that well in that years Fitness America, I was a little too muscular for the look they desire, but I didn’t care because my fire was back. I decided I was going to pursue competing again in the NPC now that I was older, I could compete in the womens class and actually start to fit in. I competed in several NPC shows over the years and I always did really well in the routine round, but that was my specialty since I was a child! I trained myself over the years and got tips from various places and would read as much as I could about nutrition. I just could never nail down how to get lean enough so I always ended up placing low. After several years I became very discouraged and stopped competing again. I just started feeling like I would never do well, so I decided to quit. Which looking back, sounds crazy!! It’s all in the mind set, see, now I would never give up, after learning what I know now. I guess that’s why they say wouldn’t it be great to know then what we know now!
Arizona Pro Rising Phoenix 2017 Fitness Routine
Arnold Fitness International 2015 Fitness Routine
Tampa Pro 2014 Fitness Routine

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