By the time the curtain dropped on the women’s portion of the 2009 Arnold Classic at the Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium in Columbus, Ohio, we had two former champions cement their legacies here and a new champion write the first chapter of hers. Iris Kyle dominated the field to capture her fourth Ms. International win while Jen Hendershott matched her 2005 performance to win her second Fitness International. Building on her impressive Olympia debut, Ziville Raoudoniene captured her third pro win on one of the sport’s biggest stages in winning the Figure International title.
Stay tuned to Flexonline.com for men’s prejudging and finals tomorrow, Saturday, March 7.
MS. INTERNATIONAL Kyle built an overwhelming lead from the moment she stepped onstage this afternoon at prejudging. Kyle’s victory here tonight – her fourth – ties her with last year’s winner, Oriquen-Garcia for most Ms. International titles overall. Second place went to Debi Laszewski, third to Oriquen-Garcia, fourth to Heather Armbrust, fifth to Dayana Cadeau and sixth to Betty Viana-Adkins.
Iris Kyle (top) won her fourth Ms. International; Debbie Laszewski (bottom) placed second
FIGURE INTERNATIONAL Raudoniene hit paydirt in her first Figure International, knocking off reigning champ Gina Aliotti in the process. The win was the third of Raudoniene’s three-year pro career. “I go into every show to win, but honestly, when they called my name for first place I was very surprised,” Raudoniene said backstage with trophy in hand. Gina Aliotti finished in second, Amy Fry in third, Kristal Richardson in fourth, Felicia Romero in fifth and veteran Monica Brant in sixth.
Figure International winner Zville Raudoniene (top) and runner-up Gina Aliotti (bottom)
FITNESS INTERNATIONAL Hendershott added to her lead at prejudging with another power-packed performance to fill the vacant Ms. International throne, her second title in her 10-year history of competing at this show. Julie Palmer landed in second, Tracey Greenwood in third, Regine Da Silvi in fourth, Tina Durkin in fifth and Shannon Meteraud in sixth.
Jen Hendershott (top) won her second Fitness International; Julie Palmer (bottom) placed second
