Poland woman is body building champion

By John Kovach

Jennifer Morakis makes her professional debut June 6 at the Northeast Classic in Boston.

POLAND — Jennifer Morakis of Poland has achieved one of her life goals and is hoping that achievement will lead to another.

“My goal was to get to the pro level,” said Morakis, who did just that by winning the overall open division figure championship at the Northern States Super Natural Bodybuilding & Figure Contest. She received her World Natural Bodybuilding Federation professional figure card on March 21 at West Merkel Academy in Buffalo N.Y.

“This was my biggest win,” she said.

Now the Boardman High (1996) and Youngstown State (2001) graduate, who has been an amateur bodybuilder for five years and an amateur figure-contestant for the last 21‚Ñ2, will prepare for her first professional competition.

“There will be more competitiveness in the pro level but the rewards are greater,” said Morakis, trained by her husband, Chris Morakis, also a Boardman High graduate and a personal trainer who operates Morakis Massotherapy in Boardman.

Jennifer will debut in her professional career June 6 at the Northeast Classic in Boston, also conducted by the WNBF.

“The amateurs may get trophies or [gift] samples from companies but in the pro level there are cash prizes and signing contracts with vitamin companies and free photo shoots and modeling opportunities. It opens up a lot of professional and business opportunities,” said Morakis.

“With the pro card , it will make it a lot tougher for me. I compare it to basketball and playing in high school as compared to the NBA.”

Morakis, who majored in accounting at YSU and is employed as a commercial analyst for Huntington Bank in downtown Youngstown, believes that her conditioning and experience helped her to win her first overall figure division title.

She had a previous win in the tall figure class at the Tri-State Classic in May of 2008.

“This is my fifth show in the last 13 months. I have experience. I am very comfortable on stage,” said Morakis.

“I have the beauty that is able to catch the eye of the judges, and I am in good condition [whereas] some of the other girls may not be and maybe have trained for only three months and want to see how they do and want to try out.”

She explained what she had to do as a contestant on stage in the open figure division contest.

“You have to wear a two-piece bathing suit that costs $350 and clear high heels that are very high, and you pose and walk,” said Morakis, noting contestants walk on a T-shaped stage, similar to the kind that fashion models use.

She said the contestants are judged by their conditioning [shape and muscularity], poise and symmetry.

“[Judges] are able to tell if you are in condition,” she said. “In the figure event, they look for all symmetry, muscle and beauty.”

Morakis said contestants first were divided into three groups based on their heights to produce three group winners and finalists.

“In this contest, there were 30 girls — 10 in short, 10 in medium and 10 in tall. Then those three compete and one will get the pro card.”

She said the judges all are experienced in figure bodybuiding and “are licensed by the WNBF and all have competed and received honors.”

Besides Morakis, several other area women also participated in the Buffalo contest, including Brandi Shoemaker of YSU and Keli Siciliano of Liberty.

Shoemaker had a pair of runner-up finishes in the figure division and the Ms. Fit Body Division, while Siciliano was second in Bikini Round and fourth in figure.

The area also supplied three judges, including Karen Miller, a native of East Liverpool and now of Youngstown who served as head judge, but was not part of the seven-person judging group.

Miller is a triple title holder in the WNBF, including as Ms. Universe and Ms. International, and also is a personal trainer. She also is the founder of the Cardinal Classic Bodybuilding & Figure Contest held in the area annually.

This year’s Cardinal Classic will be held in September at Struthers Middle School.

Serving in the seven-person judging group were Stephanie Foley of Youngstown, the promoter of the Cardinal Classic, and Eunice Duff of Poland, a local figure competitor.

kovach@vindy.com