|
Angela Skeels poses with her first place trophy. |
Santa Paula native Angela Skeels, 29, played the usual sports in High school at St. Bonaventure; volleyball, basketball and softball. She went on to play softball at the University of the Puget Sound.
This past year she started something new for her, bikini body building competition. “It was something I always wanted to do,” she said. She’s been in four shows. At the first competition in May of 2012 in Culver City she took first place. The Cal-State Body Building Championship followed that, where she placed third and qualified for the Nationals. NPC Women’s Head Judge Sandy Williamson commented about Skeels afterwards, “She changed drastically from the USAs. She’s the hallmark of what stage presence can do to help improve your placing. Hair, makeup, color, suit, and presence - everything was so much better. That’s is how important those things are in bikini. She could have been a little tighter, but the biggest difference is her overall stage presence.”
She didn’t place at the USA Nationals in Las Vegas but went on to win her class in the NPC Nationals in Sacramento in November, was named overall bikini champion and got her Pro Card.
She’s training for her first show as a professional at the regional competition March 9 in Culver City. Her goal is to compete in the Olympia in Las Vegas. That’s the big show everyone aims for. Skeels said she does weightlifting and works out at a gym in preparation for the competition. Her coach is Kim Oddo in Temecula, where she’s part of a team called “Oddo’s Angels.” She’s also working on getting sponsors for her professional competition.
She said her parents, Paul and Linda weren’t too excited about her decision to get into bodybuilding and weren’t going to come to the Culver City show. “When I told them I placed they immediately drove to Culver City for the finals and the awards ceremonies,” she said.
Skeels works at Better Body Sports in Ventura and when she can, she sings with her father’s band “The Cruise Knights.”
