T&T's Lau­relle Mar­tineau's win­ning streak was halt­ed as she placed third in the Women's Fig­ure B Class of the Na­tion­al Physique Com­pe­ti­tion (NPC) Ju­nior USA Na­tion­al Cham­pi­onship which was held at the North Charleston Per­form­ing Arts Cen­tre, Charleston, South Car­oli­na, on Sat­ur­day.The Pe­tit Val­ley-born Mar­tineau, who cel­e­brat­ed her 32nd birth­day on Sun­day, tal­lied 15 points in the 13 woman field for third spot be­hind win­ner Vick­ie Dow­ell (five points) and sec­ond-placed Lacy Smith (12) while Kari Keenan (17) and Va­le­ria Palamidy (26) were the oth­er top five fin­ish­ers.

Dow­ell even­tu­al­ly won the Fig­ure Over­all ti­tle to earn her pro-card.De­spite plac­ing third, Mar­tineau, who is in her third year of com­pet­ing in the USA, said she was thrilled about her top three fin­ish."It was the biggest com­pe­ti­tion I ever par­tic­i­pat­ed in and the com­peti­tors were all on top of their game, so be­ing able to place in my first na­tion­al lev­el com­pe­ti­tion was a great ac­com­plish­ment in it­self," said Mar­tineau, a for­mer stu­dent of Holy Name Con­vent (PoS).Pri­or to com­pet­ing at the event, Mar­tineau won two straight com­pe­ti­tions on the US In­ter­na­tion­al Fit­ness and Physique As­so­ci­a­tion (IF­PA) 2013 cir­cuit.The fit­ness en­thu­si­asts of Team Fit Xplo­sion cap­tured top spot in the Fig­ure Pro Short Class of the IF­PA Pro Bowl and al­so got the judges' nod for the Women's Open Fig­ure Over­all prize in Rich­mond, Vir­ginia, last month, while she was al­so a dou­ble-win­ner in the NPC Max Mus­cle Clas­sic staged in Wood­bridge, Vir­ginia, first claim­ing the Women's Fig­ure Class A crown and then the Fig­ure Over­all.

By win­ning the Max Mus­cle event on April 20, she gained her qual­i­fi­ca­tion to the NPC Ju­nior USA Na­tion­als.Over­all, since mak­ing her de­but in 2011, Mar­tineau has com­pet­ed in nine com­pe­ti­tions.She won the Fig­ure Mid­dle Class at the NGA Po­tomac Cup held in Wood­bridge and fol­lowed it up by claim­ing the Fig­ure Open Short and Fig­ure Over­all, which se­cured her IF­PA Pro Card in a nat­ur­al body­build­ing as­so­ci­a­tion.Trained by Lorne Mar­tineau, she al­so had an 11th place show­ing in her first pro­fes­sion­al start, the IF­PA Gas­pari Nu­tri­tion Pro Clas­sic in Mary­land, while com­pet­ing in the Fig­ure Pro Class.Last year, she be­gan with a third place in the Fig­ure Pro Short Class at the IF­PA Pro Bowl in Vir­ginia fol­lowed by fourth in the Short Class at the Fig­ure Uni­verse Cham­pi­onships and then closed out the year with a fifth spot at the NPC Mary­land State Clas­sic, in Class A.