Esmeralda Diaz has won the 2024 Southern California Championships Pro Wellness division show. The contest, which featured nine pros, was held in San Diego, CA, on Saturday, June 15, 2024.
Kelly Purcell finished as the runner-up, and Julia Mello rounded out the top three. The final standings are below:
2024 Southern California Championships Pro Results
- Esmeralda Diaz (Mexico)
- Kelly Purcell (United States)
- Julia Mello (Brazil)
- Crystal Hayes (United States)
- Cassandra Pennington (United States)
- Alexa Dietz (United States)
- April Johnson (United States)
- Inez Sobczak (United States)
- Natalia Vasco (United States)
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Winner — Esmaralda Diaz
Diaz was coming off a fifth-place finish at the 2024 Toronto Pro Supershow on June 8, 2024, in Toronto, ON, Canada. This was just her second pro show and her first pro win. She is qualified for the 2024 Wellness Olympia in Las Vegas, NV, on Oct. 10-13, 2024.
Diaz now has the option to stay home and prepare for the Olympia, or she can continue competing and prevent other athletes from qualifying for the Olympia. A future pro show win in 2024 would block the Olympia qualification from being awarded.
Second Place — Kelly Purcell
Purcell was also competing in her second show of 2024. She was previously 11th at the 2024 New York Pro. Purcell had previously competed in the 2022 Wellness Olympia but failed to make the top 15. She must win a show before Sept. 15, 2024, to return to the Olympia stage.
Third Place — Julia Mello
This was Julia Mello’s first pro show, and she scored a top-three finish. The judges scored the top three the same way. The head judge for this contest was Tamer El Guindy.
Other Notes
This weekend, a second Wellness show occurred: the 2024 Empro Classic Pro in Alicante, Spain. Leonida Ciobu emerged victorious to qualify for the 2024 Wellness Olympia.
Two Wellness shows are scheduled for June 22-23, 2024. The Tanji Johnson Pro will take place in Tacoma, WA, and the Flex Weekend Pro will be held in Milan, Italy.
Featured image: @esmediaz_ on Instagram
