The Final WOD of the Northeast Regional Qualifier was brutal. It was an extremely taxing workout of the following:

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of:

Power Cleans (155/105)
Chest to Bar Pullups
Kettlebell Swings

In this video from Again Faster, we get a look at many of the competitors during this workout, including many of the athletes who qualified and that you will be soon seeing in Aromas.

Northeast Final... [wmv] [mov]

The Dirty South Regionals have come and gone but the videos keep coming in. The crew at Again Faster recently sent this video of some of the top female competitors doing the day 2 workout.

Dirty South Day 2 Female Highlights ... [wmv] [mov]

The Great Basin Regional Qualifier hosted at CrossFit Flagstaff was conducted with great success. Chris Spealler had an amazing showing, winning all three workouts at the event. Zachary Forrest and Eric O'Connor also qualified and will be joining Chris in Aromas.

Hillari Eaton, Lisa Ray, and Cyndi Frieling qualified for the women's side. This video captures highlights of the entire event, including all three workouts and interviews with some of the top competitors.

Great Basin Qualifier... [wmv] [mov]

Jeff Tucker of GSX Athletics hosted the Regional Qualifier for Hell's Half Acre, in Fort Worth, TX. Many athletes came and put forth amazing performances on all three workouts. Again Faster was there to film, and they captured the first workout of the day.

3 rounds for time of:
Row 500m
10 Squat Clean & Jerk (155 for men, 105 for women)

Hell's Half Acre WOD 1 highlight video ... [wmv] [mov]

Our friends from the North sent us a great video of the action that transpired at the Canada East Regional Qualifier. The competitors had to complete three events on Saturday and one final workout on Sunday.

Day one consisted of Max Deadlift, followed later by a workout for time of muscleups and clean and jerk. The last workout of the day was kettlebell swings and burpees. The final event on Sunday was a 5k trail run.

Three men and three women qualified for Aromas. They are Jason Bird, Chad Furey, and Roch Proteau, for the men. Danielle Comolli, Alexandra Bergeron, and Megan Maclellan will represent the women.

Canada East Highlights - video... [wmv] [mov]

Sevan and Carey were running the cameras all weekend and made this little clip of what went on behind the scenes at the NorCal Qualifiers.

Back Stage at the NorCal Qualifiers ... [wmv] [mov]

A few of the regional qualifiers had rows in them as events. The first reaction by many was "Boring!" because who wants to watch the same motion for a whole event. Melissa Byers writes on her blog about how exciting the 2k row event really was at the North East Regional Qualifiers.

The CrossFit Games Northeast Qualifier (NEQ) Day One workouts were announced a week ahead of time, on the Albany CrossFit site. The first included thrusters and burpees - an evil combination that I have programmed myself many times. Maybe not the sexiest of CrossFit exercises, but certainly classics. And, again, brutally effective in their capacity to leave you sweating and panting and broken on the ground. But the second workout of the day stole all the attention, and not in a good way. Just five little letters was all it took for the virtual crowd to start buzzing.

Row 2K.

Continue reading ...

The North West Qualifiers was a one day event held at Level 4 CrossFit in Seattle. The day consisted of three events:

Event 1:
Clean and Press

Event 2:
Deadlift

Event 3:
5 rounds for time:
3 muscles-ups MEN / 2 muscles-ups WOMEN
30 wall ball: 20 lb medicine ball MEN / 12 lb medicine ball WOMEN
6 sumo deadlift high-pull: 60k MEN / 40k WOMEN

Here is a highlight video of the event ... [wmv] [mov]

The boys from Again Faster sent in this video of the 2k row event from the North East Regional Qualifiers. Row Highlight Video ... [wmv] [mov]

Patrick Cummings, the creator of that video, writes about the event.

The car ride to Albany is quiet. The 'what-if' conversations and 'I wonder' talk gives way to long stretches of silence. The trees that line the Berkshire Highway whip by, and Stacey, in the back seat, says, "How about we just go to Buffalo instead."

We meet James at the hotel. He's sunburned and in good spirits. If he's nervous, I can't tell. If he gets nervous, it doesn't show. He unpacks a bag of M&Ms and we leave for Albany CrossFit for registration.

The Northeast Qualifier is the final competition before Aromas. These athletes have watched the videos and done the workouts. They've compared themselves to those who have qualified and those who did not. They've run through the weekend's programming, once in the gym, and a hundred times in their minds and in their sleep. The only thing left to do is pick up the barbell and go.

Saturday morning and the sun shines through clouds. With only three heats of women, Stacey doesn't have to wait long. The numbers aren't as high as we thought they'd be. Twelve minute AMRAP, thrusters and burpees. Sixes and sevens lead the way. Stacey finds eight rounds and goes into the second workout as the leader.

Continue reading ...

The report from the Iceland Regional Qualifiers is hot off the press from Leifur Geir Hafsteinsson:

One of the biggest decisions we had to make when planning the Icelandic Regional Qualifier for the 2009 CrossFit Games was whether to run the event inside or outside.

It's always like that in Iceland: if you want to do something outside, everything always revolves around the weather. It sucks, but that's the way it is. Even in mid-summer you're risking the success of an event by staging it outside, and the qualifier was to be held in late May. Nothing was guaranteed. Nevertheless, we decided to tempt fate and set our aim at an unforgettable and unprecedented outdoor event.

We had a solid contest planned: two WODS difficult enough to test anyone but not intimidating enough to scare away strong athletes who weren't too familiar with CrossFit. This was very important for us because an event like this in Iceland could generate a lot of publicity, which is priceless when you're running a small business and need to raise product awareness. To further increase the appeal of the qualifier, we also included a team contest and competition for the public CrossFitter.

Typically, after two full weeks of sunshine, the weather forecast predicted rain on the morning of the event. Needless to say, this caused several anxious conversations between me and Evert Viglundsson of CrossFit Iceland, the other organizer. I, being the more pessimistic, down-to earth and safety-conscious person, was arguing for moving the event indoors. Evert, completely unwavering in his faith, would hear none of it. Instead he insisted everything would be fine.

"I have a good feeling about this," he said. "This is a really good thing we're doing here, and we deserve good weather. Everything is going to turn out just fine."

"Yeah, right," I thought to myself. "Of course we deserve it, but..."

Continue reading ...

Jeff Tincher sends us his report from the Mid Atlantic Regional Qualifier...

On April 25 and 26, 101 men and 37 women competed in the Mid Atlantic Qualifier at the Blauer Tactical Defense/CrossFit Training Center. The facility boasts over 20,000 square feet of space and has all the equipment already in place for such a competition.

Day 1 of the qualifier featured three different workouts leading to a final WOD on Sunday. The scoring format for the weekend was Every Second Counts. Saturday's workout were as follows:

WOD 1--Row 2 kilometers for time.

WOD 2--Three rounds for time of 10 deadlifts (275 pounds for men, 185 for women) and 50 double-unders.

WOD 3--For time: Run 400 meters, 21 overhead squats (95/65), 21 box jumps (24 inches/20 inches); run 400 meters, 15 overhead squats, 15 box jumps; run 400 meters, 9 overhead squats, 9 box jumps.

Continue reading ...

Melissa Byers takes us behind the scenes and into the mind of a judge at the Northeast Regional Qualifier...

I went to Albany as a volunteer, as I have no interest in ever competing. Ever. At all. (Just to be clear, for all the people who asked, "So maybe next year?") But I wanted to participate and represent the 603, so I volunteered to judge the events. I had no idea what that entailed, or how much work it involved, or how serious that task would turn out to be. I just though it sounded fun, and a way to be right in the middle of the fray without actually competing.

The first element of judging was understanding the workouts, and the movement standards. As a trainer, I'm used to evaluating the way someone moves - range of motion, body mechanics, flexibility, limitations. But for an event such as this, the movement standards mean everything. An inch makes the difference between a rep that counts and a rep that does not - and one rep can mean the difference between first place and second place. The movement standards were serious business, and we (as judges) spent a lot of time reviewing, observing, questioning and practicing our evaluations.

Continue reading ...

Central and South America are not as small as some may imagine. Our main cities may be separated by four flight hours.

Up to June 2009 there are only four gyms affiliated to CrossFit: three in South America and one in Central America.

To get equipment as bumper plates is not easy in this part of the world. The organization of our games had to face the austere conditions of our training facilities. But we know that CrossFit never gets easy.

Preparedness
We bought equipment such us Olympic barbells and bumper plates. We estimated that the stock would arrive one month and a half before the event.

I was planning to design WODs with classic CrossFit features, if such a thing really exists.

Meanwhile, we made contacts with CrossFitters from Chile, Ecuador, Brazil, Panama and other countries. All of them were willing to participate as competitors or judges. The help of Joel Fridman, an instructor of CrossFit Vancouver, was invaluable.

Continue reading ...

Like many of the qualifiers this year, the Asia Qualifier was not without controversy. Unlike the other events, our difficulties all occurred before the first WOD.

Come 9:59 a.m. on May 9, the odds-on favorite was nowhere to be found. Had he overslept? Did he not like the WOD? Had he been in an accident? The competitor I'm talking about is an absolutely superb, well-rounded athlete who's regularly willing to push himself near death to shave a few seconds off his times. But Tom is also a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, and as fate would have it he was tasked to participate in an exercise hours before the first WOD. While we were sorry to lose his competitive spirit, the show must go on, and the remaining seven male and female athletes prepared for the contest.

Our first WOD was aptly described by Tony Budding of CrossFit HQ as a "slog"--seven rounds for time of seven 135-pound thrusters and seven burpees. Had I fouled in the programming? Was it too brutal? A thousand things were going through my head as I screamed out, "Three, two, one... Go!"

Continue reading ...

Eric Devine sends us this writeup from the fun and games at the Northeast Regional Qualifier:

"Put on your game face."

That old coaching sentiment was certainly heeded in Albany for the Northeast Qualifier. The event opened with the women, who stood in the caution-taped parking lot for the first challenge: as many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of five 95-pound thrusters and 10 burpees. Many athletes smiled nervously and even giggled. Others, however, had their heads on, and after the "Three, two, one... go!" pulled away from the laughter.

Within three minutes the leaders were established. Those who didn't fly out of the gate set a driving pace that allowed them unbroken sets and consistency. Others missed pulls or bailed from overhead. Some lay on the ground for the briefest of seconds during their burpees. The workout was not kind to the weak.

By the eight-minute mark in every heat, the women either looked as if they wanted to kill or be killed. Those who kept their endurance, strength and co-ordination and came out on top: Stacey Kroon (8 rounds), Elaine Polito (7.12), Jennifer Hunter (7.11), Heather Keenan (7.03) and Shanon Morris (7.02).

Men generally do not pace as well as women in sports or life, and WOD 1 proved the point yet again. Numerous competitors charged out like MMA fighters headed into a sprawl and crushed two rounds within a minute in a valiant display of power and strength--but it was not a strategy that could be sustained.

Continue reading ...

Skip Miller of Front Range CrossFit sends us word that all photos from the Rocky Mountain Regional Qualifier have been posted online to his website. Skip and Jodi went through a total of 1600 high quality photos of the event and have organized them all by category.

You can take a look at all the photos on the Rocky Mountain Regional Qualifier website located here.

In this clip CrossFit legend OPT (James Fitzgerald) interviews some of the top female competitors from the Canada West Regional Qualifers. OPT asks the girls what it takes to push through and do well in multiple CrossFit events in one day.

OPT Interview Video ... [wmv] [mov]

Sevan and Carey sent in this video from the Rocky Mountain Regional Qualifiers held at Front Range CrossFit in Denver, CO. This was the 2nd workout of day 1. Directly after the workout Sevan asks Ricky his thoughts on other games competitors.

Ricky WOD2 and Interview ... [wmv] [mov]

The Canada West Regionals have recently sent us highlight videos of Day 1 and Day 2. The Regionals were setup and run by OPT (James Fitzgerald).

Day 1 Highlight Video ... [wmv] [mov]
Day 2 Highlight Video ... [wmv] [mov]

The workouts that took place were:

Saturday WOD1: "Every Rep Counts"
As many rounds/reps in 20 minutes of:
10 Wallballs (20/14 lbs)
10 Box Jumps (20")
10 Deadlifts (205/145 lbs)
10 Burpees

WOD2: "The Kanadian"
For time:
1K run

Sunday WOD 3: "Pick it Up and Put it Overhead"
For max weight:
Barbell extended and controlled overhead, 3 attempts to reach a 1RM
Placement based on SIFF weightlifting formula which uses max successful lift and bodyweight to rank athletes.

WOD 4: "Jackie"
For time:
1K Row
50 Thrusters (45 lbs)
30 Chin ups (chin over bar)

Iceland had their very own Regional Qualifier on Saturday, May 23rd, and the organizer of the event, Leifur Geir Hafsteinsson of CrossFit Sport, sends us word from Reykjavik on how it all went down:

It was a huge success. 33 competitors in the Elite group and an additional 70 competed either as teams or as individuals in a scaled down class. We got a lot of media coverage, almost 2 minutes of prime time national TV news, coverage on the back page of Iceland's oldest and most respected newspaper plus more. We had several hundred spectators during the day and nothing but positive feedback. So understandably we're very happy and confident that this will help us further increase people's interest in CrossFit.

The winners of the event that are headed to Aromas are:

Male: Sveinbjorn Sveinbjornsson
Female: Annie Mist Thorisdottir

The competitors had to complete two workouts. They were:

WOD 1
As many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:

5 pullups
10 burpees
15 Kettlebell swings (24/16kg)
20 Double unders

WOD 2
For time:

Deadlift (225/135) x 30 reps
Hill run (approx. 650m track that went up a small skiing slope)
30 Reps, ground to overhead (110/66)
Hill run

Those competitors that did the most rounds in WOD1 got a head start in WOD2: 15 seconds for each additional round over their peers.

Iceland Final Results

Sevan and Carey sent in this video from the Rocky Mountain Regional Qualifiers held at Front Range CrossFit in Denver, CO. The final event for the men was to lift 7000 pounds, ground to overhead, in any way they wished.

This heat was the deciding matchup between the top ten competitors at the qualifier, including Matt Chan (pictured), Ricky Frausto, Pat Burke, and Kyle Kasperbauer.

Men's Final WOD ... [wmv] [mov]

The Northeast Regional Qualifier, the final competition before the big dance in Aromas, is complete. The epic battle that was Sunday's WOD truly showed who the New England elite were. Here's the Top 5 Men and Women headed to NorCal in July.

Women:
Stacey Kroon
Lauren Erwin
Heather Keenan
Kim Malz
Lauren Plumey

Men:
James Hobart
Brad Posnanski
Scott Lewis
David Lipson
Rob Orlando

Women's Final Results
Men's Final Results

Laurel Madar writes in from Albany:

Less than a third of our athletes have been finishing our final workout; competitors hit the time limit with bloody palms and even judges are exhausted from encouraging them and enforcing the standards. Spectators cheer for every completed rep and competitors are proud to get into the 5th round.

During the 2k, competitors demonstrated willpower and stamina, but today we are seeing them under grueling pressure - mental and physical. They are already exhausted and this workout is demanding. It is narrowing and shifting the group of elite athletes, sometimes in surprising ways.

We've had to break out disinfectant wipes for the bars and pull-up stations. Beyond the torn skin, there have been no injuries.

Dave Werner and Nancy Meenen from CrossFit Seattle, who hosted the Northwest Regional Qualifier, reflect on the day's events:

We have had a regional "championship" in Seattle for the last 5 years. This year however, the stakes were higher. For the first time in 2009 athletes could only get to the international Games by competing in the Regionals.

The 2008 CrossFit Games winner, Jason Khalipa, came from behind in the finals and won because he is strong. In planning the Northwest Regional Qualifiers, we felt that we needed to select for athletes with great strength. We also wanted athletes capable of putting out huge amounts of power.

We cut directly to the chase, selecting a one day format with a strength contest in the morning and a very heavy metcon in the afternoon. Deadlift and military press was the simple effective test of raw strength. The military press was complicated a bit by requiring the athletes to clean the weight to their shoulders before performing a strict press.

The afternoon heavy metcon consisted of muscle-ups, wallball and sumo deadlift high-pull. 5 rounds of 3 MU, 30 WB (20 lb) and 6 SDHP with 60kg. Women did 2 MU, 30 WB (12 lb) and 6 SDHP with 40kg.

The metcon was devastatingly effective. Only 7 women out of 40 entrants were even able to complete it as Rx'ed. 48 out of 88 of the men got through it. We saw tremendous effort from everyone, but it was easy to see which athletes were strong. The top 4 men and women are clearly a different class of athlete. Great strength, excellent technique and tremendous work capacity; they have it all.

We all worked very hard to pull off an event this size. CrossFitters volunteered from all over our region at their own expense. It took 90+ people to register, track, judge, score and direct all the athletes and spectators.

Now that it is all over we are amazed. Amazed at the generous support of a small army of super talented volunteers. Amazed at the determination and heart shown by the athletes. Amazed most of all by the crazy energy in this competition. The crowd of nearly 700 at the hangar was loud and we mean LOUD. All day. It was awesome to hear and feel the level of support for the competitors, especially the competitors who were struggling. What a huge privilege to be a part of this.

The qualifying men are:
Jason N. - Rainier CrossFit
Jordan Holland - Xplore CrossFit
Moe Kelsey
Jerome Perryman - CrossFit HEL

The qualifying women are:
Charity Vale - CrossFit Snohomish
Jenny Olson - CrossFit Redmond
Nicole Verbrugghe - Gravity Janes CrossFit
Jennifer Kellams - CrossFit HEL

The final workout for the final qualifier has been announced. CrossFit Albany will be hosting some amazing athletes on Sunday for their last challenge before 10 of them-5 men, and 5 women, earn their spot among the fittest on the planet in Aromas, CA. The workout will be:

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

Power Clean (155/105)
Chest to Bar Pull-ups
Kettlebell Swings (1.5 pood/1 pood)

Men's Standings
Women's Standings

Jason Ackerman writes:

The day could not have gone any better for the 2009 Northeast Qualifiers. Competitors left nothing within and everything on the rowers. We have never seen so many athletes needing help out of and off the rowers. Most impressive were the amount of sub-7 minute 2k rows. After two events here are the top sixteen athletes going into the second day.

Women:
Kroon, Stacey
Fabian, Caitlin
Keenan, Heather
Brown, Cynthia
Erwin, Lauren
Malz, Cindy
Vaught, Lisa
Mulligan, Melissa
Rockett, Ronda
Keough, Samantha
Kelly, Jen
Escobar, Teresa
Polito, Elaine
Morris, Shanon
Hunter, Jennifer
Gvicheney, Vivianne

Men:
Lipson, David
Posnanski, Brad
Hobart, James
Agnese, Dan
Tyminski, Daniel
Mohamed, Derek
Lewis, Scott
Franco, Matthew
Burke, Timothy
Orlando, Rob
Hewitt, Ryan
Celso, Joe
Kelly, Ben
Leydon, Jason
Lewis, Josh
McCulloch, Mike

Women's 1st Workout Results (Men's results not submitted yet)

Eric Devine sent in this summary:
The first workout of the Northeast Qualifiers is complete. The women went first as the sacrificial lambs. Their workout consisted of AMRAP 12 minutes of 95# thrusters/10 burpees.

The standings are as follows: Stacey Kroon-8 rounds; Elaine Polito-7.12; Jennifer Hunter-7.11; Heather Keenan-7.03; Sharon Morris-7.02.

Within the first heat one element was obvious, strength was vital. There were no racks, so all thrusters needed to be cleaned. Time and energy were lost by those who chose to power clean instead of squat clean. At the three-minute mark for every heat the pain was obvious and pacing became the deciding factor. Anyone who went all out from the get-go suffered immeasurably. By the eight-minute mark, many held the look of those on a death march. The blacktop provided no comfort for those who chose to rest at the bottom of the burpees, and by the time the men entered the ring, the heat had increased, only providing more discomfort.

The men who fared best were those who watched the women. That is if they were willing to keep their egos in check. AMRAP 12 minutes of 135# thrusters/10 burpees made such difficult.

The top contenders are as follows: Derek Mohamed-10.1 rounds; Matthew Franco-9.09; James Hobart-9.07; Dan Tyminski, Rob Orlando, Brad Posnsnski all tied with 9.03.

The men tended to blow their energy from the start and many saw stars or lost their vision from the sun. Again, efficiency was wasted by power cleans instead of squat cleans. The same three-minute marker was indicative for those who would succeed. Strength was a pre-requisite. 135# was simply too heavy for some. The pacing and the burpees presented the same challenges. By the last heat the sun was pounding, the sweat was pouring and the sweat angels were more pronounced.

The second workout is a 2k. Little wiggle room is available for contenders to falter. Therefore, the afternoon, now dense with heat and tension should provide an apt challenge.

Thomas Campitelli reports:

CrossFit got its start in Northern California, and the region remains one of the premier proving grounds for talented CrossFit athletes.

On an overcast and rainy May 2 and 3, 2009, 142 men and 51 women descended upon Aromas, California, to take part in the Northern California Regional Qualifiers for the CrossFit Games. The Ranch at Aromas--which will also serve as the venue for the 2009 Games-- provided a scenic backdrop and an opportunity to use the landscape for workouts that normally can't be accomplished in or near most CrossFit gyms.

The competition spanned two days and comprised three workouts: two on Saturday and one on Sunday. The first workout combined 500 meters of rowing, 30 burpees and 10 reps of moving a barbell from the shoulder to overhead at a weight of 165 pounds for men, 95 for women. Designed as a sprint against the clock, the workout was capped at 10 minutes.

Continue reading ...

Fran Mason from CrossFit Seattle sends us this write up on the competition in the Northwest:

Northwest Qualifier - Final Results

The big, ancient hangar at Magnuson Park, a former US Navy facility, was a beautiful place for the competition. Huge sliding doors and million-paned glass windows let in natural light and let the noise out, and the half-acre building is surrounded by grass and trees. White-painted girders and ceiling made the place look somehow optimistic. It was the perfect setting for a three-ring CrossFit circus. Here it would be decided which 4 women and which 4 men would qualify for the CrossFit Games.

I was a score keeping, data-entry volunteer. I took a long walk around to watch the first event, the military press (which first had to be lifted off the floor). The athletes were fresh, the judges were working tightly together, and the seriousness and determination on all the faces provided a reminder that these early, light first-attempt presses were the first steps in a high-stakes trip. Well--except for the women laughing it up between lifts at one station! I liked seeing Nadia, Charity and Jenny enjoying the day as if this was all just for fun. It doesn't have to be fun to be fun, after all.

Later in the day I was able to watch some of the women and men in the WOD: muscle-ups, wallball, and sumo deadlift high pulls. When the first man in the first heat finished, the cheering started and the energy in the room leapt. Seconds later, when he fell to the floor in CrossFit sweat-angel mode, everyone in the room knew it was over and a mushroom cloud of noise blew the roof off the hangar. I wondered would only one man succeed in each heat? (No.) This workout was definitely going to separate the elite from the rest, just like Dave said it would.

Continue reading ...

The intense competition at the Rocky Mountain Regional Qualifier was captured on film. Here's some of the action in Workout #1, male and female. The workout was 3 rounds of 8 Deadlifts, and a 400 meter run.

Men's WOD 1 ... [wmv] [mov]
Women's WOD 1 ... [wmv] [mov]

Ricky Frausto of CrossFit Omaha won the first workout with 5:16. Pat Burke from MBS CrossFit was close behind with 5:19. On the women's side, Angela Lefler, also from CrossFit Omaha, won the first workout with 6:18. Kristen Olson from Front Range CrossFit came in second with 6:21.

The final Qualifier is coming up this weekend, and Jason Ackerman of Albany CrossFit will be hosting the event. The competition will take place at Albany CrossFit in Albany, NY, on May 23 and 24. Athletes will be trying for one of 5 mens and 5 womens slots for the 2009 CrossFit Games.

Saturday will feature two workouts. Here they are...

WOD 1:
In 12 minutes perform as many rounds as possible of:

5 Thrusters (135/95)
10 Burpees

WOD 2:
Row 2000 meters

There will be a third event on Sunday which will be announced upon completion of Saturday's workouts.

Gavin Cooke of CrossFit Africa sends us in this report from the small, but extremely competitive qualifier this weekend in South Africa:

The African Regional CrossFit Qualifiers are over and the results are in.

The event saw 26 competitors face 3 brutal workouts and the competition was fierce. Competitors from all over South Africa joined in and the extremely well prepared athletes gave performances that will ensure the CrossFit presence in Africa continues to get noticed! The sportsmanship on display also deserves mentioning!

WOD 1 was extremely challenging and our eventual men's winner Danie du Preez blew his opposition away with a performance that left jaws hanging in disbelief!

Tia McDougal (pictured), the ladies winner, and a recent CrossFit convert, was solid through all the workouts and thoroughly deserves her slot in the 2009 CrossFit games.

The day, while very challenging, definitely separated the fit from the not so fit and has set the standard in Africa for all future qualifiers.

Overall Results

Check out the CrossFit Africa for more information.

John Brown of CrossFit Agoge was thick in the heated competition at Front Range CrossFit this weekend. He sends us this report:

I woke up this morning with what felt like a hangover.

It turns out that CrossFit, like any other addictive substance, has a profound ability to leave you wondering how you got home after the previous day's events. The weekend of the Rocky Mountain Qualifier was over in a flash--unlike my workouts, which seemed to take forever--and now I feel like the day hangs a little heavy.

Over the weekend I had the honor of meeting some incredible athletes, and they turned out to be incredible people as well. I was able to reintroduce myself to some people I'd run across in the past, and they've grown considerably in both fitness and character.

Keeping track of events, competing and coaching all at the same time was pretty cool. In the past few years I've met a lot of the people who were at Front Range CrossFit for the qualifier, so it was difficult to know whom to root for this time around. I found I was rooting for everyone. Every performance was inspired and inspiring. Watching all the heats before mine instilled me with a sense of pride in knowing that I would be joining these incredible specimens on the competitive field.

To say the final men's and women's heats were intense would be the understatement of the year. As their names were called out, the women entered as proud gladiators, not fighting each other but rather battling only the gravity that held their bars to the ground. I understand physics enough to know that gravity is a law and not a force to be trifled with, but these women likely left a mark that gravity will not soon forget.

Continue reading ...

The Rocky Mountain Regional Qualifiers are over and the results are in. Skip and Jodi Miller, the owners of Front Range CrossFit, talk about the event:

It was an amazing event to be a part of. The athletic performances were unbelievable to witness. The Rocky Mountain Region is sending 10 incredible athletes to represent our region at the 2009 CrossFit Games in Aromas.

One item of note was the decision, which was made months ago, that the FRCF women are going to Aromas this summer to compete on the FRCF Affiliate team. They are not taking any of the individual athlete slots, even thouth they went 1-2-3. So the qualifying slots rolled down to the women from 4th through 8 place.

The Qualifying Women are:

Krista Colson CrossFit Rockford
Andrea Bell CrossFit Rockford
Jenna Rettenmayer Bridger CrossFit
Libby Dibiase CrossFit Omaha
Stacie Tovar CrossFit Omaha

The Qualifying Men are:

Matt Chan CrossFit Verve
Ricky Frausto CrossFit Omaha
Brandon Pastorek CrossFit Rockford
Kyle Kasperbauer CrossFit Omaha
Pat Burke MBS CrossFit

Men's Final Results
Women's Final Results

Matt Chan from CrossFit Verve and Ricky Frausto (pictured) from CrossFit Omaha finished 1-2 at the Rocky Mountain Regional Qualifiers.

Sevan and Carey made a few videos of these beasts.

Ricky's first workout video ... [wmv] [mov]

Ricky talking about weight classes video ... [wmv] [mov]

Matt Chan on Matt Chan video ... [wmv] [mov]

The Midwest Regional Qualifiers are over and the final results are here. Bill Henniger reflects on the event:

Day one was brutal.

We started the day off with heavy deads and chest to bar pullups. The intensity was off the charts and the competition was insane with blood and chalk on the ground. Sarah Dunsmore at 5:38 and Alan Moore with 5:29 killed the WOD nicknamed "The Mule". The Mule knocked out some of the competition in the women's field but the remaining females were tough as nails.

The next WOD was the Kettlebell Thruster/Burpee workout, which proved to be an interesting challenge. Sarah Dunsmore at 5:58 and Simon Warnos with 4:39 bulled their way through to achieve the winning times. The competition was right at their heels with a strong showing from CrossFit Troy, Bragg and Durham bringing some pipehitters.

The third and final WOD was the 2K row, sounds simple but it is a killer. At this point it was straight heart driving the athletes through the end of the day. Ben Carter pulled a 6:44 with the rain hitting mid 2K, it was something to be seen. Zoe Metro of Hyperfit took the women's heat with a 7:55 and Dawn Hutchinson was only a second behind.

On to day 2:
Simon started the day with a two second lead and Sarah with a 2:41 lead. Out of the number four slot came Graham Spagnola and he was on a mission. He pushed through with a 6:51 time taking the lead and the rest of the pack wasn't far behind. Watching this heat was like watching battle, people were climbing the rafters to see the final heat. Dane Youtz won the heat with a 6:48. With a little more work, this guy is one to watch.

Dawn Hutchinson murdered the workout with a 7:50 which set her place at number four. Feng Yi Chew moved quietly throughout the competition and creeped close to Sarah and ended up in the second place slot. Sarah Dunsmore held the lead to secure her number one position.

Shana Duvall finished the WOD with the entire crowd going crazy, she power snatched 75lbs - 30 times which was very close to her PR for a single rep squat snatch.

Overall, as we've seen frequently, the competitors, spectators and judges were top notch. The competition was brutal but the sportsmanship was amazing.

Top 6 Women:
Sarah Dunsmore CrossFit Durham
Feng Yi Chew
Caroline Attmore CrossFit NC
Dawn Hutchison CrossFit Wilmington
Michelle Benedict CrossFit Fort Bragg
Chastity Slone Practice CrossFit

Top 6 Men:
Graham Spagnola CrossFit Troy
Ben Carter
Rory Hanlin
Graham Holmberg
Brandon Massie CrossFit Troy
Sean Catto

Midwest Final Results

Sevan Matossian made a video of Jasmine Dever's second workout (Jasmine is in second overall at the end of Day 1) video ... [wmv] [mov]

Carey Peterson made a video of Matt Chan's first workout (Matt is in first overall at the end of Day 1) video ... [wmv] [mov]

John Brown of CrossFit Agoge wrote a summary of the second workout and the day as a whole:

The results are in from Day 1 of the Rocky Mountain Regional Qualifier. In stunning fashion, Matt Chan has jumped from 8th place up into first with an absolutely dominant performance in the second workout knocking out a 3:12, for a total of 8:46. Ricky Frausto has kept close in second place at 9:01, logging a 3:45 in the days second workout. Kyle Kasperbauer (who is with CrossFit Omaha, I found out this afternoon) is in third with an overall time of 9:22, Patrick Burke from MBS is a mere six seconds behind him in fourth and rounding out the top five for men is Brandon Pastorek from CrossFit Illinois with a total time of 9:45.

The women were also impressive and Front Range CrossFit led the way with three women in the top five! Jasmine Dever is just three short seconds in front of Kristen Olsen at 12:29 and 12:32 respectively. Jenna Rettenmayer from Bridger CrossFit is in third place with a time of 12:50. Cori Gobell from Front Range is behind her with a 13:09 and rounding out the top five is Andrea Bell from CrossFit Illinois with an overall time of 13:16.

The energy in Front Range is amazing!

Continue reading ...

The first day of the Rocky Mountain Regional Qualifier went well, with amazing performances throughout the day- male, and female. They were tested with some grueling workouts. Sunday's WOD is sure to continue in that fashion.

Skip Miller of Front Range CrossFit revealed the workout after the final Men's Heat. The WOD gives each competitor a choice in how they would like to complete it.

For Men, they must lift a barbell Ground to Overhead, in any way they wish, for 7000lbs.

The athletes are able to choose which weight they would like. Their options:
155 x 46 reps
135 x 52 reps
95 x 74 reps
75 x 94 reps

For Women, they must lift a barbell Ground to Overhead, in any way they wish, 5000lbs.

For the women, their choices break down to the following:
100 x 50 reps
85 x 59 reps
65 x 77 reps
55 x 91 reps

No matter which option the athlete chooses, they will all be trying to get the weight overhead, using Clean & Jerk, Snatch, Press, or Thruster. It will certainly be a challenging and exciting event. For more information, check out the CrossFit Front Range site.

Day one is over for the Midwest Regional Qualifier and Bill Henniger has sent us the results. There will be only 9 women & 30 men that move to day 2. Only 9 of the 24 women finished all three events in the allotted time but the 9 who made it are well qualified.

The top three men are Simon Warnos, Sean Catto, and Ben Carter. The top three women are Sarah Dunsmore, Feng Yi Chew, and Caroline Attmore.

The workout for tomorrow will be one round for time of:
30 Power Clean and Jerk, 135 lbs (95 lbs for women)
One lap around Rogue, approx 450M
30 Power Snatch, 115 lbs (75 lbs for women)

Bill writes, "One thing's for sure, the Midwest will be sending 12 fully capable athletes to this years CrossFit Games."

Midwest Day 1 Results

The second workout of the Rocky Mountain Regional Qualifiers has taken place and the results are in.

For the women we have Jenna Rettenmayer of Bridger Crossfit (pictured) took first in the event and is now in 3rd place overall behind Kristen Olson and Jasmine Dever both from Front Range CrossFit.

For the men we have Matt Chan taking first in this event and pushing him into the lead overall. He is followed closely by Ricky Frausto and Kyle Kasperbauer.

The workout was:

3 rounds for time of:
10 Chest-to-Bar Pullups
10 Front Squats, 165 lbs (105 lbs for women)
10 Burpees

For more up to date information on the event click here.

Men's Workout 2 and Day 1 Results
Women's Workout 2 and Day 1 Results

John Brown from CrossFit Agoge, with his flair for the dramatic, reporting again from the Rocky Mountain Regionals:

The results from the Men's first workout are in and the top spot is no big surprise. Ricky Frausto AKA "Omaha Ricky" absolutely destroyed the workout logging a 5:16. Patrick Burke out of MBS CrossFit was a close second, moving like a bat out of hell with a blistering 5:19! Kyle Kasperbauer and Alex Etzen (neither of whom were attached to an affiliate) were in third and fourth with 5:28, and 5:29 respectively and rounding out the top 5 was Sean Tallman, also out of MBS.

The official top 10 as of the end of the first heat:
1 Frausto, Ricky from CrossFit Omaha 5m 16s
2 Burke, Patrick from MBS CrossFit 5m 19s
3 Kasperbauer, Kyle 5m 28s
4 Etzen, Alex 5m 29s
5 Tallman, Sean from MBS CrossFit 5m 31s
6 Gubbels, Chris from Emergent Fitness 5m 33s
7 Lilenthal, Ryan from CrossFit Parker Fire 5m 34s
8 Chan, Matt from CrossFit Verve 5m 34s
9 Hathcock, Matthew 5m 35s
10 Ostrom, Chris from CrossFit Montana 5m 38s

The mens heats were intense and the 300# deadlift slowed down all but the stoutest of souls. That being said, it was those that fought the hardest that garnered the loudest cheers for their efforts, the crowd is definitely behind those lionhearted athletes who may lack the physical strength, but brought their absolute best with regards to mental toughness.

The workout was:
3 rounds for time of:
8 deadlifts, 300 lbs (195 lbs for women)
400 meter run

Carey Peterson and Sevan Matossian are at the Rocky Mountain Regionals this weekend. They decided another expose on Sunday's workout (like the one they did for NorCal) would be great for you all at home.

Carey took the mic and headed out for the investigation. Turns out Skip and Jodi Miller were tougher nuts to crack.

Carey Peterson on the Rocky Mt Regionals Sunday workout video ... [wmv] [mov]

John Brown from CrossFit Agoge is our man on the scene. He writes of the women's first event:

Things have kicked off at the Rocky Mountain Regional Qualifier at Front Range CrossFit in Denver. The women's heats for the first event have just finished. There is definitely a lot of heart shown as some of these woman dig deep to lift some heavy weight. The top 10 after the first event play out like this:
1 Lefler, Angela from CrossFit Omaha 6m 18s
2 Olson, Kristen from Front Range CrossFit 6m 21s
3 Dever, Jasmine from Front Range CrossFit 6m 26s
4 Reinking, Kristine 6m 35s
5 Tormey, Megan from CrossFit Windy City 6m 37s
6 Tovar, Stacie from CrossFit Omaha 6m 39s
7 Gibson, Nicole from Garage4150 6m 40s
8 Guthmiller, Megan from CrossFit Omaha 6m 41s
9 Gobell, Cori from Front Range CrossFit 6m 46s
10 Colson, Krista from CrossFit Rockford 6m 46s

The big surprise so far is Libby DiBiase (pictured in front), a juggernaut at last year's CrossFit Games in Aromas. She was leading the third and fastest heat until the final run when the deadlifts and the rest of the pack caught up with her, leaving her in the 16th place.

The workout was:
3 rounds for time of:
8 deadlifts, 300 lbs (195 lbs for women)
400 meter run

Steve Serrano, Owner of CrossFit Marina, sends this excellent writeup on the planning and amazing competition in Southern California on April 18 and 19. He writes...

You have five months to plan a gathering for about 600 of your close friends.

Easy, right?

How about finding a facility with parking for about 350 cars? It also has to have space for a running event of about 800 meters. The venue needs to have the capacity to sling up a few gymnastic rings, and it would be nice to have a pull-up bar large enough for maybe 15 to 20 athletes at a time. Then you'll probably need a bunch of rowing machines, over 3,000 pounds of weight and about 15 Olympic bars....

Fortunately for everyone involved in the Southern California Regional Qualifier, experienced affiliate owners Jeff and Mikki Martin and Ahmik and Krista Jones took care of the details.

The venue hunt went on for about two months, with the goal of finding a location that would fulfill Coach Glassman's request for a central site to accommodate the 70 or so SoCal affiliates.

Choosing the workouts was a process that went back and forth between the three affiliates hosting the event. Until we had the venue dialed in, the pull-up bar built and an idea of just what other equipment we would have access to, we were on the "have a back-up plan" plan. We eventually decided on the Orange County Sheriff's Regional Training Facility, and the Martins were outstanding in generating a set of movement demonstration videos within the last three weeks or so after we started solidifying our events.

Jeff, in his capacity as one of only a few CrossFit Coaches, was pressed into leading the judging. He and Mikki gladly accepted the responsibility. Working with our list of about 38 volunteer judges from throughout the Southern California region, they supported an e-mail recruiting process that requested the judges to first review the written rules and video examples, then come to a meeting on the Friday evening preceding the event. We had an excellent turnout (even though there was no beer), and the volunteer judges really seemed to grasp what Jeff wanted them to accomplish.

Continue reading ...

Bill Henninger of Rogue Fitness will be hosting "The Gauntlet" of the Midwest Regional Qualifier this weekend, May 16-17. The event will take place at Rogue HQ in Gahanna, OH. Athletes will be trying for one of 6 mens and 6 womens slots for the 2009 CrossFit Games.

Saturday will feature three workouts. Here they are:

Workout 1:
21-15-9, for time
Deadlift (275# men, 185# women)
Chest-to-bar pullups

Workout 2:
5 Rounds for time:
7 Double Kettlebell Thrusters (24kg men, 16kg women)
11 Burpees

Workout 3:
Row 2000 meters (3.5 damper setting for all competitors)

Only the top 30 men and top 10 women from Saturday will be moving on to the final workout on Sunday. More information can be found here.

CrossFit Northwest Regional Qualifiers are going down this weekend, May 16-17. Dave Werner of CrossFit Seattle is hosting the event which will be sending 4 men and 4 women to Aromas.

The first workout will be a strength event. Athletes will have three attempts for their max weight of Clean & Press, followed by Deadlift.

Workout 2 will be five rounds for time of:

Muscleups (3 for men, 2 for women)
30 Wallballs (20# for men, 12# for women)
6 Sumo Deadlift High Pull (60kg for men, 40kg for women)

For more information on the event, go here.

The Africa Regional Qualifier will be kicking off on Saturday, May 16, in Johannesberg, South Africa. Charmain du Preez will be hosting the event, which will decide the two athletes representing the African continent. One male and one female will be headed to Aromas after these workouts:

Workout 1:
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Deadlifts (125kg male/70kg female)
Burpees (Only 5 per round)
Squat Clean & Jerk (60kg male/40kg female)

Workout 2:
500M Row

2 Rounds of:
20 Pull Ups
20 Thrusters (30kg male/20kg female)
400M Run
20 Kettlebell swings (24kg male/16kg female)
20 Box Jumps

500M Row

You can find more information and specifics on the event here.

The European Qualifiers were one of the first Qualifiers that took place this year. The event was held at CrossFit Northeast England and will be sending three bringers of pain to Aromas, Mikko Salo, Jamie Crichton, and Brian Bowen. Recently we got our hands on some footage of the event so that other games competitors can see what they are up against.

European Qualifiers Video by Paul Szoldra ... [wmv] [mov]

James Fitzgerald is the owner of Optimum Performance Training. Besides running a successful CrossFit box and being a movie star, he's also an incredible athlete.

OPT was crowned champion of the 2007 CrossFit Games and he finished 11th in 2008. As one of the possible favorites for this years' Games, many were surprised to see him sitting on the sidelines, organizing instead of competing. In this interview, OPT talks about the tough decision.

OPT Interview ... [wmv] [mov]

Mick Shaw from CrossFit FX lets us know how everything went down under...

The CrossFit Games Australasia Qualifier was by far the best CrossFit gathering to be held Down Under. You could feel the energy in the air with 90 nervous competitors unsure of how they would stack up against many of the best athletes from around the region.

CrossFit is a relatively recent phenomenon in Australia, so more than a few workouts were pretty new for many athletes. Some competitors chose to scale the workouts back slightly in terms of weight, but their performances were no less inspiring.

Lack of experience was not a factor with regards to the performance of Ruth Anderson, who was self-taught and stacked up well against some of the more experienced athletes. Showing us the determination of an underdog, young Chris Hogan was able to shock everyone with a second-place finish after competing in the minor heats.

From the start of the very first heat the energy from the audience was contagious. Australians have now witnessed what CrossFit really is and what it really means. With the audience supporting every competitor regardless of affiliate or fitness level, competitors were rewarded for their efforts with enthusiastic encouragement that lasted to the end of every WOD.

Day One featured two WODs. The first was a three-round triplet of 10 clean and jerks (60 kilograms for men, 40 kilograms for women), 15 ring dips and 20 kettlebell swings (24 kilograms for men, 16 kilograms for women). WOD 2 was a 21-15-9 couplet of burpees and pull-ups with a 400-meter row tacked onto the end of each round.

Continue reading ...

The Rocky Mountain Regional Qualifiers are here!! This upcoming weekend Skip Miller will be hosting the event at his box Front Range CrossFit. The Day 1 workouts will be:

Workout 1
3 rounds for time of:
8 deadlifts, 300 lbs (195 lbs)
400 meter run

Workout 2
3 rounds for time of:
10 Chest to Bar Pullups
10 Front squats, 165 lbs (105 lbs)
10 Burpees

For more information about the event go here.

The final workout of the NorCal Regional Qualifier has gotten a lot of attention. It was:
22 deadlifts @ 315#/185#
Farmers walk with 45#/25# dumbbells to top of inner loop (hill)
22 thrusters with 45#/25# dumbbells
Farmers walk with 45#/25# dumbbells to bottom of inner loop (hill)
Run to pull-up bar and do 22 chest-to-bar pull-ups
Run to top of outer loop (hill)
22 overhead squats @ 95#/65#
Run to bottom of inner loop (hill)

It's the women's turn!

We have two videos to offer you. The shorter version is on the Main Site.

The extended version is right here ... [wmv] [mov]

This Story is a look at the controversy of the The Canada East Qualifier from the perspective of competitor Mathieu Lalonde.

I entered the arena in Fredericton, New Brunswick, at about 7:15 a.m. It was cold and damp, as if the ice on the rink had melted only yesterday. Perfect! For this Canuck, nothing says "welcome home" like a hockey rink.

I registered at the front desk and grabbed my bib. I pinned No. 39 to my shirt and headed for the scale to get weighed. Shortly after 8 a.m., the first event was announced: 1 RM deadlift. There were no weight classes, but body weight would be used as a tiebreaker.

At this point I just knew I didn't stand a chance. My max deadlift was only 410 lbs, and plenty of heavy athletes were in the competition. I'm not an athlete, and I have no previous athletic background. Heck, I've been a typical sedentary North American male for the greater part of my life. I train at a school gym using the main site WODs. Olympic weightlifting is not allowed. There are no kettlebells or no climbing ropes. I run on treadmills. I still have too many weaknesses.

I didn't get much of a chance to contemplate any of that because controversy was brewing. It turns out Anthony and Jodi Bainbridge, who organized the event, were both known for their heavy deadlifts, and many athletes were crying foul. Many wondered why other lifts had not been chosen, but it quickly became apparent that logistics were an issue. There were an insufficient number of racks to perform other lifts or a CrossFit Total, and we barely had enough judges for the event. Some athletes ended up playing a dual role as both competitors and judges, which sparked even more controversy.

Read the Full Story

The "Dirty South" featured 95 men and 40 women from Georgia, Florida, Mississippi and Alabama going through two days of self-induced suffering, all for the chance to prove themselves the fittest men and women in the Southeast. The Dirty South scoring system (compared to Nascar's points system by event manager John McLaughlin) allowed for a variety of formats during the competition.

Day 1 started off with two bouts of three minutes of work separated by a two-minute rest and transition phase. The first was a max-point suicide run where competitors were awarded points for sprinting back and forth to lines marked between 10 and 50 yards from the starting line. That was followed by max-rep deadlifts at 275 pounds for men and 185 for women. Fighting burning lungs and fried hamstrings, Laura Demarco of CrossFit RX pulled a single point lead over Wendi Shafranski of CrossFit Vero Beach, who was followed closely by Mariah Provost of CrossFit Dahlonega.

On the men's side, Lance Mosely, a.k.a. Heinz, took an early lead by pulling a massive 43 deadlifts. I took a close second with the aid of an 88-point suicide run, while Brandon Phillips and Sean Provost easily made it into the Top 7.

After a few hours of blasting music, cheering crowds and the smell of generously applied sunscreen, it was time for the second WOD. In order to squeeze three events into Saturday's competition, the morning heats were split in two for our second workout. Half the competitors went into the gym for the a timed five-round triplet of 20 double-unders, 10 wall balls (20 pounds for men, 14 for women) and one 15-foot rope climb, while the other half moved into the scorching midday sun for an eight-minute AMRAP of five clean and jerks at 135 pounds for men and 95 for women, plus 10 chest-to-bar pull-ups.

Read the Full Story

The final workout of the NorCal Regional Qualifier has gotten a lot of attention. It was:
22 deadlifts @ 315#/185#
Farmers walk with 45#/25# dumbbells to top of inner loop (hill)
22 thrusters with 45#/25# dumbbells
Farmers walk with 45#/25# dumbbells to bottom of inner loop (hill)
Run to pull-up bar and do 22 chest-to-bar pull-ups
Run to top of outer loop (hill)
22 overhead squats @ 95#/65#
Run to bottom of inner loop (hill)

We have two videos to offer you. The "tight" version is on the Main Site.
It is 5min 48sec long.

The "extended" version (14min 18sec) is right here ... [wmv] [mov]

Linda Pierson of CrossFit Dallas Central started the day in 14th place at Hell's Half Acre.

She worked out during the first heat of the morning, and did the workout in the wrong order, a fact that wasn't caught by herself or her judge until after the fact. Knowing that order matters, the head judges disqualified her time, and she was forced to do the workout again at the end of the day. The judge was reassigned.

Although she failed to qualify, and went slower on the second workout (including a 10-burpee penalty in which she threw herself at the floor in sickening spread-eagle dive fashion), her effort was met with an amazing reaction from the crowd. They positively screamed during her second effort.

At the end of the day, Tucker awarded her a "Warrior Spirit" Certificate, and a free trip to his Gymnastics Cert.

The final workout of the Great Basin Regional qualifiers for the men was:

800 Meter Run

3rounds of:
10 Squat Cleans @ 155
20 Chest to Bar Pullups
30 Box Jumps @ 30"

800 Meter Run

The winning time was 19:57 by Chris Spealler from CrossFit Park City

Carey Peterson's video of Great Basin Men's Final Event ... [wmv] [mov]

Alica Mills is from Spokane Washington. She is a two time Division I Track and Field Regional Qualifier and also a University of Montana Javelin School Record Holder. She trains out of Fast Trac Performance where she is working hard to get ready for the Northwest Regional Qualifiers which will be held on May 16th.

Alicia Road to Games video ... [wmv] [mov]

Joy Nguyen is pictured winning Workout 3 with a successful lift of 155lbs.

The Western Canada Qualifier held at CrossFit Calgary this past weekend was rocking- with 64 athletes, 200 spectators, and 45 volunteers crammed into a 2,000 square foot space the energy was unlike ever felt before. There was some very tight competition (the final female Games spot went to a tiebreaker and the top 3 men were separated by 4 points) and plenty of sweat, blood and tears (in that order).

There was a whisper in the Calgary winds that a CrossFit robot had been sent from Vancouver on a seek-and-destroy mission. That robot is Joy Nguyen. She finished in the top spot, overcoming some tough moments and a near disaster on Sunday. In the first WOD "Every rep counts" Joy was edged out by 16 year-old Katy Josephs by 1 rep for the WOD win. Lauren Pryor finished 7 reps behind Joy for 3rd place, positioning the former track athlete to potentially overtake the leaders in WOD2 "The Kanadian", a 1K run.

Read the full Canada West Story

Lindsey Smith (4th Overall) doing chest to bar pull-ups on Day 1.

Hell's Half Acre Final Results

Perhaps of interest on a related topic, Anthony Mungioli wrote about his experience as a competitor. He was 5th heading into Day 2 of the event, but finished 6th overall, one spot away from making it to Aromas. Here is a section of his recap of the day:

Heading into the final workout I was holding onto dear life with the fifth and final spot. The night before I was very anxious and could not wait to get after the final workout. I knew that a total 45 box jumps, 45 kb swings and 45 sdhp (the format was 21-15-9) were all that stood between me and California. This is the pressure packed situation you have to appreciate. You think back to all the workouts and training you did to get to this point - the blood, sweat, tears and weight vests. THIS IS WHY WE DO IT!!!

The coolest part of this workout was the entrance. MAN! it was so awesome. We all came out of this locker-room where we were warming up (it felt like Gladiator). The 12 competitors in the heat are in this little locker room with random equipment, preparing themselves for battle. I caught a couple of guys giving the strength and honor grip. We enter the arena one by one..

For his full entry, click here.

The Australasia Qualifiers are over and 6 super tough athletes are headed to the states to compete in this years CrossFit Games. The folks from CrossFit FX are coming out with a DVD of the Australasia Event.

To order the DVD, click here.

DVD Trailer video ... [wmv] [mov]

Eric Barber (a competitor in the event) consoles his wife Luila (also a competitor) after she didn't finish the Heavy rowing Grace within the allotted time. The workout for women was a 105lb Grace with a 1500 meter row. Luila and Eric are Affiliate owners of CrossFit Next Generation in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Not completing the workout in the allotted time meant that Luila would not be qualifying for the Games, no matter how well she did in the other events. She demonstrated a true CrossFit warrior spirit, as she completed the entire rest of the event. Phenomenal!

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The NorCal Final Results are In!

Congratulations to everyone who competed! The qualifying men are Jeffrey Leonard (pictured), Darren Rosten, Justin Riley, Joey Warren, and Angel Orozco.

The qualifying women are Jocelyn Forest, Candace Hamilton, Breanne Feudale, Elyse Umeda, and Apollonia Helm.

There was a scoring inconsistency with a few of the men that was uncovered during the post-event verification process. The original sheets were reviewed and in the end, it was concluded that these are now the correct qualifying athletes. Unfortunately, Bevan Hart was announced as the fifth qualifying male and had to relinquish his spot. Tremendous performances and sportsmanship by all.

NorCal Final Results

Sevan Matossian made a video of Jeff Leonard during the first day of competition ... [wmv] [mov]

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Congratulations to the ten qualifying athletes from Hell's Half Acre!

The women are Carey Kepler, Pollyanna Bobseine, Crystal McReynolds, Lindsey Smith, and Nikki Hall.

The men are Dutch Lowy, Breck Berry, Lance Cantu, Vic Zachary, and Jason Boag.

Full results and more details coming soon!

CrossFit Again Faster made video interviews of several of these athletes after Day 1:

Carey Keplar ... [wmv] [mov]
Pollyanna Bobseine ... [wmv] [mov]
Crystal McReynolds ... [wmv] [mov]
Lindsey Smith ... [wmv] [mov]
Nikki Hall ... [wmv] [mov]
Dutch Lowy ... [wmv] [mov]

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Congratulations to the six qualifying athletes from Canada West!

The three men are DJ Wickham, Andrew Swartz, and Michael Fitzgerald.

The three women are Joy Nguyen, Lauren Pryor, and Katy Josephs.

Full results and more details coming soon!

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The Canada East Final Results are In!

The event was not without controversy. There were several athletes who felt that the programming was unfairly biased toward Anthony and Jodi Bainbridge, who won the overall competition and were primarily responsible for planning the event.

The three events yesterday were a 1RM deadlift (winning loads were 525 / 315lbs), a couplet with muscle-ups and clean and jerks (winning times 6:07 / partial rounds in 10:00), and another couplet with KB swings and burpees (winning times 3:01 / 4:15).

The final event, held today, was a 5K trail run with "bonus" events sprinkled throughout (winning times were 25:24 / 30:06).

In other words, there was an untimed strength event, a sub-5min event, a 5-10min event, and an over 20min event, all using various, standard CrossFit exercises.

Without indulging the controversy, both Bainbridges have withdrawn from the event and will attempt to qualify via the recently announced Last Chance Qualifier. This means that the second, third, and fourth place finishers are awarded spots at the Games in Aromas.

Congratulations to all who competed. The qualifying men are Jason Bird, Chad Furey, and Roch Proteau.
The qualifying women are Danielle Comolli, Alexandra Bergeron, and Megan Maclellan.

Event 4 Results
Final Overall Results

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Day 1 Results are In!

Congratulations to all competitors. The top 5 men are:
Jeffrey Leonard
Justin Riley
Joey Warren
Bevan Hart
Darren Rosten

The top 5 women are:
Jocelyn Forest (tied for 1st)
Candace Hamilton (tied for 1st)
Elyse Umeda (tied for 3rd)
Apollonia Helm (tied for 3rd)
Breanne Feudale (tied for 3rd)

Day 1 Leaderboard

Day 2 Workout:
22 deadlifts @ 315#/185#
Farmers walk with 45#/25# dumbbells to top of inner loop (hill)
22 thrusters with 45#/25# dumbbells
Farmers walk with 45#/25# dumbbells to bottom of inner loop (hill)
Run to pull-up bar and do 22 chest-to-bar pull-ups
Run to top of outer loop (hill)
22 overhead squats @ 95#/65#
Run to bottom of inner loop (hill)

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Results after 1st day of Qualifiers:

Top Males competing for 3 Games spots:
1st - Michael Fitzgerald
2nd- Rob Corson
3rd - Pete Kendrick (tie)
3rd- DJ Wickham (tie)
5th- Jesse Bifano (tie)
5th- Andrew Swartz (tie)

Top Females competing for 3 Games spots:
1st-Joy Nguyen (tie)
1st -Lauren Prior (tie)
3rd-Katy Josephs
4th-Laura MacDonald (tie)
4th-Stacey Deering (tie)

Best of luck to all competitors in Sunday's workouts!

Day 1 Full Results

Saturday WOD1: "Every Rep Counts"
As many rounds/reps in 20 minutes of:
10 Wallballs (20/14 lbs)
10 Box Jumps (20")
10 Deadlifts (205/145 lbs)
10 Burpees

WOD2: "The Kanadian"
For time:
1K run

Sunday WOD 3: "Pick it Up and Put it Overhead"
For max weight:
Barbell extended and controlled overhead, 3 attempts to reach a 1RM
Placement based on SIFF weightlifting formula which uses max successful lift and bodyweight to rank athletes.

WOD 4: "Jackie"
For time:
1K Row
50 Thrusters (45 lbs)
30 Chin ups (chin over bar)

Scoring:
Scoring of each WOD is based on the BOCCIA World Ranking System which awards points for place finished i.e. 1st place: 15 pts, 2nd place: 13 pts, 3rd place: 11 pts, 4th place: 9 pts, 5th - 8th place: 7 pts, 9th - 16th place: 5 pts, 17th - 18th place: 3 pts, 19th + place: 1 pt.

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The End of Day 1 Results are In!

Congratulations to all the competitors! The top 5 men are:
Anthony Bainbridge
Alex Possamai
Chad Furey
Mark Vandermeersch
Alexandre Bureau

The top 5 women are:
Jodi Bainbridge
Danielle Comolli
Alexandra Bergeron
Heather Richardson
Tracy Allen

Overall Day 1 Results

The events were:
Event #1
Deadlift 1RM
Event 1 Results

Event #2
5 Rounds of:
5 Clean & Jerk (135/95)
5 Muscleups
Max 10 minutes
Event 2 Results

Event #3
21-15-9 of:
Burpees
Kettlebell Swings (1.5 pood for men and women)
Max 7 minutes
Event 3 Results

Sunday's only event will be:
Event 4 is a 5km Trail Run with very rough terrain. A lot of mud, streams, hills, and 3 mini events along the trail.

The first "mini event" is 3 tire flips. 500 pounds for men, 250 pounds for women. You have thirty seconds to complete your attempts and then you continue on the course. No penalties.

The second "mini event" is 3 keg clean & press. 100 pounds for men, 50 pounds for women. You have thirty seconds to complete your attempts and then you continue on the course. No penalties.

The third "mini event" is a sandbag carry - approx 100-150m. 60 pounds for men, 30 pounds for women. You carry the sandbag from Point A to Point B and then sprint to the finish.

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The End of Day 1 Results are in!

Congrats to all the competitors! As of the end of the first day, the top 5 men are:
Dutch Lowy
Breck Berry
Lance Cantu
Jason Boag
Anthony Mungioli

The top 5 women are:
Carey Kepler
Pollyanna Bobseine
Lindsey Smith
Crystal Mcreynolds
Nikki Hall

Full Reults

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Jeff Tucker and crew announce the workouts for the Hell's Half Acre Regional Qualifier.

The workouts will be:

Saturday WOD1:
Row 500m
10 Squat Clean & Jerk (105lbs women / 155lbs men)
Row 500m
10 Squat Clean & Jerk
Row 500m
10 Squat Clean & Jerk

WOD 2:
50 Chest to Bar Pull ups
50 Burpees

Sunday WOD 3:
NIne of Spades / Hopper Deck
3 Rounds, 21, 15, and 9 reps of
Box Jumps (24 inches)
KB Swings (1 pood women / 1.5 pood men)
Sumodeadlift Highpull (65lbs women / 95lbs men)

Best of luck to all competitors!

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Just In - Unauthorized Release of Sunday's Workout!

Sevan Matossian, our man on the land, was able to uncover the NorCal Regional's Day 2 Workout. We can't print it here, but he made a video describing it.

There will be overhead squats, hill runs carrying dumbbells, pullups, super-heavy deadlifts, and not necessarily in that order.

Sevan's NorCal Day 2 Workout description video ... [wmv] [mov]

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Anyone following CrossFit since its early days should remember seeing a blond-haired, mild-tempered dude battling it out against beasts like Greg Amundson.

Dave Leys fell off the public scene for awhile when he left Santa Cruz for school down in LA. He made a showing at last years games having trained hard only for a month before competing. He didn't do as well as he wanted and now he is back for revenge.

Dave has moved back to Santa Cruz and is training at CrossFit Santa Cruz. This year he has dialed in his diet, his training, and his rest, which may have been the most significant piece. Before moving back up, he had only taken four days off in ten years! He is ready to battle it out in the NorCal Regional Qualifiers happening this weekend in Aromas, CA.

Dave Leys Qualifier Video by Hollis Molloy ... [wmv] [mov]

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Chris Spealler placed 1st Overall at the Great Basin Regional Qualifiers by winning all three workouts.

This video shows highlights from his second workout. Of interest to many will be how many judges there were watching his movements. He has several reps not counted for one reason or another. His mental game is top notch, and he continues to push through no matter how fair (or not) he believes the counting is.

After the workout, Chris talks about his experience during the workout.

Sevan Matossian's video of Speal's second workout ... [wmv] [mov]

GSX Athletics is honored to have been selected to host this weekend's CrossFit Games Southwest Regional Qualifier. Our team has stepped up to the challenge of staging a fair, exciting, and safe event that will stand as a legitimate test of fitness. Three workouts have been carefully selected to challenge our competitors capacities from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri. Administered correctly, and collectively, this thing is anyone's to win.

Furthermore, this event will serve to embrace our great local CrossFit Community, and showcase our region's finest and fittest men and women. Each hoping to earn a qualifying position to the CrossFit Games in July.

We have collectively hand built a structure to serve our CrossFit Community, CrossFit HQ, and future folks who want to change their lives for the better with real .

Welcome to Hell's Half Acre!

There is a lot of attention being given to the spread of swine flu in Texas. At this point, the CDC is not requiring the postponement or cancellation of public events, so we intend to proceed as normal for the Qualifier.

It is, however, the recommendation of the Region's director that anyone who has been sick in the last 48 hours, or had any symptoms of influenza or swine influenza such as fever, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, runny nose and body aches that they contact their doctor immediately. We also suggest that they do not attend the Hell's Half Acre qualifier for safety reasons and the threat of the disease spread in our area.

The health department recommends regular hand washing, and hand wash gel will be widely available at the Qualifier.

Please continue to check this site and the Regional site for updates.

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In a super-secret testing of the NorCal Workout 2 a couple weeks ago, Pat Barber gave it a shot to see what would happen. The current requirements are a minimum of 10 reps of each, but when Pat did it, they required a minimum of 20 reps of each.

The workout is:
Max reps in 10 minutes of:
Muscle-Up
Ground-to-Shoulder (Male: 185#, Female: 105#)

Pat did 5 reps of each, back and forth, until he reached 20 each, and then he started emphasizing the cleans. He finished with 63 total reps (25 Muscle-Ups and 38 Cleans). He says now that if he was going to do it again, he'd focus on the cleans even more with the 10 rep minimum.

Barber WoD test video by Hollis Molloy ... [wmv] [mov]

NorCal has uploaded a video of the new standard on the second workout for Day 1.

NorCal WoD 2 Standards Video ... [wmv] [mov]

Movie Showing!!
The CrossFit Movie Every Second Counts is here and will be showing this Friday, May 1st, 2009 at the Rio Theater in Santa Cruz California. Doors open at 6:45pm. Show starts at 7:15.

Before the event CrossFit Santa Cruz welcomes all to a BBQ starting at 3pm.

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The Dirty South final results are in! Congratulations to everyone who participated, and especially the seven women who qualified for the Games in Aromas this July!

Jenni Orr
Shana Alverson
Laura DeMarco
Adriana Grassi-Mosley (Not Pictured)
Mariah Provost
Ndiya Nkongho
Rachel Ann Steinbruckner (Not Pictured)

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The Dirty South final results are in! Congratulations to everyone who participated, and especially the seven men who qualified for the Games in Aromas this July!

Russell Leland Berger
Lance Mosley (Not Pictured)
Brandon Phillips
Sean Provost
Omar Torres
Leonid V Soubbotine
Drew N. McKenzie

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The Mid-Atlantic final results are in! Congratulations to everyone who participated, and especially the six women who qualified for the Games in Aromas this July!

Christy Phillips
Nicole Gordon
Maggie Dabe-Colby
Lee Knight
Glory Dawson
Amanda Miller

Mid-Atlantic Women's Final Results

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The Mid-Atlantic final results are in! Congratulations to everyone who participated, and especially the six men who qualified for the Games in Aromas this July!

Ben Smith
Blair Morrison
Josh Wagner
Chad Wilkinson
Jon Matzner
Pat Sherwood

Mid-Atlantic Men's Final Results

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Erin Cianciolo, currently in 10th place after Day 1, during Workout 2 of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Qualifiers.

The workout for Day 2 has been announced. It will be:
Three rounds, 21-15- and 9 reps, for time of:
95 pound Squat snatch (65 pounds for women)
Chest to bar Pull-ups

The barbell must begin on the ground. The bar must be jumped to overhead in a single motion. At some point, the crease of the hips must pass below the knee. The most efficient way to perform this is to catch in a full squat and stand. But, a power snatch followed by an overhead squat is considered legit.

Any and all kips are allowed on the pullups so long as full extension is reached at the bottom and the chest comes into contact with the bar.

Jeff Tincher explains the standards of movement for the workout in this video ... [wmv] [mov]

Russell Berger and Jenni Orr are in first place after Day 1. Sean Provost and Lance Mosley are second and third for the men. Shana Alverson and Laura DeMarco are in second and third for the women.

Sunday's workout has been announced. It will be:
1000 Meter Row
25 OHS (135lb. Men) (95lb. Women)
100 Meter Run
50 Kettlebell Swings (53lb. Men) (35lb. Women)
100 Meter Run
25 Burpees
200 Meter Run
There is a 20 mIn time limit for this WOD.

Dirty South Men's Results After Day 1
Dirty South Women's Results After Day 1

For detailed results of each workout, check out this entry on their site.

Pictures coming tomorrow!!

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The workouts for Day 1 of the NorCal Regional Qualifiers have been posted.

Workout A

For time:
Row 500m
30 Burpees
10 Shoulder-to-Overhead (Men: 165#, Women: 95#)

It's up to competitors to decide on the technique to employ for the shoulder-to-overhead movement (shoulder press, push press, push jerk, etc.).

Workout B

Max reps in 10 minutes of:
Muscle-Up
Ground-to-Shoulder (Male: 185#, Female: 105#)

It's up to competitors to decide on the technique to employ for the ground-to-shoulder movement (power clean, squat clean, deadlift-and-curl, etc.)

The workouts will be run simultaneously, with competitors switching workouts later in the day. For more information on the workouts and the event look here.

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Blair Morrison (pictured) is in the lead after the first day at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Qualifiers. His total time is 17:53. He has the same lead over second place that second has over 20th.

The top 10 men who are competing tomorrow for the final 6 spots are:
Blair Morrison
Jason Fernandez
George Dobbins
Aaron Moburg-Jones
Josh Wagner
Tyler Risty
Chad Wilkinson
Timothy Bishop
Ben Smith
Pat Sherwood

The top 10 women who are competing tomorrow for the final 6 spots are:
Christy Phillips
Glory Dawson
Nicole Gordon
Jennifer Navarro
Maggie Dabe-Colby
Lee Knight
Colleen O'Connor
Danielle Dionne
Amanda Miller
Erin Cianciolo

Mid-Atlantic Men's Results After Day 1
Mid-Atlantic Women's Results After Day 1

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In case you missed them, two Great Basin vids were posted on the main site. Here, Lisa Ray is pictured finishing the final run of the final workout. She finished second overall.

Clay Weldon made a highlight video of the overall event ... [wmv] [mov]

Sevan Matossian made a video of the Women's Final Workout ... [wmv] [mov]

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The Dirty South Regional Qualifiers are upon us and the workouts have been posted:

Workout #1

3 min Max Points Suicide Run
2 min Rest
3 min Max Rep Deadlift (275 lb. Men) (185 lb. Women)

Workout #2

5 Rounds for time of:
20 Double Unders
10 Wall Ball (20 lb. Men) (14 lb. Women) all 10 ft. target
1 Rope Climb 15 ft.
There will be a 15 minute time limit for this workout

Workout #3

8 min AMRAP of:
5 Clean and Jerk (135 lb. Men) (95 lb. Women)
(From the ground by any recognized clean to full extension overhead)
10 Chest to Bar Pull Ups

All competitors will complete Workout 1, then after 3 1/2 hours rest they will begin one of the two afternoon Workouts. Some competitors will begin the afternoon with Workout #2 and some will begin with Workout #3. The afternoon Event WOD order is randomly predetermined for all competitors. All competitors will be given equal rest between workouts.

For more information and videos of the standards go here.

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This weekend we have the Mid-Atlantic Regional Qualifiers which are being held at CrossFit/Blauer Tactical Training Center in Virginia Beach.

Workout 1:
2k Row

Workout 2:
3 rounds of
10 Deadlift (275m/185w)
50 Double-unders

Workout 3:
400m Run, 21 OHS, (95m/65w), 21 BoxJump
400m Run, 15 OHS, 15 BoxJump
400m Run, 9 OHS, 9 BoxJumps

Then Sunday there will be one more workout where the top 10 women and top 10 men from Saturday will compete for a spot at the 2009 CrossFit Games. Up to six men and six women will qualify.

For a video on the workout standards you can check here.

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Zach Forrest is a trainer at CrossFit Las Vegas. This year at the Great Basin Regional Qualifiers, Zach came in 3rd overall, which earns him a trip to Aromas in July.

Carey Peterson captured Zach Forrest's second workout, and a brief interview after in which he talks about his training ... [wmv] [mov]

Full athlete profiles coming soon...

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The final results for the SoCal Regional Qualifiers are in!

David Millar from CrossFit Marina (pictured) took the men's division, while Kristan Clever from CrossFit North Hollywood took the women's division.

Brian Chontosh (2nd) and Craig McCarroll (6th) are active duty Marines. Andy Petranek (3rd) is a former Marine, and even older than Jeff Tincher!

Valerie Mackenzie (2nd) postponed her wedding to compete.

SoCal Men's Final Results
SoCal Women's Final Results

Paul Szoldra made a highlight video of David Millar ... [wmv] [mov]

CrossFit by Overload made a highlight video of Kristan Clever ... [wmv] [mov]

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The men who qualified are (in order):
David Millar
Brian Chontosh
Andy Petranek
JC Nessa
Jeremy Kinnick
Craig McCarroll

The women who qualified are (in order):
Kristan Clever
Valerie Mackenzie
Rebecca Voigt
Kim Ball
Michele Vieux
Katie Hogan

Congratulations to all! Full results and videos coming tomorrow!

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The final results are in!

Chris Spealler won all three workouts, the final one more than four minutes quicker than the closest competitor Zachary Forrest, who ended up third overall. Chris, Zachary and Eric O'Connor (who won the run at last years' Games) will be heading to Aromas for the 09 Games.

Hillari Eaton (pictured) won the women's competition, with the top finish in both the second and third workouts (she got fourth in the first workout). She and Lisa Ray were the only women to complete all three workouts as Rx'd.

Cyndi Frieling came in third. She won the first workout and got fourth in the final workout. She scaled the second workout. The way they scored the event was 0 points for scaled workouts or workouts that didn't get completed in the allotted time. Cyndi's 189 points from the first and final workouts were enough to earn her a trip to Aromas.

Congratulations to all six athletes! Specific athlete profiles will be coming in over the next couple weeks.

Great Basin Men's Final Results
Great Basin Women's Final Results

Sevan Matossian captured Eric O'Connor's first workout ... [wmv] [mov]

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The results from Day 1 of the SoCal Regional Qualifiers are in!

David Millar (pictured) is in first after the two events with a combined time of 20:28. Brian Chontosh is in second at 21:40, and Craig McCarroll is third at 22:35.

Kristan Clever is in first for the women with a combined total of 22:55. Valerie Mackenzie is in second at 23:24, and Rebecca Voigt is in third at 25:39.

It was a scorcher in Orange County today, with temperatures over 90 degrees F.

Sunday's workout has been announced. It will be:

For Time:
2k Row
Followed by six rounds of:
20 Box Jumps
10 Wall Balls

SoCal Day 1 Men's Results
SoCal Day 1 Women's Results

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The women hit it hard this morning at the SoCal Regional Qualifiers.

The first workout was:
6 Rounds for time of:
30 Squats
10 Chest to Bar Pull Ups
5 Power Clean / Anyway Overhead x 105#

Valerie Mackenzie had the best time of the day at 13:14. Kristan Clever came in second with 13:41, and Rebecca Voigt was third at 15:40.

Paul Szoldra was there and prepared a little teaser of what happened in the first three heats of the day.

Women's 1st Workout Teaser ... [wmv] [mov]

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Cyndi Frieling won the first workout of the day by a significant margin (nearly a minute and a half).

Carey Peterson was there and captured her workout, and got a few words with her after.

Cyndi Frieling Workout 1 video ... [wmv] [mov]

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Results are in for Day 1 at the Great Basin Regional Qualifiers. Speal won the second workout also, with a time of 5:02. Zachary Forrest finished second at 5:48, which put him into third overall. Eric O'Connor finished third for the workout (6:46), which allowed him to keep second overall for the day.

Only three women did the second workout as Rx'd. Hillari Eaton finished first in 9:24. Britney Barber was second (10:40), and Lisa Ray third (11:21), which is also the overall standing.

Sunday's workout was announced. It will be:

800m run

Three rounds of :
10 Squat cleans 155lb/100lb
20 Chest to bar pullups
30 Box jump 30"/24"

800m run (after the 3 rounds are completed.

Men's Results Day 1
Women's Results Day 1

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The results from the first workout at the Great Basin Regional Qualifiers are in!

The sandbag run ended up being 100 yards.

Chris Spealler (3:49), Eric O'Connor (4:09) and Peter Egyed (4:10) are 1, 2, 3 for the men.

Cyndi Frieling (5:04), Robin Lyons (6:27) and Britney Barber (6:37) are 1, 2, 3 for the women.

Full Results for the Men
Full Results for the Women

Sevan was there, and uploaded this footage of Speal's first workout ... [wmv] [mov]

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Speal is competing today in the Great Basin Regional Qualifiers. Sevan caught up to him last night and asked him about his training and perspective on this year's competitions.

Speal came in 10th overall last year. He was first going into the final event, which was the 30 reps of squat clean and jerk at 155lbs. That's a massive load for someone who weighs 135lbs.

Since then, Speal has been training hard. He has gained about 5lbs, is much stronger, and still as fast (if not faster).

Pre-Qualifier Interview video ... [wmv] [mov]

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Lance Cantu finished 60th overall at last year's Games. He has been training hard all year at CrossFit Central in Austin,Texas, and will be competing in the Hell's Half Acre Qualifier.

Lance is a former Marine who is now a Level 2 CrossFit trainer (listed as Roland) at CrossFit Central. In this video, Sevan and Carey caught up with him for a workout on a recent trip to Austin.

Lance Regionals Video ... [wmv] [mov]

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The Southern California Regional Qualifiers are happening this weekend. They will be held at the Orange County Sheriff's Regional Training Academy. The workouts have just been announced, and will be:

Workout #1

6 Rounds for time of:
30 Squats
10 Chest to Bar Pull Ups
5 Power Clean / Anyway Overhead x 155# (105# women)

This heat will consist of a 25 minute period in which you must complete the workout.

Workout #2

3 Rounds for time of:
450m Run
30 Overhead Squats x 95# (65# women)

There will be a 20 minute period in which you have to complete this workout.

Workout #3

Will be announced on Saturday afternoon.

Good luck to everyone!

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This weekend the Great Basin Regional Qualifiers will be held at CrossFit Flagstaff in Arizona. They just announced the events for Saturday!

Workout 1 - Saturday Morning

Snatch (power or full) x 5 reps (135#/95#)
Short Sandbag Carry (90#/70#)
Snatch x 4 reps
Sandbag Carry
Snatch x 3 reps
Sandbag Carry
Snatch x 2 reps
Sandbag Carry
Snatch x 1 rep

Workout 2 - Saturday Afternoon

Complete 5 rounds for time of:
Deadlifts x 7 reps (275#/185#)
30 Air Squats
7 Handstand Push Ups

Sunday's Workout will be announced Saturday evening

For more information on movement standards and participant profiles go here.

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The European Regional Qualifiers took place last weekend. Mikko Salo, Brian Bowen, and James Crichton qualified to come to Aromas in July. No women qualified, which means there is an unbelievable opportunity in Europe, not just for female CrossFitters but also for all the European affiliates to distinguish themselves for the Games '10.

The workouts were:
3 rounds for time,
400m run
21 Kettlebell Swings (m:32kg, w:20kg)
12 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups

15-12-9 reps for time,
Clean & Jerk (overhead anyhow) - m:60kg, w:40kg
Handstand Push-Ups

As Many Rounds As Possible in 20 mins of:
250m row
10 Burpees (8ft target)
10 Ring Dips (shoulder below elbow)

They write this of the event:
Although the field of athletes was only small the quality was extremely high. Three challenging workouts probed each athlete's fitness looking for weakness. Some facets of fitness were found wanting but there was no such lack of passion, commitment or sportsmanship.

Approaching the end of any workout it was hard to believe that there were less than 80 people in the building. The CrossFit Northern Ireland facility seemed to be bursting at the seams. The first time most of the athletes, volunteers and supporters had met but I have seen no finer example of CrossFit community than this weekend's event.

European Results Page

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The Australasian Qualifiers took place this past weekend (April 4-5, 2009). Steve Willis and Chris Hogan qualified for the men. Tamaryn Venter and Nadine Burns qualified for the women. Congratulations to them all!

Mick Shaw from CrossFit Effects writes this of the event:
It's been a great weekend and I believe that the two guys and two girls deserve to represent this region at the CrossFit Games.

We made the standards for range of movement very strict. We had judges from all over Australia, and a couple of them let certain athletes get away with bad form. I told all the athletes at the beginning that if they did not complete the workout as required, they would have to do it again. After reviewing one woman's workout, I decided to give her the option to take the 15min timeout option or redo the workout. She had 30min to decide. She chose to redo the workout, and four other women joined her.

Chris Hogan was a dark horse who came through very strong.

Australasia 09 Male Results
Australasia 09 Female Results

Here's a video slideshow of the event: YouTube

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This weekend CrossFit Northeast England will be hosting the European Regional Qualifier where competitors like Scott Jenkins (shown in picture) will be battling for a spot at the 2009 CrossFit Games. The Regionals will consist of 2 days worth of workouts. Day one will have two tough workouts,

Workout 1
Three Rounds
Run 400m
21 kettlebell swings Men 32kg/ Women 20kg
12 Chest To Bar pull Ups

Workout 2
15 - 12 - 9 Reps
Clean and Jerk Men 60kg/ Women 40kg
Hand Stand Press Ups

Day two there will be one TBA workout with which the winners will be decided. For a look at some of the competitors go here.

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The Regional Qualifiers are starting!

CrossFit FX posted the Australasia Regional Qualifier workouts.

The site features several of the top competitors, along with the actual workouts:

Saturday 4th April, 7:30am Workout 1:
Three Rounds
10 Clean & Jerk Men 60kg / Females 40kg
15 Ring Dips
20 KB Swing Men 24kg / Females 16kg

1:00pm Work out 2:
21 - 15 - 9 Reps
Burpee
Pull Ups
Row 400m

Sunday, 5th April 8am Workout 3:
This will be announced Saturday Evening after the final heat.

The top two men and top two women from these three workouts will be coming to Aromas, CA on July 11-12, 2009 to compete in the 2009 CrossFit Games!

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Ricky Frausto trains out of and co-owns CrossFit Omaha. He will be competing for a spot in the games in the Rocky Mountain Regionals.

At last years games Pretty Ricky came out of nowhere and took the Games by storm. Going into the final event, Ricky was in second place, behind Chris Spealler. He ended up placing 6th overall. He's been training hard, and we're likely to see him again this year.

Ricky Regionals video ... [wmv] [mov]

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The Fittest Games Challenge just took place on March 7th at Crossfit Dallas Central in Dallas and CrossFit Central in Austin. The top 15 elite males and females from both Dallas and Austin are going on to The Fittest Games Championship on April 4th at CrossFit Central. The top 2 males and females will win reimbursement for the Regional Qualifier + hotel accommodation during the qualifier!

Central Fittest Games Challenge ... [wmv] [mov]

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Libby Dibiase hails from CrossFit Omaha. At last years Games, she placed 6th overall and had the female record for fastest time in the deadlift/burpee workout.

Libby hadn't been doing CrossFit very long before the Games. While she was athletic her whole life, she competed in figure competitions before CrossFit.

This year she is coming back strong and ready to fight. You'll find her at the Rocky Mountain regional qualifiers.

Libby Regionals video ... [wmv] [mov]

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Kyle Carmichael (pictured in the green sweatshirt, bottom right) is a 14 year old from Lemoore, California. His father, James is an active Naval Officer and recently returned from Afghanistan where he learned about CrossFit from the Marine Corps.

When James returned from deployment last August Kyle was a die hard P90X guy. James agreed to do 90 days of P90X with him if he would check out CrossFit after.

As you'd guess, shortly after trying CrossFit, Kyle threw the P90X box in the closet. It hasn't come out since.

Since Thanksgiving Kyle has dialed in his diet and has recently put up some great times on workouts like Barbra (15:59) and Murph (36:18).

He is training hard to prepare for the NorCal Regional Qualifiers.

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Connor Martin finished 114th in the 2008 CrossFit Games. He was 16. (He finished 32nd in 07 at the age of 15.) He completed all four workouts as Rx'd and within the predetermined cutoff time. Of the 196 registered men, only 119 accomplished that.

Connor competed against the top men in the country because there are no divisions in the CrossFit Games. He is the eldest son of the Jeff and Mikki Martin, the founders of CrossFit Kids and CrossFit Brand X in Ramona, CA.

Ever heard anyone say, "If only I had found CrossFit when I was younger"? Well, you're looking here at someone who did. Rumor is that this year he's substantially stronger and even hungrier. Watch out!

Connor at the Games video ... [wmv] [mov]

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Lauren Pryor trains at CrossFit Calgary with CrossFit legend James Fitzgerald (OPT).

She was well prepared for the 08 Games, but had a brutal tear on her palms during the Thruster/Pull-up workout. We've seen some bad tears, but this was one of the worst.

She finished second in the Run, and top 15 in the Deadlift/Burpee workout. She'll be a force this year for sure!

Look for her at the Canada West Regional Qualifiers.

Lauren Regionals video ... [wmv] [mov]

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Dutch Lowy from CrossFit ATM finished seventh in the 2008 Games. He is prepping for the Hell's Half Acre Regional Qualifiers with a little Oly workout.

One of Dutch's nicknames is Mini Max, for his resemblance to Max Mormont.

Dutch weighs about 160lbs (about 72kg) these days. This workout is three rounds, of 3-2-1 reps, of:
Snatch 80kg
Clean and jerk 100kg

Dutch Games prep video ... [wmv] [mov]

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Elyse Umeda was born and raised in Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. She lives there now after graduating from Princeton University in 2007, where she played varsity basketball. Elyse is 5'3" with her shoes on.

Elyse trains with Kimo Kockelman at Hardass Fitness, where she is also a trainer after getting her CrossFit Level 1 cert at CrossFit Marina in October 08.

Elyse has been hitting it hard. She has a sub-4 Fran, a 387 FGB, and a 20min Filthy Fifty.

She also deadlifts and back squats more than double bodyweight.

She'll be competing in the NorCal Regional Qualifiers on May 2-3.

Elyse Regionals video ... [wmv] [mov]

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Apparently, Tommy Orr knows a little more about the "Dirty South" than we do.

As the various regional qualifiers get oriented, Johnny Mac and Jon Gilson made a video about the Dirty South Qualifiers. Similar scenarios exist for all the regionals, so check in now to see what you need to do to participate.

Dirty South Qualifiers Info ... [wmv] [mov]

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Jeannie Bassi from Jeannies Beach CrossFit in Virginia Beach, VA grew up in Thailand, where she competed in Varsity sports against 8 International teams in Southeast Asia.

When she was young she was diagnosed with pretty severe scoliosis, and had to wear a hard plastic body brace for over 2 years to keep her spine from getting any worse. She was told that the 38 degree curve in her spine would prevent her from doing most sports. It was then she took action and began doing 'functional' movements in her room: squats, push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups. Long story short, she went from a 38 degree to a 12 degree curve by working her muscles properly and efficiently.

She is now a full bore CrossFitter and will be competing in the Mid Atlantic qualifiers on April 25-26.

Jeannie Bassi Games prep video ... [wmv] [mov]

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Adam Brigges is the Co-owner of CrossFit South San Clemente in the Southern part of Orange County California. His sister, Rachel Medina, sent in these pictures and told us a little story about Adam.

Adam has always dreamed of being an entrepreneur and owning his own box. Bizarrely enough, at a very young age Adam has had an obsession with "boxes," and believe it or not, I am referring to the average cardboard box.

Since the age of three, Adam was always trying to fit himself into the smallest cardboard box possible and would stay in the box for the majority of the day. When it was time for dinner, and my mom had to pull Adam out of the box, he would throw a huge tantrum until he was able to return to his comfort zone. My parents were beside themselves and had no clue what to do when it came time for our annual vacation to Big Sur, California. I remember the struggle they had trying to get Adam into the motor home and buckled in. This two hour ordeal resulted in multiple headaches and alas, no bon' voyage to Big Sur. So, my mother had the brilliant idea to take Adam's box and buckle him into the motor home through the cardboard itself. Genius!

Our new facility is phenomenal and I'm so happy that now there is room for more of us in "The Box." Good work little brother!

Adam Briggs at the 08 Games ... [wmv] [mov]

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Mike G and Ken Gall from CrossFit Atlanta take on 7 rounds for time of:
10 SDHP
10 Ring dips

This may look familiar because Freddy C and OPT did the same workout back in 2007. But the game is tighter now, and both these guys smoked OPT and Freddy from back in the day.

Mike and Ken train together frequently, and push each other hard. Blistering performances both of them. Damn, that Dirty South competition is going to be tough!

CrossFit Atlanta Games prep video ... [wmv] [mov]

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Erin Cianciolo is a mother of three, has been training at from CrossFit Alexandria in Virginia for about a year and a half, and prior to CrossFit, Erin had no real athletic background.

Still, as you can see in the video, Erin is a stellar athlete and will be going to the Mid Atlantic qualifiers. This video shows her taking on Fran in 3:12. She also has a 7:44 Helen, 26 Rounds of Cindy, a 22:19 5K, and a 215lb Back Squat (at a body weight of 105lbs).

Erin Cianciolo 3:12 Fran ... [wmv] [mov]

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Chris Spealler from CrossFit Park City in Park City, Utah is without a doubt one of CrossFit's most extraordinary athletes. Chris was in first place after the end of the first day of the 08 Games. His lead over second place was bigger than the difference between 2nd and 11th places.

He had the best time in the Thruster/Pull-up workout, second best time in the Run, and fourth best time in the Deadlift/Burpee workout. There was not another male athlete in the top five for even two of these events. Tanya Wagner also finished top five in all three (4th, 4th, and 5th, respectively).

Chris weighs 135lbs, which put him at a disadvantage for the 155lb squat clean and jerk workout on Sunday (compare that to Khalipa's 210lb frame). He finished 10th overall in 08 and 4th overall in 07.

He'll be competing in the Great Basin Regional Qualifier.

Athlete Profile video ... [wmv] [mov]

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In preparation for the upcoming Rocky Mountain Regional Qualifiers for the 09 Games, Kevin Montoya from CrossFit FlexGym tried his hand at one of last year's Games workouts: The chest to bar Fran. The best time at the Games was 3:01 by Chris Spealler from CrossFit Park City. In this video, Kevin cranks out a 2:58! Stellar effort. And from the looks of his lever, the kid is not just a Franaddict.

For his workout, Kevin didn't have the benefit of a friendly and supportive Games judge to point out when his movement didn't quite reach the established standards. So, I'm not sure we can call this a Games winning performance. But it's definitely not too shabby for solo in his own gym.

And, as a special bonus, starting about a minute and a half in, there's a nice contrast offered between different schools of training.

Montoya Chest to Bar Fran video ... [wmv] [mov]

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Jimi Letchford from CrossFit Laguna Beach is a beast of an athlete, finishing 25th overall in the 2008 Games. Jimi works for CrossFit HQ, helping manage the CrossFit Store and Operation Phoenix.

Jimi is also a part of the traveling CrossFit Level 1 certification seminar staff. Last summer (July 27, 2008) at a seminar at CrossFit Brand X, a few of the trainers and two participants headed to Rubio's for a little eating contest. Six fish tacos for time, any liquid intake you want, none required. Jimi literally tied Dave Brewer at 6:13, easily beating Pat Barber, Tony Budding and Libby Dibiase. They went to the wrappers for the tie breaker, and since Jimi's were immaculate, he was awarded the victory. Adrian Bozman created a little video of the experience:

Rubio's Taco Challenge video ... [wmv] [mov]

Jimi Letchford at the 08 Games video ... [wmv] [mov]

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Pictured is Chuck Carswell after Uneven Grace.

Chuck and Mike Giardina (20th overall in the 2008 Games) have been hitting it hard. Here is a video of them doing the main site WOD from January 14, 2009. Chuck, at a body weight of 197lbs, finished with a triple Overhead Squat at 120kg or 264lbs. Mike G, at 183lbs, finished with a triple at 105kg or 231lbs.

These guys are going to be a force to reckon with in the Dirty South!

OHSx3 video ... [wmv] [mov]

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The European Regional Qualifier
3 spots men and 3 spots women

Date
Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5

Location
Crossfit Northern Ireland
Unit 3
Annesborough Industrial Estate
Annesborough Road
Lurgan
Co Armagh
BT67 9JD

Point of Contact
Chris Kemp

Web Address
http://crossfitnee.typepad.com/crossfit_northeastengland/european-regional-qualifier.html