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