In 2015 the CrossFit Regionals were re-organized into a new format, as 17 regions were combined to create 8 Regionals split over three weekends. That competition culminated this weekend with the Central, Meridian and West Regionals, and just like that, we now know the men and women will be that will make up the field at the CrossFit Games this summer. Here are the qualifiers from the aforementioned Regionals:
CENTRAL
Men
1.Scott Panchik
2.Jacob Heppner
3.Alex Anderson
4.Nick Urankar
5.Graham Holmberg
Women
1.Brooke Wells
2.Nicole Holcomb
3.Stacie Tovar
4.Elisabeth Akinwale
5.Lindy Barber
Teams
1.CrossFit Mayhem Freedom
2.CrossFit 417
3.CrossFit Maximus
4.CrossFit Kilo
5.CrossFit Grandview
MERIDIAN
Men
1.Jonne Koski
2.Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson
3.Steven Fawcett
4.Lukas Hogberg
5.0Phil Hesketh
Women
1.Ragnheidur Sara Sigmundsdottir
2.Katrin Davidsdottir
3.Annie Thorisdottir
4.Kristin Holte
5. Thuridur Erla Helgadottir
Teams
1.CrossFit Solid
2.CrossFit Yas
3.CrossFit Reykjavik-Virtuosity
4.CrossFit Turicum
5.CrossFit Fabriken
WEST
Men
1.Lucas Parker
2.Cole Sager
3.Kevin Simons
4.Tyson Takasaki
5.Joe Scali
Women
1.Emily Abbott
2.Carleen Mathews
3.Jessica Core
4.Regan Huckaby
5. Alex Parker
Team
1.Lane 5 Athletics
2.CrossFit Marysville
3.Verdant Green
4.CrossFit Fort Vancouver
5.Team Taranis
The final weekend of Regional competition with plenty of storylines, highlighted by Julie Foucher’s injury and refusal to withdraw.
1. Julie Foucher injuries her Achilles’ tendon, finishes competition in protective boot
Julie Foucher has always stated that 2015 was going to be her final year as a competitive CrossFit athlete as she switches her focus to becoming a doctor. At the start of the second day of competition at the Central Regional, the four-time Games athlete (who has never finished outside the top 5, no less) was leading her heat in event 3 during the 100 box jump-overs. But after jumping down from the box, Foucher paused and looked behind her, as if something had struck her leg.
“It sounds like I probably have a partial Achilles tear,” she said after the event. “I literally thought someone had, like, dropped a barbell on my foot, that’s why I looked behind me. Like, I thought something rolled on my foot.”
She added: “I know it’s the last time I’m going to be out there so I want to just do as much as I can.”
-Foucher speaking to the CrossFit Games media team
True to her word, Foucher refused to let the injury dictate how she would love the sport as a competitor. A few hours after event 3, Foucher returned for events 4 and 5 (a 250-foot handstand walk and max-effort snatch) in a protective boot. Walking to the starting line while her competitors ran, Foucher finished the handstand walk in 2:17.1 for 11th place overall, and followed that up with an 85lb. muscle snatch. Foucher returned on Sunday and complete the final two events of the Regional, finishing 8th and 34th respectively for a final placing of 8th in the overall standings.
“This weekend definitely didn’t go as planned, but in many ways it was the perfect ending to my CrossFit Games competition career. I experienced an entirely new level of the CrossFit community, and I had more fun on the competition floor than ever before. Congratulations to all the qualifiers; it’s an honor competing alongside you. Thank you to the volunteers, support staff, and every single person who reached out with an encouraging word or smile this weekend. Thank you to my sponsors for their unwavering support. I’m so blessed to be part of this community, and I am excited to see what’s in store for the future.”
-Julie Foucher
2. Rich Froning qualifies for the CrossFit Games
But not as an individual. Froning led CrossFit Mayhem Freedom (which also includes Games veteran James Hobart) to five top-5 finishes (including one event win) as the team won the Central Regional, securing their spot at the Games. CF Mayhem Freedom will join UTE CrossFit (led by Tommy Hackenbruck) and NorCal CrossFit (led by Jason Khalipa) to set up a mouth-watering team competition at the Games.
3. For the first time in Games history, 3 female individual champions will be competing together
With Annie Thorisdottir’s qualification from the Meridian Regional (where she came 3rd), history will be made at the 2015 Games. For the first time ever, three champions—Camille Leblanc-Bazinet, Sam Briggs and Thorisdottir—will compete against one another to claim the title of the Fittest on Earth.
4. Cody Anderson misses the cut by the slimmest of margins
At the 2014 CrossFit Games, Cody Anderson was a standout surprise. At 5’7” and (a generous) 160lbs, Anderson surprised spectators and athletes alike by moving huge weights (including a 325lb. overhead squat and a 310lb. clean).
“He weighs 160 lbs, he’s a smaller guy. We knew he was going to do pretty well on the muscle-up workout, but what I was most impressed with, was him on the clean ladder. The guy PR’d his clean. … (he looks) not as strong as you’d think he is. And he just crushed it—310lbs, finished the ladder off and I was just inspired.”
—Jason Khalipa on Cody Anderson
However, Anderson faced a tight battle to make a return trip to the Games at the Central Regional. On the final day of competition, Anderson won event 6, moving him from 8th to 5th place ahead of the final workout. Event 7 consisted of 15 muscle-ups followed by a clean ladder of 5 weights ascending from 205lbs to 265lbs. Anderson finished the event 5th, less than a second behind 4th place finisher Kevin Simons (1:22.8 to 1:23.6). That meant Anderson slipped from 5th to 6th overall, finishing with a total score of 538—just one point from tying for the final qualifying spot. Had Anderson finished the event just one second faster, he would have actually finished 2nd in the region.
5. Watch out for Ragnheidur Sigmundsdottir
Sigmundsdottir’s performance at the Meridian Regional was so dominant that she would have won the Pacific, East, Atlantic, West, Central and California Regionals—and finished 2nd in the South by just 18 points. Needless to say, the 22-year-old Icelandic native will enter her first CrossFit Games as a rookie—but a dangerous proposition to the athletes around her.
©2015 CrossFit, Inc. Used with permission from CrossFit, Inc