2013 CrossFit Regionals: Australia Results

Year after year Australia continues to improve as a CrossFit Region. In 2013 we saw yet another impressive performance with the standard improving remarkably across all major divisions.

While no competitor from Australia or New Zealand has finished on top of the podium at the CrossFit Games, many have come close, including Chad Mackay, who finished 9th last year.

Mackay spearheaded the men’s half which included former Games competitors Rob Forte, Brandon Swan and Chris Hogan, while in the female’s half, Kara Webb, Amanda Allen, Ruth Anderson Horrell and Amy Dracup were all in action.

Here are how the leaderboards stand after the three days of competition:

Men

After finishing second and third in his past two Regional competitions, Rob Forte went one better in 2013, claiming the overall honours in the men’s division.

He won three Events overall to finish seven points clear of Mackay, who despite recent shoulder surgery, managed to qualify for his third CrossFit Games. Brandon Swan rounded out the podium to qualify for the Games for a second year in a row.

Matt Healey finished fourth overall, after sitting in third position heading into the final day, while Kevin Manuel was fifth.

Three-time Games competitor Chris Hogan finished in 19th place overall, one spot better than Brendan Clarke, who struggled with the heavy weights in Event 5 and 7.

Women

With a bunch of new faces and a number of top athletes returning, the female’s division was always going to be fiercely contested.

In the end experience prevailed, with Kara Webb winning her second straight Regional title, finishing top four in every Event. She finished 17 points ahead of Kiwi Ruth Anderson Horrell, who broke the world record in the final Event. Pip Malone also earned a ticket to the Games by finishing third.

2011 Regional champ Amy Dracup was three points shy of a ticket to Carson, placing fourth overall, while Amanda Allen was fifth overall, despite finishing top four in five of the seven Events.

Former Olympic hurdler Ashley Higgins finished seventh overall, and won the Spirit of the Games award after pushing through the pain of severe fatigue and exhaustion on Days 2 and 3.

Team

Despite winning just one Event over the Regional weekend, Schwartzs CrossFit Melbourne went back to back in the Team division. The Victorian team finished six points ahead of CrossFit Active, who had a number of members who also qualified for the Australia Regional as individuals (Brooke Surtees, Luke Starr).

Southern CrossFit won the final Event to upset CrossFit Horizons and claim the third and final spot at the 2013 CrossFit Games.