CrossFit Regionals: Australian Winners

The final day of the Australian CrossFit Regionals was full of drama, with eliminations, near world records and some major changes to the leaderboards.

Heading into the final two workouts, Rob Forte held a lead in the men’s comp but had a fired up Chad McKay breathing down his neck. The 2010 Games qualifier had won the final event of the day before and had all the momentum leading into the snatch ladder.

With a personal best snatch of over 100kgs, this workout was always going to suit McKay, and he ended up winning the event to claim top spot on the leaderboard. From there, he never looked like losing it, and eventually was crowned Regional Champion, finishing three points ahead of Rob Forte, with 20 year old Brendon Swan securing the final qualification spot.

Unfortunately for the Hogan brothers, Kieran and Chris, their quest to become the first male siblings to qualify for the Games is over for another year, with the guys finishing 4th and 7th respectively.

It was in the women’s comp, however, where all the drama unfolded.

41 year old South Australian, Amanda Allen, looked almost certain to qualify for the Games for a second straight year heading into the final event.

She was in third spot overall and held an 11 point advantage over her nearest competitor, Denae Brown, meaning as long as she avoided elimination, she would most probably be on a plane to LA come July.

However, much to the crowds amazement, Allen failed to get through the three rounds of muscle ups/deadlifts. As the rules state, any athlete who is unable to complete all three rounds within the 17 minute cut-off will not be able to qualify for the CrossFit Games.

The meant last years 19th place finisher at the Home Depot Center was effectively eliminated.

“I haven’t stopped shaking my head since the workout finished. Not that muscle ups are my strength but they aren’t what they ended up being today,” she said after the workout.

“I did this workout last week while I was sick and although I didn’t blitz it I did a time that was respectable, so its not like I can’t do that volume of muscle ups. I didn’t feel stressed. I didn’t feel fatigued. I just couldn’t do it.”

“What a dramatic finish to an amazing journey, so I’m gonna take all those lessons with me over the next two months.”

Allen’s elimination meant that Denae Brown was bumped up to third spot, and would be off to the Games with Ruth Anderson Horrell, and overall winner Kara Gordon.

Amy Dracup, who won the Ausitralian CrossFit Regionals last year, finished 6th.

In the teams division, Schwartzs CrossFit Melbourne managed to bury the demons of their past by finishing first and qualifying for their first ever games. CrossFit Athletic and Tropic Thunder claimed the remaining qualifying spots.

Unfortunately for CrossFit Newcastle, they missed out on a top three finish yet again.

Here are the final leaderboards:

Men:

Women:

Team: