Stacey Magnesio is currently in 2nd place in South Central. But she fully plans to go team. Why? She simply loves team competition.
Stacey Magnesio, of CrossFit Austin, is among the top women of the South Central Region after the first three CrossFit Games Open workouts.
She has competed since 2010, and each year has progressed substantially as a CrossFit athlete. Despite her seeming threatening stance to take one of the three Games-bound spots at the South Central Regional, Magnesio is opting to compete alongside five friends and fellow athletes as part of the CrossFit Austin affiliate team for the second year in a row.
That decision came as a shock last year when she finished the Open at 40th in the South Central Region, but given her 2nd place standing in the South Central Region following Workout 12.3, it’s taking everyone even more by surprise.
Only three months into her CrossFit career, Magnesio decided to take on the 2010 South Central Texas Sectional, held at Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas. “I was going in kind of blind,” she says. “That was my first competition with CrossFit. I was feeling out how the competition part of it worked. I did pretty good, I finished 16th or 17th [she actually finished 12th]. I was middle of the pack and I was happy with that. [I] still didn’t have a lot of the movements down.”
Magnesio qualified for the 2010 South Central Regional and entered as an individual competitor. “[The Regional was] really exciting because after the 4th workout, there I was sitting 7th and I was like, ‘Woah,’ but then [the next workout] was muscle ups ... that I still had not gotten,” she recalls. “But I’m comfortable with them now, so I’m excited to try them this year.”
And muscle-ups aren’t the only movement Magnesio has added to her arsenal since 2010. In fact, she’s felt strong in every workout of the Open. “I’ve liked all three [workouts],” she says. “They have definitely all hit strengths that I have. Burpees are my fave. I love them. People would throw things at me for saying that. And snatches are one of my better Olympic lifts.
Magnesio answer to why she’s going team is simple. She loves team competition. “I’m such a team player growing up with sports”, she says. “I like the fact that my strengths compliment other people’s strengths and we can merge as one. I like that, and I think that individual is a lot of pressure.”
In spite of where she finishes in this year’s Open, Magnesio has committed to competing at the Regional on the CrossFit Austin affiliate team with several returning members of last year’s 7th place team.
Magnesio is especially hungry to get back to the Regional and take charge. “I think our training this year has finally honed in on what we need to [do] and we’ve all gotten the chance to work together for the whole year,” she says.
Her current standing isn’t the only advantage CrossFit Austin has over their competition. This young team trains together almost daily under the guidance of Wes Kimball and two-time Olympian Chad Vaughn, an edge that makes CrossFit Austin a team to watch this season.
