There will be no uprising in the Pacific—at least for the women.
Though two Regionals last week saw upsets on the women’s side—in the South, Tennil Reed broke Camille Leblanc-Bazinet’s two-year winning streak, and in the East, Carol-Ann Reason-Thibault nabbed the top spot from 2016 champion Katrin Davidsdottir—the matriarchy in the Pacific remains as it was, with five-time CrossFit Games veteran Kara Webb sitting comfortably atop the throne.
Her third consecutive Regional victory came courtesy of two event wins and three second-place finishes.
“That was a bonus,” she said of her gold medal. “I was ready to place anywhere; I didn’t know how it was going to go.”
It wasn’t a sure thing. Two-time Games silver medalist Tia-Clair Toomey led for the entire weekend and was on her way to reaching the goal she set just a few weeks ago.
“I want to go in there and I want to win,” Toomey said before the Regional.
Toomey opened the weekend with an event win, following it with a second-place finish and one more win by the weekend’s halfway point. Still in the lead—but just by a tiebreaker; she and Alethea Boon entered the final event tied at 485 points—going into the final event, it all came down to 6 minutes of work.
Six short minutes—Event 6 called for 25 calories on the Assault AirBike, 20 burpee box jump-overs and 10 100-lb. sandbag cleans—means every extra breath, every slight pause, costs in points.
Webb and Toomey led off the bike and stayed within reps of each other throughout the box jumps. Webb had a slight lead, but Toomey might’ve caught her had her cleans been as clean as Webb's. While Toomey needed a fraction of a pause to get the bag up, hugging it to her middle as she repositioned, Webb heaved it up and over in one smooth sweep each time.
Though Toomey did not meet her goal of gold, she said taking second didn’t mar her Regional experience and marveled at hearing fans scream themselves hoarse in her name.
“You know it doesn’t matter about the wins and everything like that,” Toomey said. “Even though I still say I want to win, it's just that there was so much more than a gold medal ... just people showing you how much they're appreciating your abilities ... that is a very special thing.”
As for Webb? She’s already thinking about the work to come.
"Write down what I did wrong and what I need to fix and start fixing it straight away,” she said of her post-Regional plans. “Got to just have a hard chat with myself and figure out what needs to be done before the next stage.”
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MEN
Last year, Pacific Regional veteran James Newbury got his big break, taking second at the Regional to make his first appearance at the Games, where he finished 24th.
Now, after dominating the 2017 Pacific Regional with two event wins and no finish outside the top four, he’s proven he belongs among the elite.
After ending Day 1 in second but in a tie for points with Zeke Grove who also made his rookie Games appearance last year, Newbury claimed the top spot after back-to-back wins in Events 3 and 4. Neither of the win was a runaway; in both events, he snatched the victory from the previous leader just when that leader might’ve gotten too comfortable.
For most of Event 3—a down-and-back chipper of dumbbell overhead walking lunges, double-unders, wall-ball shots and rope climbs—six-time CrossFit Games veteran Rob Forte led. Forte still had about a 10-foot lead over Newbury, but multiple no-reps gave Newbury the space he needed to take over.
Ricky Garard—who missed a Games spot last year by just one place—held the long lead in the next event, the triplet of 60-foot handstand walks and ascending reps of toes-to-bars and heavy double kettlebell deadlifts. Commentators wondered aloud if he’d gone out too hot; perhaps he did. Newbury went unbroken on the final set of toes-to-bars while Garard dropped, opening a several-second lead that he did not relinquish.
The pair of almost-rookies continued to dance for the remainder of the weekend, finishing within one or two spots of each other in Events 5 and 6. But Newbury’s two event wins bought him the berth he needed, and he took the top spot at the end.
Still, Newbury remained humble.
“I'm really looking forward to a really good showing this year in Madison, and I think it's going to be a very different story at the end of the day,” he said at the end of the weekend. “So I'm really pumped to have a really good hard crack to do Australia proud.”
And Garard isn’t sticking his nose up at second, either, saying he felt “on top of the world” after securing second place overall and his debut Games appearance.
“All the hard work, dedication (and) sacrifices I've made over the last 12 months—just to know it all comes to this moment and paid off for me ... I'm stoked and I can’t wait to put in more work and continue on with my goals for the CrossFit Games.”
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TEAMS
After team Functional Strength narrowly missed Games qualification last year—its seventh-place finish was just 6 points outside of the top five—it has lived up to its name.
The team smoked the field with three consecutive event wins (Events 1-3) and no finish outside the top three. Though half its members were new to the team, its teamwork was polished.
“I think it’s because of how much fun we have together,” said team member Jolene Neville after Event 3.
Returning to the Games for the third consecutive year with a third-place podium finish is CrossFit East Tamaki (formerly known as Zaks Pak East Tamaki), and notably missing is team Schwartzs CrossFit Melbourne, the second- and first-place finishers from 2016 and 2015.
MEN
- James Newbury (560)
- Ricky Garard (505)
- Rob Forte (492)
- Zeke Grove (462)
- Mitchell Sinnamon (446)
WOMEN
- Kara Webb (560)
- Tia-Clair Toomey (550)
- Alethea Boon (516)
- Madeline Sturt (456)
- Jessica Coughlan (455)
Teams
1. Functional Strength (580)
2. Injustice Crew (503)
3. CrossFit East Tamaki (485)
4. Reebok CrossFit Frankston (470)
5. CrossFit Moorabbin (466)
