Week Five in Review: Australia

March 27, 2012

Gene Suna

For many, 12.5 represented their last chance to qualify for the Regional and they gave everything they had.  In the end, there were just six individual athletes who would move into a qualifying position on the result of their Week 5 performance.  The best of these come from behind performances belongs to Kirra-lee Heathcote from CrossFit Punisher. Heathcote moved from 73rd to 60th after taking 28th place with her 109 reps.

Brandon Swan has had an excellent Open campaign and has been in the top three since Week 2. However he saved his best for last with his Region record 142 reps, eclipsing Pat Barber’s score last year of 140 for this workout.  Swan attributes this result to repeating the workout in an attempt to qualify his team, CrossFit Western Front for Regionals. Unfortunately the team finished in 31st, one position from qualifying, but his efforts did give him the week’s top spot and secured 2nd overall.       

New Zealand’s top ranked male, Ben Thomson made a return to the top three this week in a tie for 2nd with Mark Corrigan from CrossFit Wollongong. Corrigan’s 31st place overall finish is up 26 places from last year.

Finishing 4th with 138 reps is the fast improving Natan Geva from CrossFit Brisbane. With Open results of 202nd, 50th, 10th, 6th and 4th Geva is moving in the right direction. In 5th was a three-way tie between Rob Forte, Aaron James from CrossFit Mana and Matt Swift, also from CrossFit Brisbane. Swift’s score of 137 was two reps more than his 2nd place score from last year

The only change to the men’s top five overall this week was the jump by Brandon Swan from 3rd to 2nd. The top five consists of Rob Forte (49), Brandon Swan (76), Kieran Hogan (79) Brendan Southwick (90) and Chad Mackay (103).  Qualifying for the Regional from a position outside the top 60 this week was Fale Lea’aetalafo from CrossFit New Zealand, Michael Roach from CrossFit 2600 and CrossFit Perth’s Josh Caddy moving from 68th to 59th place.  

Amy Dracup and Penny Kemp shared 1st this week with 138 reps. Dracup added 9 reps to her winning score from last year, a score that would have given her 6th in this year’s Open, such is the improvement in the women’s field.  Ruth Anderson Horrell took 3rd, her fourth top 10 of the Open, with 134 reps and Jessica Coughlan and Denae Brown tied for 4th on 133 reps.

The overall top five stayed static this week with Amy Dracup (29), Jessica Coughlan (40), Ruth Anderson Horrell (46), Amanda Allen (55) and Kara Gordon (60). The three women qualifying for Regionals from outside the top 60 were Heathcote, Moya Steinert from CrossFit Albany Wodonga and Games competitor, Nadine Burns moving from 63rd to 55th this week.

With its fourth world top 10 result Schwartz’s CrossFit Melbourne finished how it started with another 3rd in the World result with 788 reps. The rest of the week’s top five teams were made up of CrossFit Active with 715 reps, CrossFit Athletic with 693, CrossFit Newcastle on 682 and a tie for 5th between Southern CrossFit and CrossFit Brisbane on 676 reps.

Overall, it is Schwartz’s dominating with 5 points, then a much closer competition for 2nd with CrossFit Newcastle (22), CrossFit Athletic (26) and CrossFit Active (27 points). From Perth, Southern CrossFit’s bid to again qualify for the Games seams on track rounding out the top five on 44 points. The Team competition at this year’s Regional promises plenty with affiliates represented from every state in Australia bar Tasmania with its highest team, CrossFit 42 South, in 45th place. New Zealand will also be well represented with 5 teams qualified to make the trip over.