Week Five in Review: Canada East

March 26, 2012

Chris Cooper

Just as in the worldwide standings, Canada East looks to feature a true fight between its top two women.

Women

Just as in the worldwide standings, Canada East looks to feature a true fight between its top two women.

Battling for 1st, Michele Letendre or Camille Leblanc - Bazinet have finished on top of every workout in the Open. When one hasn't won an event, the other invariably has; they currently sit high above the others with 7 points (Leblanc-Bazinet) and 14 points (Letendre) in the region.

Leblanc-Bazinet was saving her best for last. The 2011 Canada East champion dominated every other female in the world with her 173 points in 12.5. It brought her up to 5th place worldwide after the Open, and she's looking to keep that train rolling right through Regionals in May.

Men

In a very different scenario for the men, Albert-Dominic Larouche finished 1st in the Region without winning a single event. Instead, Larouche (2nd in the Region in 2011) finished in the top five consistently, with a low score of 8th on 12.2. How will he fare in Regionals?

Peter D'Amore, whose 12.2 score was also his worst, gained a few spots on Larouche in 12.5. He was top in the region with 143 points, setting up the potential for a down-to-the-wire duel with Larouche at Regionals.

No one should count out Jay Rhodes, who sits in 3rd after 12.5. Likewise, several other top 10 men could have been serious contenders for Region champ. The outcome of the Canada East Region is far from certain, and should be an exciting competition.

Team

Both teams knew it would all come down to the final event. In the end, CrossFit Brossard's dominant performance in 12.5 – 765 reps – was overwhelming for CrossFit Altitude, the team tht’s been sharing the top of the Leaderboard with Brossard since Week 1. Brossard won the final three weeks of competition in the Open, and was still only two points ahead of Altitude.

L'Usine CrossFit, last year's Regional winner by only one point over Altitude, sits in 3rd place, stalking the other two.

Who will pursue the individual title, and who will stick with their team? Altitude will likely lose Rhodes, Holmberg and Van Der Marel (all top 10 in the region) and Jennifer Morris (19th) to the individual category. CrossFit Brossard will likely surrender  two of the top four women in the Region – Leblanc-Bazinet and Alexandra Bergeron – to the individual category.

L'Usine will also see five top 20 finishers – Roch Proteau, Emilie Pfeiffer-Badoux, Melaine Petit, Christopher Kalec and Mizar Fuentes-Ortega – face the difficult decision.

The Regional team crown could fall on the side of the affiliate who can keep its top contenders under its team umbrella.