Only 12 athletes completed all 7 of the 2016 Regional events uncapped. All 12 were men. 0 women were able to complete all of the events.
May 29, 2016
Meridian Regional Men Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson Lukas Esslinger Jonne Koski Adrian Mundwiler Lukas Högberg Women Ragnheiður Sara Sigmundsdottir Annie Thorisdottir Kristin Holte Samantha Briggs Thuridur Erla Helgadottir Team Nordic OPEX CrossFit Yas Team Crossfit Copenhagen 1 CFXY CrossFit Solid
Though the women’s side of the competition left little to surprise today, the men’s side suffered a tough loss.
The top 5 women of the Meridian Region solidified their dominance today by finishing out the weekend over 100 points ahead of the rest of the pack. Sara Sigmundsdottir finished out her weekend with back to back 3rd place finishes in Event 6 and 7. Annie Thorisdottir meanwhile finished her weekend with back to back 2nd place finishes. The last little push from Thorisdottir was not enough, however, to overtake Sigmundsdottir who clenched the 1st place spot by a mere 10 points. Kristin Holte made the biggest jump today surpassing Erla Helgadottir and Sam Briggs and taking the 3rd place spot. Holte came out blazing today taking 1st place in the Event 6 chipper and followed that up with a 4th place finish in Event 7. Sam Briggs didn’t open up her day three with as much fire as she did on day two but still managed to finish in the top 10 on the Event 6 chipper. Briggs is not one of the strongest athletes in the field and the 155lb. overhead squat forced her to slow down a bit. The final event of the weekend proved to be one of the most exciting for the top 5 women with Briggs, Thorisdottir and Sigmundsdottir all finishing within milliseconds of each other. Briggs emerged the victor making it her second 1st place finish of the weekend. Erla Helgadottir occupies the 5th and final qualifying spot to Carson. After her record-breaking performance on day one, Helgadottir has remained consistent if not dominating throughout the rest of the weekend and will be making her 5th appearance at the CrossFit Games.
The top 5 teams from yesterday fought off the competition and clinched their spots to Carson. Nordic OPEX, CrossFit Yas, and Team CrossFit Copenhagen 1 took 1st, 2nd and 3rd today, maintaining their placing from the end of yesterday’s events. Though the handstand walks of event 8 and the legless rope climbs of event 9 have previously bested many teams at the Regional level. OPEX, Yas and Copenhagen did not struggle with the gymnastics heavy elements. The only shake up to the leaderboard happened between CFXY and CrossFit Solid. CFXY came into today in the 5th and final qualifying spot but jumped CrossFit Solid after Event 8 and managed to remain ahead even after a slightly lower 10th place finish in Event 9. CrossFit Solid meanwhile improved on their performance from Saturday with a 7th and 4th place finish in today’s events giving them enough points to solidly remain in 5th place.
Know who will hit the floor when. Heat assignments for Meridian Regionals Day 3 can be found below.
The first of three Regionals in the final weekend to come to a close tomorrow. What do you need to know from day 2?
May 28, 2016
Karl Gudmundsson showed his first sign of weakness this weekend when he took 17th on the Event 4 power clean/pistol couplet. Gudmundsson quickly regrouped, however, and took 2nd in Event 5, locking him into 1st place on the leaderboard again today.
The top 5 women in the Meridian are pulling away from the pack but it was Sam Briggs that really turned it on today. Briggs has been steadily climbing the leaderboard since her 25th place finish on Event 1. Knowing she was going to score poorly on the strength event, Briggs has had her eyes set on dominating the rest of the competition. Breaking only once on her wall ball and once on her pull-ups, Briggs won her heat in Event 3 and finished 3rd overall behind Sigmundsdottir and Thorisdottir. She followed up with a win in Event 4. Sigmundsdottir and Thorisdottir remain in 1st and 2nd with little chances of relinquishing those spots. Erla Helgadottir and Kristin Holte occupy the last two qualifying spots, both Games veterans. Helgadottir did not perform as well today as she did on day one finishing outside the top ten in both Event 3 and 4. She redeemed herself slightly in Event 5 with a 4th place finish proving the heavy deadlifts were not a problem. Holte had a more impressive day finishing in the top 5 in all 3 of today’s events.
The leaderboard wasn’t shaken up much today in the Meridian Team competition. Nordic OPEX has yet to relinquish their spot atop the leaderboard finishing today with a 5th and 2nd place finish in team event 5 and 6. CrossFit YAS continues their climb as they move from 4th place to 2nd place after putting up a 3rd place finish in Event 5 and winning Event 6, squeezing by top ranked OPEX by a little less than a minute. Yas finished the Meridian regional last year in 2nd place, but was later disqualified on a rules violation when it was discovered that one of their athletes did not meet the timeline requirements to be on the team. Using this to fuel their fire, Yas sits behind CrossFit OPEX by just 11 points. Team CrossFit Copenhagen 1 has slipped one spot to 3rd place on the overall leaderboard after finishing 7th in Team Event 5. They rebounded on Event 6 coming in third just 1 second behind Nordic OPEX. Rounding out the top 5 is CrossFit Solid and CFXY. Solid and CFXY came out with a bang today, tying for 1st in Event 5. A 14th place and 5th place finish respectively in Event 6 puts them both in qualifying spots going into the last day of competition. The race is tight though from 4th-7th place with less than 40 points between them.
Know who will hit the floor when. Heat assignments for Meridian Regionals Day 2 can be found below.
The first day of Meridian Regionals has passed. Here's what we saw.
May 27, 2016
Karl Gudmundsson’s time to fly under the radar has most definitely come to a close. Though he quietly ascended to a third place finish at last year’s Games, he started his day 1 at the Meridian Regional taking 1st in both Events 1 and 2. Finishing Event 1 shortly after Gudmnundsson was Lukas Esslinger. Esslinger is not a newcomer to the Regional scene, having competed twice before (2012, 2014), but he has yet to make it to the Games. His top ten finish in Regional Nate puts him squarely in contention for a qualifying spot this year. Games veteran Lukas Hogberg sits in 5th place. Hogberg finished the snatch ladder well, taking 4th place in the event, but struggled with Regional Nate. Nipping at his heels is last year’s Meridian Regional champion, Jonne Koski, who trails him in 6th place by only 4 points.
The first day of the Meridian Regional belongs to the Dottir’s. Sara Simundsdottir, Annie Thorisdottir and Erla Helgadottir have staked their claims to the top of the women’s leaderboard with dominating performances across the board.
Day 1 at the Meridian Regionals belonged to Nordic OPEX. Their first women’s pair flew through the strict-handstand push-ups and bar muscle-ups to a first-place finish in Event 1. Nordic OPEX followed it up with another win in Event 2 and a fourth-place finish in Event 3. With such a strong showing in both the gymnastics elements and strength portion, Nordic OPEX will be a tough team to contend with for the rest of the weekend. Last year’s Meridian team champions, CrossFit Solid, sit in third place after strong showings in both Events 2 and 3 today.
