Benton CrossFit Gym will field its first-ever team at the Australian Regional CrossFit championships in Sydney next month.
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The team debut for Benton Gym follows a strong performance by Benton’s members in the recent CrossFit Open, a worldwide, online contest for more than 500,000 crossfitters held annually.
Benton’s team of six members and coaches was one of 30 teams that progressed from the online Open in Australia and Asia to the Australian Regional CrossFit championships in Sydney from June 1-3.
The team- made up of owner, Ben Garard, coaches Caitlin Danyi and Jessica Cooper and members Craig Horne, Sean Jones and Danielle Eringa- finished 12th from the 268 teams from across Australia and New Zealand.
The five top teams from the Australian Regional championships in Sydney will score ‘golden tickets’ to Crossfit’s top event, the world CrossFit Games in the US in August.
A record 60 Highlanders from Benton competed in the recent, online CrossFit Open - with owner, Ben Garard finishing ninth in Australia from 13,000 men and 121st in the world from 217,000 male competitors.
Craig Horne finished 211th.
In the women’s division, Ben’s sister, Cindy Garard, finished in 73rd place in the Open from 11,450 women while coach Caitlin Danyi finished 85th.
Two Benton Crossfit teenagers, Tyler Hickey and Alexander Shaw, excelled in the Open, finishing, consecutively, first and third in Australia in the boys 16-17 age division and 47th and 50th in the world.
The results meant both men progressed to the worldwide Crossfit qualifying round for the top 200 boys in their age division.
However they missed out on top 20 berths needed to graduate to the world CrossFit Games in America in August.
Tyler made it to the world games last year in the 14-15 age division, finishing 12th.
In other top results for Benton members, Janille Watson finished 12th in Australia in the open women scaled division.
In the over-35s masters divisions, David Talbert, finished 33rd in the men’s 55-59 age class in Australia, Andrew Mevissen finished second in the men’s 50-54 scaled weight class and Glenn Diggle finished seventh in the men’s 45-49 scaled division.
Benton owner, Ben Garard, said he was excited to see the Benton team progress to the Australian Regional Championships next month.
“The team members selected have put in 200 per cent into their training over recent months so it will be great to see them compete as a team among against the best in Australia,” he said.
“I am also thrilled so many of our members gave their all to the CrossFit Open, challenging themselves and achieving more than they thought they could achieve. Our members rallied around each other too, creating a very rewarding ‘can do, will do’ atmosphere in the gym.
“Personally, I exceeded my own expectations in the Open but I was very happy and also surprised at my top 10 placing in Australia. Instead of competing as an individual in the upcoming Australian Regionals, I have chosen to head our debut team into the event which will be just as exciting and rewarding.”