Nerding Out on Semifinals: 15 Stats from the Final Day at North America West Semifinals
In the most spectacular fashion, the North America West Semifinal has officially ended and we have our next group of 2023 Crossfit Games qualifiers:
Women
- Alex Gazan
- Katrin Davidsdottir
- Arielle Loewen
- Christine Kolenbrander
- Bethany Shadburne
- Emily Rolfe
- Olivia Kerstetter
- Abigail Domit
- Baylee Rayl
- Kelly Baker
Men
- Patrick Vellner
- Brent Fikowski
- Samuel Kwant
- Cole Greashaber
- Justin Medeiros
- Chandler Smith
- Nick Mathew
- Colten Mertens
- Cole Sager
Why only nine spots for the men? Here’s a refresher on the Strength of Field equation used to allocate 17 of the 40 Games spots this season.
The North America West leaderboard was full of action; nothing was certain going into the last event of the weekend, especially for athletes on the bubble. With so much excitement on this final day, we made sure to keep track of every detail in order to give you 15 of the best stats you won’t find anywhere else.
Let’s take a look at some of the day’s most interesting numbers:
- Although Alex Gazan had a 43rd place finish in Test 4 (800m run and max snatch), she still ended up winning the North America West Semifinal. This is the lowest event finish of any Semifinal champion ever (2021-2023).
- Dani Speegle missed out on a Games qualification spot by just two points. (Kelly Baker 10th – 415 / Dani Speegle 11th – 413).
- If Dani Speegle ran just three seconds faster on Test 5, or lifted just five pounds more on Test 4, she would have qualified for the 2023 Crossfit Games.
- At the end of Saturday, Baylee Rayl was in 21st place overall. With two top five finishes in the last two tests, she shot up to 9th overall and earned a Games qualifying spot.
- Three rookies are going to the Games from the women’s field (Olivia Kerstetter, Abigail Domit, Kelly Baker), but all nine qualifying spots in the men’s field are filled by Games veterans.
- The North America West Semifinals were Justin Medeiros’ first time taking anything other than first place in a live (in-person) competition since Mat Fraser beat him in the October 2020 CrossFit Games.
- After his Test 1 finish of 15th, Patrick Vellner finished all of the next six tests in 8th or better. His average test finish was 5th.
- Samuel Kwant never finished a day of competition out of a qualifying position.
- Patrick Vellner has beat Brent Fikowski at every in-person competition since 2017. The last time Fikowski beat Vellner was at the 2017 Games when Fikowski finished 2nd and Vellner 3rd.
- With a time of 8:55 in Test 6, Justin Medeiros set the new men’s world record, beating Noah Ohlsen’s North America East record of 9:32.
- Cole Sager qualified for his 10th straight Crossfit Games, but it wasn’t clinchd until his third place finish in the final test.
- On the first round of bike in Test 7, Brent Fikowski, Patrick Vellner, and Cole Sager all pushed over 1,100 watts.
- Heading into Test 7, Arielle Loewen was first overall on the leaderboard and Alex Gazan was third. At the end of the day they switched places.
- The average weight of the top ten women was 149 pounds, which is six pounds lighter than the overall average of 155 pounds among all female competitors.
- Baylee Rayl is the third athlete at 135 pounds or lighter to qualify for the Games so far this year (Baylee Rayl 135lbs, Jamie Simmonds 135lbs, Feerozeh Saghafi 133lbs).
It was incredible to watch the story lines of the North America West Semifinal develop, and we’re having some serious withdrawals now that it’s over. However, more action is coming next week, as we focus our attention on the athletes of Europe and Asia.
As the overall favorite to win this year’s Crossfit Games, all eyes will be on Laura Horvath, especially in Test 6 which includes her infamous weakness, strict handstand push-ups.