PRVN Fitness Announces Super Team for 2023 CrossFit Games Season
The next “super team” being put together for the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games season comes from PRVN Fitness, one of the top training camps in the CrossFit space. The camp is based out of Nashville, TN, and the team itself consists of champions and CrossFit Games veterans, both in the Team and Individual divisions.
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The four athletes collectively combine for four Affiliate Cup titles, six podium finishes, 24 Games appearances, 18 Regionals, 12 Semifinals, and one Last Chance Qualifier appearance. It’s the first time PRVN will field a team under its brand, and the squad looks to make an impact right out of the gate.
Team PRVN’s Roster
The full roster for Team PRVN heading into the 2023 CrossFit season includes:
- Andrea Nisler — Eight CrossFit Games appearances
- Taylor Williamson — Six CrossFit Games appearances
- Tola Morakinyo — Four CrossFit Games appearances
- Tim Paulson — Six CrossFit Games appearances
For those who don’t know, PRVN Fitness is the high-level training camp and fitness programming company founded by husband-and-wife duo coach Shane Orr and six-time Fittest Woman on Earth® Tia-Clair Toomey.
Since its inception in the summer of 2020, PRVN has established itself as one of the premier training camps for individual athletes, including the aforementioned Toomey, Brooke Wells, Saxon Panchik, Will Moorad, and other top-level Crossfit Games athletes. Team PRVN is the camp’s first foray into the division as a fully supported and coached team.
“Fielding a team under the PRVN banner was something that wasn’t on our radar going into the 2023 season,” Orr wrote in an email to BarBend. “Once [PRVN CEO Nic Johnston] and I spoke at length and discussed the possibility of Taylor [Williamson] and Andrea [Nisler] joining the PRVN camp, we knew this was an opportunity we needed to make a reality.”
A Pair of Dominant Women
Andrea Nisler and Taylor Williamson, two of the most successful women in Team division history, will headline the PRVN squad. They were previously a key component of the CrossFit Mayhem Freedom teams that won the past two Games teams titles by a combined 344 points.
The PRVN team is also the sixth consecutive time that Nisler and Williamson have teamed up. Prior to joining Mayhem Freedom, they spent three seasons on the CrossFit OC3 teams that were perennial top-five finishers at the Games.
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During the 2018 season — the first season of “teams of four” — Nisler and Williamson helped the team to their first podium with a third-place finish. In 2019, OC3 placed fourth. The 2020 season saw Nisler and Williamson join forces with Games veterans Travis Williams and Roy Gamboa on the Misfit P10 Performance team that received an invitation to the Games after winning the Dubai CrossFit Championship. Unfortunately, they never got a chance to compete at the Games as the Team division was canceled due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.
“This season was something that neither Andrea [nor] I had planned for initially,” Williamson wrote to BarBend in an email. “After a few months of ‘retirement’ following the 2022 Games, we both felt as though we owed it to ourselves for another run, and showcase what we have worked so hard for throughout our careers. […] This was something I couldn’t pass up. We are very thankful for Shane, Tia, and the rest of the PRVN crew for opening their doors and making this season happen.”
The Men Round It Out
Joining the team on the men’s side is perhaps one of the strongest competitors in CrossFit and a staple of the Team division, Tola Morakinyo. Morakinyo has four Games appearances, all as a team athlete, and he joins the team after spending last season in Iceland as a member of CrossFit Reykjavík.
Morakinyo was also a staple of the many iterations of the Invictus Back Bay teams from Boston. In 2019, the Invictus Boston team placed 12th; in his debut season at the Games in 2017, his Reebok CrossFit Back Bay team placed 11th.
“The motivation behind joining this team comes down to my constant pursuit [of] building the strongest team possible each year,” Morakinyo wrote to BarBend in an email. “I believe we have all the right pieces and skill sets to put on a show this year in Madison. There is no doubt in my mind that we will perform and execute like professionals at the highest levels in both training and competition.”
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The announcement of Tim Paulson as the fourth member of the team comes as a surprise, considering he has never competed on a team at the Games. He does, however, have plenty of Games experience, competing every year since the 2017 season and placing 14th at the 2020 Games. Paulson’s exceptional strength and motor could be an asset during sprint workouts.
“I’m not sure I would have contemplated going team if it weren’t such a respected, accomplished group of athletes,” Paulson told BarBend in an email. “I’m incredibly proud of my individual career and what I’ve been able to accomplish, but when the PRVN crew reached out, it was too good of an opportunity to even consider passing up. These coaches, these athletes? I mean, dang. I’m excited to learn from some of the best in the biz, and really dive into the nuances of team competition.”
The team will be led by former coach and newly appointed CEO of PRVN Fitness, Nic Johnston, the husband of Williamson.
What Does This All Mean?
The addition of Team PRVN to the upcoming season gives the division another contender to fill the championship void left by the retirement of Froning from team competition and the end of his Mayhem Freedom squad.
With the talent of Nisler, Williamson, Morakinyo, and Paulson, combined with the coaching pedigree and resources of PRVN Fitness, this team is one of the early favorites heading into the 2023 season.
“The team’s level of skill, experience, and professionalism [have] elevated our entire group from athletes to coaches,” Orr said. “We are thankful to be able to grow yet another aspect of our business, as we look to lay the groundwork with PRVN teams for years to come.”
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Featured Image: Patrick Clark and @aenisler on Instagram