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Community Corner

Local Residents Qualify for SteelFit Championship Finals

Christ Fautino and Melissa Montavlo competed at the Woodbridge Qualifier this past Saturday and was named a finalist for the Super SteelFit Championships.

The Super SteelFit Championships, a series of intense qualifying fitness competitions leading up to the championship on the Jersey Shore, held its final qualifier at the Woodbridge National Guard Armory on Saturday, May 31st.

Ninety-one athletes from all over New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut competed in four different workouts, which included deadlifts, thrusters, burpees, rowing, and a bear complex ladder, that tested various aspects of fitness.

Sergeant First Class O’Neil Davis of the New Jersey Army National Guard awarded the finalists with their Super SteelFit Championships Finalist Medals.

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For the Women’s Scaled Division, Courtney Langan of CrossFit Triple Threat, Christine Anselmi of CrossFit Triple Threat, Kelly Landman of South Mountain CrossFit (PA), Dakota Woodham of CrossFit Triple Threat, Samantha Grzywacz of CrossFit Garwood, Allison Moyer of CrossFit B.A.I. (PA), Sherri Denora of CrossFit Westfield, Melissa Montalvo of CrossFit Westfield, Caitlin Green of Brazen Athletics, and Alayna Quattrocchi of Outerbridge CrossFit (NY) all qualified for the Finals.

“We had a couple of people from CrossFit Triple Threat do this competition last year. We wanted to get a big group to go this year. We wanted a fun team event,” said Courtney Langan of CrossFit Triple Threat. “We were doing the WODs in the weeks leading up just trying to get a feel for them so we knew what we were in for. I think we did great today. Everyone had a good time.”

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For Women’s Executive, Stella Ladao of Outerbridge CrossFit (NY) and Stephanie Goldbaum of CrossFit Triple Threat both qualified for the Finals at Jenkinson’s Beach.

“We had three people last year qualify for Jenks so now to have seven this year is great,” said Stella Ladao of Outerbridge CrossFit, who finished in third place in the Women’s Scaled division last year.

“It will definitely be good to have a crowd and support system at the beach,” said Jennifer Emigholz of Outerbridge CrossFit.

For the Women’s RX Division, Aliyah Emas of CrossFit Advance (PA), Megan Okuniewicz of Ocean CrossFit, Krystal Ladao of Outerbridge CrossFit (NY), Ashleigh Pecherski of CrossFit Speakeasy, and Jennifer Emigholz of Outerbridge CrossFit (NY) are all advancing on.

“I had a really good experience last year. The workouts seemed a little more challenging this year and I changed some of my training so I was really excited to come back and see how I would perform this year,” said Aliyah Emas of CrossFit Advance. “I am definitely pleased with how I did today. It means a lot to me to go back to Jenks. I am pumped.”

For the Men’s Scaled Division, the finalists are Mark Salgado of Randolph CrossFit, Matthew Milone of Ramapo Valley CrossFit, Dan Dodd of Ramapo Valley CrossFit, Nestor Bedoya of Morristown CrossFit, Daniel Glassman, Andrew Dickson of CrossFit King of Island Park (NY), William Oels of CrossFit Persist, and Angelo Margino of CrossFit Westfield.

For the Men’s Executive Division, Fabio Rendon of Morristown CrossFit, Michael Bronzo of Outerbridge CrossFit (NY), and Rick Clifford of CrossFit Mount Laurel are advancing to the Finals.

“Last year, I was at the Finals at the beach and I really liked it a lot. I said that we needed to do this competition next year,” said Fabio Rendon of Morristown CrossFit.

“We are workout buddies and very good friends. We have been training hard for this competition,” said Nestor Bedoya of Morristown CrossFit. “We already talked about what we will need to do to train for the beach. This event is over so now we are looking to Monday and what we need to do first thing.”

“No more inside workouts. Now we are only going to do workouts outside with the heat on,” added Rendon.

For the Men’s RX division, Bryan Blackwell of Kaeos Fitness, Joshua Michaud of CrossFit Payback (CT), Bill Lord of CrossFit KOA, David Marshall of CrossFit Payback (CT), Blake Hughes of CrossFit Summa (PA), Rich Dupell of Miraculous CrossFit (PA), Alex Lincho of CrossFit Barbending, and Chris Faustino CrossFit KOA will all be competing at Jenkinson’s in the Finals.

“This is probably the toughest competition I’ve been in competitor wise. Anybody could have been in the top eight,” said Bryan Blackwell of Kaeos Fitness. “Last year, I lost over 70 pounds so for me it has been about where I can take myself and push my limits. I feel like anything is possible. Today I finished first so now I want to try and win at Jenks.”

“I’ve never competed on the beach. I’ve done a lot of beach workouts, but I’ve never done a whole competition on the beach,” said Joshua Michaud of CrossFit Payback. “A lot of our athletes from the gym came down today so my box partner (David Marshall) and I just wanted to do the best we could for them.”

Aliyah Emas, Megan Okuniewicz, Krystal Ladao, Ashleigh Pecherski, Stella Ladao, Kelly Landman, and Samantha Grzywacz will be making their second appearance at the Finals.

The Finals will be held on the beach at Jenkinson’s Boardwalk on Saturday, June 21st with the final ‘SteelFitters’ competing for an approximate $7,500 prize purse.

For more information, visit www.steelfitchampionships.com


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