Hi everybody! Back inside the CrossFit Games Update Studio. Sean Woodland with
Tommy Marquez and Pat Sherwood as we continue to get you set for the 2018 Reebok CrossFit Games Open.
Taking a look at the 18 regions and the 9 Regional competitions that will ultimately lead us to
the 2018 Reebok CrossFit Games. Today we're going to break down the Atlantic Regional.
This is another one that has not changed–still the same as it has been the past couple of years.
Made up by the Mid Atlantic and the South East regions. Each region will send 20 athletes
to the Regional competition and then 5 Men, Women, and Teams will move on to the CrossFit Games.
This is the home of the former Fittest Man on Earth: Ben Smith.
And when you look at this Regional, I know he's the guy you look at as the man to beat.
Noah Ohlsen has had some success there as well, but how much longer is Ben Smith going to be
the man in this Regional?
Some people at this desk still believe. [laughing]
In Ben Smith and all that he stands for. The man is the living legend in the CrossFit community.
He won the whole thing—like you said—in 2015. He dominated his Regionals for a very long time.
Since 2012 he's won it 4 times! Last year he took 7th at the Games, okay.
When you take 7th at the Games and that's like a bad year, you're absolutely amazing!
While Tommy's not a fan of him, I have been for years and I gave him a call this morning and I asked him,
There's some athletes that when I talk to them, I ask them one question. I just say, "Are you healthy?"
I know he's working on his weaknesses, I know he's doing what he should.
He said, "Yes, I'm healthy." I said, "Okay, I'll talk to you in a couple months." Ben Smith is in that category.
He's 27 years young! I mean, he's still got a bright future!
You kill me, Pat. Acting like I don't believe in Ben Smith.
He's on my Mount Rushmore of male athletes, by the way.
-Fair enough. Now that the camera's on. -But to answer your question, I think
this is a situation where Ben Smith will always be the man until day that he suddenly isn't.
Because it's such a hard thing to predict, but I do think at the Regional level, I think Noah Ohlsen has his number.
Two of the last three years at Regionals, Noah has beat Ben. Even though this year's changes
don't affect it much–same Regional boundaries and everything like that–I think there's some athletes
like Noah and Travis Mayer who are picking up steam over time that are making it very, very hard
for Ben to have any sort of slip up and not see it cost him on the Leaderboard.
Like we saw last year and we saw a couple of years ago where he was fighting for one of those top-5 spots
and Noah was running away with the Region.
Let's go over to the women's side: Anna Tobias has announced that she's going to go Team.
That not only opens up a spot at the Games, possibly, but also at Regionals.
Who are some names here, early on, that we're going to be watching in the Open
who might be able to fill that void?
I think my pick here is a woman we interviewed last year in the Update Studio: Alison Scudds.
She was a strong performer in the Open last year, finished 7th at Regionals–so in the hunt
for the top-5. Could be one of those athletes to jump up and take the spot that's left by Anna Tobias
and really, if you look at Scudds' progression over the last couple of years, that's what really stood out to me.
Four years ago she finished 270th in the Open in her region. Each year has improved to a best finish
last year of 6th. First year competing at Regionals–17th. Last year–6th. Improvement there.
Event event finishes. All of her finishes were between 17th and 6th.
So not necessarily great, but consistently in that middle pack right there.
So if she continues to improve, consistency at Regionals is what could get her a spot.
Those are all things you like to see trending upward over time, so I think she's going to be
someone to watch out for.
And you know out there in the Atlantic, those top-5 women that have taken that spot
are just household names. Scudds being a great one that could slip in there with Tobias leaving.
But I love those grinder athletes that just show up every year and aren't on the podium, but
are just almost there again and Scudds is one of them, but then you also have the women
surrounding her as well. You've got Caroline Dardini who got 6th last year.
Alanna Fisk, Breona Evans all close multiple years in a row. Getting better. All they need is
that door to crack open a little bit and one of them can jump right in. I mean, look what happened
once things went Emily Bridgers' way, right? Close, close, close, household name now.
This could be the year that one of them break into that.
If you're looking for some more up and coming athletes that you're going to want to keep your eye on
during the Open, be sure to check out Tommy's upcoming article, "10 Athletes to Watch"
It'll get you all set for those sleepers who will not take you by surprise
when the Regional competition rolls around.
That's going to do it for us, for today. For Pat and Tommy, I'm Sean.
Remember to head to games.crossfit.com. Sign up for the 2018 Reebok CrossFit Games Open.