CrossFit Games

2020 CrossFit Games Age Group Preview: Boys and Girls Ages 16-17

April 30, 2020 by
Credit @wodapalooza/@oliviagabrielphotography
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The Morning Chalk Up concludes their preview of the 2020 CrossFit Games Age Group divisions with the future of the sport, the athletes of the 16-17 year old divisions. The standings are unofficial after the Age Group Online Qualifier (AGOQ) scores were submitted. The leaderboard is scheduled to be finalized after the appeals process concludes on May 11 with the top ten athletes in each division receiving an invitation to the Games.

Chad Schroeder dives deeper into the numbers of the AGOQ, breaking down all the divisions with his statistical analysis.

Boys 16-17 division: This year’s field includes eight teenagers who all competed against each other as 15 year olds at the 2018 Games. Only one of those athletes has competed in the current division, it just happens to be the person who won the title of “Fittest 14-15 Year Old” in 2018. Nine of the athletes will be competing in the division for the first time including two that will be making their first Games appearance.

  1. Tudor Magda becomes just the third teenager to qualify for the Games in all four years of eligibility. He is also the third teenager to win multiple AGOQs, winning his second with 15 total points. In the AGOQ, he recorded two event wins and three runner-up finishes, winning the division by 38 points. His two event wins give him a total of six in his AGOQ career, which ranks second all-time in the teen division. Magda already has a Games title to his credit after winning the 14-15 division in 2018. Last year he placed third after “aging-up” to the 16-17 division. Earlier this year Magda won the 16-18 division title at Wodapalooza.
  2. Luiz Henrique Alves Moreira will receive his first invite to the Games after being on the cusp the last two years. The Brazilian teen placed second in the AGOQ this year after finishing 18th a year ago. The top 16-17 year old teen in Brazil, he placed eighth in the Open to earn his AGOQ berth. Moreira had five top-ten finishes in this year’s AGOQ including an event win.
  3. Mario Marquez will receive his second Games invitation and first in the 16-17 division. He had two top-five finishes in the AGOQ including a second place finish in event four. In this year’s Open, he finished sixth worldwide in the division and second in the United States. As a 15-year old, he made his first Games appearance in 2018, placing 19th. At Wodapalooza in February, he placed ninth.
  4. Cole Martinez will make his third appearance at the Games and first in the 16-17 division. A staple of the 14-15 division where he competed in Madison in both 2017 and 2018, he placed fifth in 2018 when he recorded five top-ten finishes including three in the top-five. He placed fifth in this year’s AGOQ after placing 43rd a year ago. In this year’s AGOQ, he recorded three top-ten finishes including a fourth place finish in the max clean and jerk event with a lift of 315 lbs.
  5. Daniel Kuc placed fifth in the AGOQ to secure his second Games invitation. This will be his second trip to the Games after competing in the 14-15 division in 2018. In this year’s AGOQ he had two top-ten finishes with his best finish being fifth in the max clean and jerk event with a lift of 312 lbs.
  6. Anthony Re, like Kuc, makes his second Games appearance after competing in the 14-15 division in 2018. Re placed sixth in the AGOQ thanks in part to two top-five event finishes. In this year’s Open he placed fifth worldwide in the age group. At the 2018 Games, Re placed 12th.  
  7. Juan Rodriguez makes his return to the Games and his second in his career. He competed in the 14-15 division at the 2018 Games, placing 17th. The Venezuelan placed seventh worldwide in the Open and was the top 16-17 year old in his country. In the AGOQ he had four top-ten finishes including a pair of fourth places. Rodriguez placed fifth this year at Wodapalooza in the 16-18 division.
  8. Stefano Zucchiatti will make his first Games Appearance after placing eighth in the AGOQ after finishing 36th last year. He recorded five top-ten finishes in this year’s AGOQ. The native of Italy also placed third in the division in this year’s Open.
  9. Amato Mazzocca was on the outside looking in after originally placing 11th in the AGOQ. Penalties enforced during the video review of two athletes ahead of him moved him into a Games spot. Mazzocca will make his third Games appearance after placing second in the 14-15 year old division last year
  10. Braden Groeneveld will represent Canada in his second Games appearance. The second-fittest Canadian 16-17 year old in the Open placed ninth in the AGOQ to secure his invitation. He competed in the 14-15 division at the 2018 Games where he placed eighth.

Outside looking in: Leonardo Grottino, Rees Cooksy, Brynjar Ari Magnusson, Mateo Crespo Soto, Will Campbell and David Bradley are the next athletes outside the cutline. Grottino and Cooksy are both just one point behind the qualifying score for a Games invitation. Cooksy sat in the final Games spot before penalties dropped him out of the top ten. Grottino won the max clean and jerk event with a lift of 342 lbs. Magnusson also has two Games appearances in the 14-15 year old division, placing third last year. Bradley was last year’s “Fittest 14-15 Year Old Boy”, winning the title in his first Games appearance.

Girls 16-17 division: The division features the last two 14-15 year old division Games champions as both are among the eight girls who will be making their division debut. Five of those girls competed last year in the younger division. Only two girls return to compete in the division including a podium finisher.

  1. Emma Cary has dominated her new division after being crowned the “Fittest 14-15 Year Old Girl” at the Games last year. She won the AGOQ, collecting four event wins, giving her seven career event wins in the AGOQ. Those seven wins are the all-time record for the teen divisions. At the Games last year, Cary won by 90 points as she collected three event wins. In February, Cary continued her dominance in the teenage divisions as she won the 13-15 division at Wodapalooza collecting three event wins along the way.
  2. Anikha Greer makes her Games debut after finishing second in the AGOQ, just seven points behind Cary. The Canadian had five top-five finishes including a second place finish in the max clean and jerk event with a lift of 235 lbs. In this year’s Open she placed eighth worldwide and first in Canada in the division. She competed at Wodapalooza, placing eighth in the 16-18 division. Last year she came up short in her Games bid as she placed 15th in the AGOQ.
  3. Olivia Sulek will make her third-straight Games appearance and first in the division. The 2018 “Fittest 14-15 Year Old Girl” placed third in the AGOQ thanks to three second place event finishes. Last year she placed fourth at the Games in the 14-15 year old division. She was the top 16-17 year old in the Open this year after claiming that distinction in 2018 in the 14-15 year old division.
  4. Paige Powers is one of two returning Games veterans in the division. Making her third-straight Games appearance, Powers placed third in her 16-17 division debut last year. At the 2018 Games, she placed third in her debut in the 14-15 year old division. Powers placed third in the Open this year after placing second last year. In this year’s AGOQ, she recorded five top-ten finishes. Last year Powers won the AGOQ as a 16 year old. Powers has competed in two Sanctionals this season in the Elite divisions, placing 14th at Strength in Depth and 18th at the Mayhem classic.
  5. Gigi Sabatini will follow Cary and Sulek in making the jump from the 14-15 year old division. Making her third-straight Games appearance, she finished as the runner-up last year at the Games after placing fifth in 2018 in her Games debut. Sabatini had five top-five finishes in the AGOQ including an event win. In this year’s Open, she placed fourth worldwide in the division.
  6. Lexi Neely qualified for her second Games appearance and her first in the 16-17 year old division. She placed seventh in the AGOQ thanks to three top-ten finishes including a second place in event four. Neely competed at the 2018 Games in the 14-15 year old division where she placed 19th in her debut.
  7. Paulina Haro will represent Mexico for the third-straight year at the Games. The 16-year old powerhouse will be making her debut in the division after competing the last two years in the 14-15 year old division. She placed sixth at both the 2018 and 2019 Games in her division. In this year’s AGOQ, she recorded three top-five finishes including an event win in the max clean and jerk with a lift of 240 lbs. At the Games last year, Haro won the two-rep max overhead squat event for her first Games win.
  8. Lilly Rodriguez makes her second-straight Games after placing eighth in the AGOQ. She competed in the division last year, placing ninth at the Games after finishing in tenth in the AGOQ. In this year’s AGOQ she recorded four top-ten finishes including a second place in event four. In this year’s Open she placed ninth worldwide.
  9. Bia Clemente will get to call herself a Games qualifier after moving up from 12th in the AGOQ to ninth after video review penalties were assessed to athletes ahead of her. This will be her first Games appearance after coming up short in the AGOQ the last three years. In this year’s AGOQ she recorded two top-ten finishes including a fourth place in the max clean and jerk with a lift of 215 lbs. Brazil’s fittest 16-17 year old placed seventh in the Open this year.
  10. Brady Wallace makes her Games debut after tying Clemente for ninth in the AGOQ. Last year she placed 18th in the AGOQ, falling short in her bid. This year four top-ten finishes helped her secure her bid after she qualified for the AGOQ with her 13th place finish in the Open.

Outside looking in: Chloe Honaker, Sarah Schaefer, Kelsey Schulte and Anniston Cooper are the next athletes outside the cutline. Honaker placed seventh at the Games last year in the 14-15 division. Schaefer placed seventh at Wodapalooza in the 16-18 year old division in February.

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