2022 CrossFit Games Preview: Teen Divisions
The 2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games Age-Group and Adaptive Division Semifinals scores have been tallied, and 240 athletes spread across 24 divisions are now finalizing their travel arrangements for Madison, WI for next week’s battle for the title of “Fittest” in their respective division.
The online Age Group Semifinal featured six workouts over the course of three days, with the top 10 athletes in each division receiving the much coveted invitation to the Games. This is a 50% cut from last year’s field of 20 athletes competing in-person in each division.
The battle for Fittest Teen on Earth begins next Thursday, August 4 and concludes Saturday, August 6. We have highlighted the top-three finishers of each respective Semifinal below.
16-17 Age Group Division
Boys: Ty Jenkins is attempting to put himself in rare company by joining the likes of Dallin Pepper, Angelo Dicicco, Chloe Smith and Keala Stephano as the only teen two-division champs. The now 16-year old, the only 16-year old in the field, took home the 14-15 year old “Fittest” title last year before aging up to his new division. He placed second in the Semifinals behind Caleb McClure, last year’s seventh place finisher in the division.
McClure has plenty of in-person experience to carry him to the podium this year competing at both Wodapalooza and the Pit Elite Teen Throwdown during the off-season.
Joining McClure are fellow 17-year olds and division holdovers Elijah Subiono and Rökkvi Guðnason. Guðnason trains out of CrossFit Reykjavík and ended up placing third in the Semifinals after placing fourth at the Games last year. The elder Subiono placed sixth at the Games last year and matched that placing in this year’s Semifinals. One of the strongest teens in the division he placed second in the max clean and jerk with a lift of 306 LBs.
Speaking of strength, Kiwi Johan Roberts won that strength event with a lift of 330 pounds, 24 more pounds than Subiono. In fact, it was tied for the fourth best lift across all Semifinal divisions. Roberts was the only teen to win multiple events during the Semis.
- Caleb McClure
- Ty Jenkins
- Rökkvi Guðnason
Girls: Unlike their counterparts, the girls division features four 16-year olds including two who occupy the top two spots of the Semifinal leaderboards. To no one’s surprise Olivia Kerstetter sits atop the leaderboard, last year’s 14-15 division champion recorded three workout wins in the Semifinals and no finish outside the top four enroute to a 60 point margin of victory. Among her workout wins was a lift of 242 LBs in the max clean and jerk, the top lift by any woman in the age group semifinals by 14 LBs.
Like Ty Jenkins, Kerstetter is looking to make history by joining the teen two-division champion list.
Occupying the second spot is fellow division newcomer Trista Smith. Like Kerstetter, the 16-year old made news by qualifying for the individual semifinals, placing 86th in the Open and 110th in the Quarterfinals before electing to compete in her age group qualifier. Training out of CrossFit Fort Vancouver with her new coach Adam Neiffer and training partners Justin Medeiros and Ellie Turner, last year’s fourth fittest 14-15 year old recorded all top-ten finishes in the Semifinals including a win in workout four.
Division holdovers Jadzia Onorati-Phillips, Sophie Shaft, Hayleigh Kanthack and Rebekah Devine will be joined by 16-year-olds Jenna Michelotti and Hailey Rolfe to make up a veteran group of teens vying for points and podium space. Rolfe was a podium finisher in the 14-15 year old division at last year’s Games.
- Olivia Kerstetter
- Trista Smith
- Jadzia Onorati-Phillips
14-15 Age Group Division
Boys: Unlike past years, this year’s boys field at the Games will only feature 15-year olds. RJ Mestre looks like the teen to beat in this division and reaffirmed that with a 91-point win over his closest competitor Ka’eo Subiono in the Semifinals, continuing where he left off with wins in the Open and Quarterfinals within the division. He had three workouts wins in the semis highlighted by his clean and jerk of 259 LBs. Mestre placed fifth at the Games last year, the highest placement of all 14 year olds.
Subiono made his Games debut last year as a 14-year old and finished 9th, considered the second-best athlete in the division, he recorded five top-10 finishes in the semis. Beckwith will also be joining Mestre and Subiono with his second trip to the Games.
Leonardo Torres finished in the middle of the pack, coming in at fifth in Semifinals, but with lots of competitive experience through Olympic Weightlifting, he’s bound to be cool and calm under pressure. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to have a 220 LB snatch at 15-years-old, which would’ve secured him a second place finish in the max snatch event at last year’s Games.
- RJ Mestre
- Ka’eo Subiono
- Brode Beckwith
Girls: What Lucy McGonigle accomplished at last year’s Games has only happened three other times in the girls division, podium as a 14-year old. She placed second, just 25 points behind Olivia Kerstetter, behind a solid performance that saw her finish in the top-10 in all but one event. This Ireland native is the top of the class as evidenced by her winning all three stages to earn her second trip to Madison.
Rylee Beebe and Bergrós Björnsdóttir finished 2-3 by a large margin behind McGonigle but nevertheless put up impressive performances. Beebe, who finished 15th as a 14-year old last year at the Games, joined McGonigle as the only athletes in the division to record all top-10 finishes. Beebe has spent her freshman year of high school training with New England’s best – Chandler Smith, Amanda Barnhart, and the rest of the Comptrain crew.
Is Björnsdóttir the next great Icelandic athlete? All indications so far point to yes as the 15-year recorded four top-3 finishes including a lift of 216 LBs to win workout 6.
- Lucy McGonigle
- Rylee Beebe
- Bergrós Björnsdóttir
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