Games' Veteran Suspended, Who To Watch In The South Region

May 14, 2015 by Andrea Signor

CrossFit officials delivered a blow to the South Region May 13, announcing the suspension of individual athlete Richard Bholken for the rest of the 2015 season. According to officials, Bholken, who placed 16th at the 2014 CrossFit Games, tested positive for performance enhancing drugs after completing a drug test in April, but was unaware that the supplement he was taking was tainted.

“This gets to the heart of why CrossFit has a drug testing policy,” said Justin Bergh, CrossFit Games general manager, in a video released by CrossFit. “Ultimately, athletes are responsible for what they put into their body.”

Bergh did not specify whether another athlete from the South Region would take Bholken’s place at regionals.

With Bholken’s departure, male individual athletes in the South Region should look to capitalize on the opportunity to clinch one of the five qualifying spots for the Games. Veteran Games’ athletes Jordan Cook and Patrick Burke will see if they can have repeat success in 2015. Last year Cook placed 36th at the Games while Burke took 33rd. A rookie in 2014, Cook placed 11th overall in the 2015 Open and is favored to win the regional competition.

Other top male athletes from the South Region include Travis Williams and Dusty Flores, who placed 38th and 58th, respectively, in the 2015 Open. Williams excelled in the fifth Open event, a nasty combination of 95-pound thrusters and calorie rows, placing ninth worldwide. Thrusters and calorie rows are featured in events 2 and 6 of the regional competition. Flores made his statement in the lighter barbell movements in Open workouts 1 and 2, placing 31st and 11th worldwide.

True to CrossFit roots, the regional competition will push athletes in all areas of fitness and those that have trained in all-around disciplines will rise to the top.

“This weekend is going to hurt,” said second-seeded female individual athlete Alexis Johnson. Johnson, who finished 29th overall in the 2015 Open, said she’s kept her training hard and varied leading up to the regional competition.

“The end goal is the Games,” she said. “My coaches told me to prepare for everything and I’m glad we did.”

Making her second appearance at regionals, Johnson said she’s confident this is her year to make it to the Games. “I wasn’t expecting to make it to regionals last year and when I realized how much work it was to make it to the Games, I knew I wanted it,” she said.

Throughout the off season, Johnson said she continued to compete in regional competitions and trained with Games’ athletes Cook and 10th-place finisher Jenn Jones.

“There are so many good girls in our region and you have to know that you worked just as hard and harder than everyone else,” she said. “This year I’m not just keeping up, but setting the pace. I think I can get my ticket to Carson.”

Johnson faces some serious competition with numerous Games veterans vying for one of five slots, including Jones, Margaux Alvarez, Tiffany Hendrickson, Alexandra LaChance, and 2014 Games winner, Camille Leblanc-Bazinet.

Team competition in the South Region features a mix of familiar names and new competitors anxious to stake their claim for a bid to the Games. Teams returning to the spotlight this year include 2014 Games seventh-place finisher CrossFit The Club, 15th-place finisher Backcountry Black and 30th-place finisher East Valley CrossFit.

Ranked third in the region, JekyllHyde Blue features an impressive lineup of athletes, many of whom qualified for CrossFit regionals at some point in their athletic career.

“We should place fairly well and I don’t see why we shouldn’t hold our own,” said Cody Spell. “Our strengths play to traditional CrossFit workouts so I think the first day of competition favors us the best.”

An unaffiliated team, Spell said JekyllHyde Blue is made up of athletes from several boxes in the Lake Charles, La., area and that while his team may not feature the strongest athletes, they are well rounded and ready to tackle the seven team events.

Other teams to watch include Ute CrossFit and Salt Lake City CrossFit, both of which placed in the top 10 in the South West Regional competition in 2014.