Central Regionals begin Friday, and the competition this year will be relentless. The men take the floor starting at 1:15pm CST, here's who to watch:

Scott Panchik

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Scott Panchik is a perennial CrossFit Games athlete, and even with a foot injury he placed 6th last year. Healthy and energized, he'll be a force in 2016.

Sam Dancer

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He was a member of the 2014 CrossFit Games second place team CrossFit Conjugate and placed 10th at Regionals last year. He's been working with supercoach CJ Martin for the past year and is looking better than ever. 

Graham Holmberg

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The 2010 CrossFit Games Champ had a couple rough years following a knee injury but he now seems to be healthy and ready to attack another tough qualifying weekend.

Nick Urankar

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After failing to qualify for the Games a few years in a row, Nick Urankar returned with a vengeance last year to qualify for the Games. He trains hard, and the last time I spoke to him he made it clear he spends almost all his time hitting weaknesses: the track, high volume/light weight events, and general conditioning. 

Alex Anderson

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One of the members of the Anderson family, Alex competed at the Games last year and is looking to make it back this year. His younger brother Jacob just qualified last weekend, so he's looking to make it an even bigger family affair.

Jacob Heppner

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Jacob Heppner is a fitness maniac. He trains incredibly hard and is poised to capitalize off of a solid off season to make an improvement off his 10th place finish at the 2015 Games.

Saxon Panchik

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Scott Panchik's younger brother is one of the members of the future generations of CrossFit Games athletes. Training with and learning from older brother Scott is key to his success. He placed 23rd last year and is looking much better this year. A top 10 finish isn't out of the books.


Follow FloElite's coverage of the event all weekend here.