Meridian Regionals 2015: Who to Watch
This weekend, the first ever Meridian Regional is taking place at the Ballerup Arena in Copenhagen . This new region combines Europe and Africa, making the event more competitive than ever before. Plenty of UK athletes are currently making their way to Denmark, ready to fight for the chance to win a spot at the CrossFit Games in July. Here are our top picks for the weekend:
Male Individual
Steven Fawcett - CrossFit JST (Heat 4)
If you paid any attention during this year's Open season, Steven Fawcett is a name that needs little introduction. He's the first UK male to win the Open in Europe, which is no easy task when you're up against the likes of Frederik Aegidius and Jonne Koski! He finished 7th at regionals last year, following a 42nd place finish in the Open - so it will be exciting to see how he gets on this weekend. Will he bag one of the elusive places at Carson? Make sure you tune in to heat 4 of the men's individual events (from 1pm) to find out!
Will Kane - CrossFit Cheltenham (Heat 3)
Will Kane is another familiar face on the UK scene, regularly fighting his way onto podiums up and down the country. He finished second at The Athlete Games earlier in the year, and battled through injury to earn a 15th place finish in the Open - the second UK male behind Steven Fawcett.
Female Individual
Jo Caulton - CrossFit Deviant (Heat 3)
Jo is one of the latest additions to the Kitbox team, and we're really excited to watch her in action this weekend! She's only been a member of CrossFit Deviant for a couple of years, and took part in her first Open last year - finishing in 109th place. This year, she moved up the leaderboard by an incredible 90 spaces, finishing in 19th place, so we can't wait to see how she'll get on at her first ever Regionals!
Emma McQuaid - CrossFit 8020 (Heat 4)
Emma finished 6th in the Open for Europe this year, and 36th worldwide, making her the top UK female within the Meridian region. This isn't bad considering she finished outside the top 6,000 in 2014! Tune in to the heat 4 of the women's individuals this weekend to find out how Emma performs against the likes of Games' athletes Annie Thorisdottir and Kristin Holte.
Teams
Team JST Black (Heat 3)
Steven Fawcett isn't the only member of CrossFit JST to keep your eye on this weekend; Team JST Black are in with a great chance of getting to the Games in July too, if their performance in the Open is anything to go by! JST are one of the most competitive boxes in the UK, and their hard work - along with the infamous JST Compete programming - is certainly paying off.
Reebok CrossFit Tyneside (Heat 2)
The RCF Tyneside team features some familiar faces at regionals, such as coach Jordan Wallace and Megan Lovegrove. They finished in 13th place in the Open, which makes them the 2nd fittest team in the UK. The team are sponsored by our friends at PurePharma, so don't forget to tune in and cheer them on, even if you won't be there in person.
