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Toms River Resident Places First in SteelFit Finals at Pt. Pleasant

Lauren Conner of CrossFit Arx placed first in the Women's RX Division in this past weekend's Super SteelFit Championships Finals at Jenkinson's Beach. 

The 2nd Annual Super SteelFit Championships, a series of intense qualifying fitness competitions, culminated with the Finals at Jenkinson’s Inlet Beach in Point Pleasant on Saturday, June 21st.

Competing for a total prize purse of $8,000, one hundred and twenty-nine finalists from New Jersey, New York, Pennslyvania and Connecticut participated Saturday in workouts utilizing varying aspects of fitness such as kettle bell snatches, air squats, medicine ball tosses, and farmers walk. First place finishers in Men’s and Women’s RX each received $2,000 cash prize. Joe Subia of Aero Athletics helped design these workouts as well as the qualifier workouts. 

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Staff Sergeant John Naame of the New Jersey Army National Guard presented the winners with their medal and prizes.

For the Women’s Executive Division, Stella Ladao of Outerbridge CrossFit (NY) placed first, followed by Tracey Swenson of CrossFit Skylands in second place, and Monica Sinibaldi of CrossFit Arx finished in third place.

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“I love competing at this age. It’s fun, because you’re still competitive at an older age,” said Tracey Swenson of CrossFit Skylands. “Having everyone in this division the same age and doing the same thing is great so it’s thrilling to come in second.”

For the Women’s Scaled Division, Coretta Zodel of CrossFit Primeval took first place, Courtney Langan of CrossFit Triple Threat placed second, and Christine Anselmi, also of CrossFit Triple Threat, finished in third place.

“After the first WOD, I was in fourth place and I wanted to win so I knew I needed to pick it up,” said Coretta Zodel of CrossFit Primeval. “Taking first today feels awesome and it feels like all my hard training has paid off.”

“Today was a blast. I had so much fun,” said Courtney Langan of CrossFit Triple Threat. “We had a big group of people come down so it was great to hang out and do the workouts and then see what the final workout would be.” 

For the Men’s Executive Division, Justin LaSala of CrossFit Garwood placed first, followed by Gino Kang of CrossFit Bacon in second place, and Wayne Megill of Brandywine CrossFit (PA) finished in third place. 

“I think the SteelFit Championships is an outstanding, community-based competition for all ages,” said Gino Kang of CrossFit Bacon. “I had a great time and would do it again if my body is up for it.”

For the Men’s Scaled Division, Daniel Burnett of South Mountain CrossFit (PA) finished first, Matthew Milone of Ramapo Valley CrossFit took second place, and Nestor Bedoya of Morristown CrossFit placed third.

“It was awesome and great to be out here on the beach,” said Nestor Bedoya of Morristown CrossFit. “I’m really looking forward to my next run [at this] to get first place on the podium.”

For the Women’s RX Division, Lauren Conner of CrossFit Arx took first place, Ivy Wimberly of CrossFit Speakeasy followed in second, and Andrea Santiago of CrossFit Sayreville finished in third place.

“I live right by the ocean so I workout on the sand frequently. It was fun to be in my home atmosphere,” said Ivy Wimberly of CrossFit Speakeasy. “It was a great competition and everyone did really well. I feel so blessed and stoked to make it as far as I did.” 

For the Men’s RX Division, Kevin Varno of CrossFit Sayreville finished in first place, Casey Haines of CrossFit Valley Forge (PA) placed second, and Corey Lunney of CrossFit Shrewsbury took third place.

“I definitely wasn’t the fittest or strongest, but I think my training showed in my performance,” said Kevin Varno of CrossFit Sayreville. “I trained very specifically for these workouts so it paid off.” 

This is the second year that Stella Ladao and Casey Haines took the podium. Last year, Ladao finished in third place in Women’s Scaled and Haines finished first in Men’s RX.

In addition to the finalists, a Veteran’s Division competed after WOD 1. Presented by the Warrior Wellness Center, ten veterans competed in honor of US Marine PFC Vincent Frassetto, KIA September 7, 2006 in Iraq. He was from Toms River, NJ. US Army Chief Warrant Office Jennifer Rice, US Army Staff Sergeant Michael Bozzelli, Marine Corps Sergeant Brandon Densmore, Marine Corp Lance Corporal Melissa Garon, US Army Specialist William Ditchkus, US Army Staff Sergeant Jacqueline Rivera-Buie, Marine Corps Corporal Jonathan Veras, Marine Corps Corporal Mike Carro, and US Army Specialist Biuli Lommazzo participated in the workout.

“There is so much to be thankful for. For the second year in a row, we were blessed with great weather, determined and respectful athletes, hard working staff and volunteers, judges offering their time, and energetic spectators,” said Armand Milanesi, event founder. “This journey is a partnership that encompasses our staff, competitors, judges, and sponsors; we’re pumped to see where we can go with this event series as one team.”

Close to 1,000 spectators were on site Saturday cheering all the competitors. Super SteelFit Championships also hosted a ‘Benny’s vs. Locals’ Tug-of-War, with the Benny’s from the north taking the honors for the second year in a row, and a kid’s relay race in between workouts.

This year’s Super SteelFit Championships corporate partners include the New Jersey Army National Guard, Scion, Nutrishop, North Jersey Orthopaedic Group, Jack-EE-Boyz Equipment, Champion System, Atlas Power Wraps and JAG Physical Therapy. In addition, there were representatives from Strengthlete (formerly Heavy Athletics Nutrition), Warrior Wellness Center, Schuylkill Valley Sports, WOD Cloth, Body Glove Surge, Caveman Cookies, College Hunks Moving Junk, Juice Plus, Born to WOD, and Ares Sports Rub were on site.

For more information, visit www.steelfitchampionships.com.

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