Auckland’s ‘High Performance Unit’ Takes Out Title

Auckland’s ‘High Performance Unit’ Takes Out National Team CrossFit Title

Mount CrossFit Plays Host To Fittest and Strongest CrossFitters In New Zealand

TAURANGA, Thursday 25th October 2012: ‘High Performance Unit’ from CrossFit HPU has triumphed over fellow Auckland competitors, ‘CrossFit Alpha’, in a gruelling finale to win the coveted Mount CrossFit National Team Competition title.

New Zealand’s biggest ever CrossFit competition, which attracted elite athletes from around the country, was held over two days at Baypark TECT Arena in Tauranga during Labour Weekend.

280 of New Zealand’s fittest and strongest men and women, competed in teams of four (two men and two women) across two divisions; ‘RX’ (prescribed weight for elite athletes) and ‘scaled’ for those new to the sport.

Teams ‘High Performance Unit’ from CrossFit HPU in Auckland and ‘CrossFit Alpha’ from CrossFit Auckland dominated the RX division across the weekend and after five workouts spread across two days, the two finalists battled it out in the final high intensity relay.

‘CrossFit Alpha’ lead the final workout in the early stages before ‘High Performance Unit’ made an astonishing come back to take home the $1000 prize money and national title. Team ‘Zealous’ from Zealous CrossFit based in West Auckland took out the scaled competition.

The competition, which is in its second year, attracted top athletes from around New Zealand including Olympic weightlifter Richard Patterson, who represented NZ at the 2012 London Olympics; and Aaron James and Mahdi Te Heuheu, who are both ranked in the top 15 in Australasia, represented reigning champion team CrossFit Mana from Palmerston North.

The national competition format, developed by local Mount CrossFit directors Luke McGruer and John Templeton, saw 70 teams (each comprising of four competitors) push themselves to the absolute limit in a series of high intensity workouts, which included Olympic weight-lifting, gymnastics, strength tests, relays and physical endurance against the clock.

Event organiser Tim Paton-Tapsell, from Village Marketing and Public Relations, says the growth of the competition is testament to the sport’s increasing popularity and demand from the New Zealand CrossFit community for an event of this scale.

“It’s been promising to see the team entries doubling in size from last year’s competition. We are very proud of the success of the competition this year and plan to increase the calibre and total prize pool in 2013”.

Mount CrossFit is regarded as being one of the best coached and equipped boxes in the country. Its owners are both ex-New Zealand Army soldiers and among the top 10 CrossFit athletes in the country.

The growth trend of CrossFit globally has been witnessed at a local level, with McGruer and Templeton recently announcing the opening of a larger CrossFit box in Tauranga next month, a move driven by increasing demand for their classes in the wider Bay of Plenty.

Hundreds of spectators and athletes support-teams turned out to support competitors over the weekend and feedback on the event was extremely positive.

“With the support of our sponsors, New Zealand’s CrossFit community and supporters, we are confident this competition will become one of the must-see events on the national sporting calendar. Next year’s competition is already shaping up to be even bigger and better, with one of the workouts heading outdoors,” says Paton-Tapsell.

The Mount CrossFit Team Competition is proud to be sponsored by Reebok, Industrial Athletic, Steinlager, The Rock Radio Station, Pure Delish, Bay of Plenty Times, CornerStone Pub, Tourism Bay of Plenty, Radiance, Trinity Wharf and Village Marketing and Public Relations.

The four members of winning team ‘High Performance Unit’ were Joe McCormack, Moana Shepherd, Ekaterina Tabakova, and Gareth O'Donnell.

About Mount CrossFit

Mount CrossFit was opened in June 2011 by ex-army soldiers Luke McGruer and John Templeton (known as JT). A comprehensive schedule of CrossFit classes is available daily at their Mount Maunganui and Tauranga premises. Visit www.mountcrossfit.com for class schedules, videos, details about CrossFit and trainers’ biographies.

ENDS

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