Camille Leblanc-Bazinet entered the South Regional as one of the favorites on Friday. Leblanc-Bazinet backed that up with two dominating event victories and she is now sitting with a 15 point lead over Tennil Reed.
As the dust settled on Friday evening, four of the top top athletes are Games veterans. Along with Leblanc-Bazinet, Tennil Reed (2nd), Alexis Johnson (4th) and Candice Wagner (5th) had a good opening day. Jessica Aelvoet is sitting in 3rd and is surrounded by Games veterans.
Margaux Alvarez came back with a 5th place finish on Event 2 after a 16th place performance on Event 1. Alvarez now sits in 7th place, just 8 points behind Wagner. Bethany Branham, the number one seed out of the South Central looked strong to start with a 3rd place finish on Event 1, but she took to 17th on the fast dumbbell snatch and ring dip couplet and now she sits in 6th overall.
Brenda Castro, the top seed in Latin America and one of the most talked about athletes this season, took 8th on Event 1. However, Castro struggled mightily on the ring dips and finished just under the 6-minute time cap to place 24th. Castro is in 16th overall heading into Saturday.
Aelvoet, 34, who sits in 3rd, has already qualified for the CrossFit Games in the 35-39 Masters division, but it would be hard to tell as she battled Games veteran Tennil Reed on Event 2 narrowly finishing 1st in the heat and 3rd overall.
The South women begin Event 3 tomorrow at 2:35pm Central.
Standings after Friday
- Camille Leblanc-Bazinet (200)
- Tennil Reed (185)
- Jessica Aelvoet (160)
- Alexis Johnson (154)
- Candice Wagner (145)
*** - Bethany Branham (143)
- Margaux Alvarez (135)
