By Adrian Manguit
EBC Florida Bureau

WEST PALM BEACH, FL (Eagle News Service) — Participants gathered from all over the East Coast to compete in the CrossFit Atlantic Regionals at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida.

This three-day event drew competitors from the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions with hopes of advancing to the CrossFit games finals in Madison, Wisconsin in August.

Adam Klink, from Chesapeake, Virginia, who has been competing in the Crossfit games for six years, spoke to Eagle News about his mindset heading into the competition.

“I’m just taking it one event at a time,” Klink said. “I have my strength and weaknesses, but I’m here to have fun, so I’m just taking one event at a time.”

Klink also spoke about the growing popularity of the CrossFit games.

“The fans are fantastic,” he said. “The fanbase keeps on growing every year, they get bigger and bigger. The fans is what makes this event special.”

Competing in her ninth regionals, competitor Erin Carter from Lakeland, Florida shared her inspiration to compete.

“I have a little girl, and at the end of the day, I could look at her and say, ‘You can do anything you set your mind to with a smile’ and have a blast,” Carter stated.

The 40-year-old competitor also had some advice for those thinking about competing in the CrossFit Games.

“[Anyone] can definitely do it,” Carter said. “[The more you have] in you, [the more] you have experience. It hurts, but you’ve been through a lot worse. I was not into sports when I was little. Anyone can do it. It takes time and sacrifice, but anyone can do it.”

The top five teams that advanced to the CrossFit games were Team Soul followed by Raw Training, CrossFit Balance, Dwala Rangers and HustleHard Crossfit.

The top five men who advanced were Noah Olsen, John Coltey, Ben Smith, Alec Smith, and Ethan Helbig. For the women, Cassidy Lance-McWherter, Emily Bridgers, Mekenzie Riley, Whitney Gelin and Paige Semenza all advanced.

(Eagle News Service)