Team has qualified for CrossFit Games in July
Published in the June 15, 2016 edition
VANCOUVER, Wash. — CrossFit Fort Vancouver has done it again. And Wakefield native Danielle Resha is a big reason why.
For the eighth consecutive season the team from Vancouver has qualified for the CrossFit Games, the annual competition for top CrossFit gyms and individual athletes from around the world.
CrossFit Fort Vancouver finished third in the CrossFit Games West Regional, which was held Friday through Sunday at the Moda Center in Portland. Only CrossFit Fort Vancouver and CrossFit Invictus from San Diego have qualified for the CrossFit Games each of the last eight years.
CrossFit Fort Vancouver owner Adam Neiffer, who has been on all eight teams, said the Moda Center felt like a home-field advantage with vocal support from many members of the gym and the local community. Joining Neiffer on the team for the regional were Mathew Hornung, Jeremiah Doyle, Andrea Roozen, Resha and Betsy Simser.
Doyle was an alternate who stepped in for the injured Brian Weed.
After the first three events on Friday, May 20, CrossFit Fort Vancouver sat in eighth place among the 30 competing teams. By placing second, fifth and sixth in three events on May 21, the team moved into the top five. It solidified its position by winning the first event on May 22. But a 12th-place finish in the second Sunday event kept several teams within range to pass the Vancouver team.
CrossFit Fort Vancouver clinched its trip to the Games by placing second in the final event of the competition, which involved a 25-minute barbell relay and rope climb.
The West Regional brought together 30 teams that qualified at the state or province level — 15 from western Canada and 15 from the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
A total of 40 teams from eight regionals will compete at the 2016 Reebok CrossFit Games, which take place July 19-24 at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.
Resha is the owner of CrossFit 128 in Wakefield. In January, she moved to Vancouver to train for the CrossFit Games on a team with CrossFit Fort Vancouver.
Resha qualified for the East Regional last year in Hartford, Conn. It was the second stage of the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games season. The top 20 females in the region (out of 12,000) were chosen to compete at the East Regional. The top five athletes from there moved on to the CrossFit Games.
On top of that, Resha, after a two day combine in Washington, D.C., was drafted to the Phoenix Rise, a team in the National Pro Grid League (NPGL) which is a new co-ed professional sport which airs on NBC Sports.
The former Warrior soccer goalie has played women’s football in the past. She was a kicker and backup running back for the Boston Militia, a team in the Women’s Football Alliance. She also played for the Boston Ravens, a team in the Eastern Football League. Resha, a 2011 WMHS graduate, was signed by the Ravens and was the first woman to play a down in the 51 years as a member of the league at the time.
