Assessing the Depth of Field: North American West Men

This is the third week of a three-part series leading up to the Individual Quarterfinals for 2024, a stage of the season which is getting a lot of attention as being one of the most critical stages of competition when it comes to the programming and administration of it in the history of the sport. While it isn’t a live competition, and there is no money at all on the line, the opportunity to advance to a Semifinal in Europe and North America is extremely limited despite an incredible depth of talent in those competitive regions. 

Each week we’ve chosen one of the fields in Europe, then North America East, and lastly North America West. This week, we’re looking at the men’s field out West to get an idea of the depth out there and what it could mean for Quarters. 

Last Years Games Athletes

Last year through the World Wide Ranking and D’Hondt distribution method for strength of field the men in the NA West field were awarded 9 total qualifying spots to the CrossFit Games. We know Chandler Smith is competing on a team this year with CrossFit Invictus leaving at least one open spot, which is important because this is a very difficult group to aim to be breaking into. 

2023 SFs	2023 Qualifiers	2023 QFs (NA West)	2024 Open (NA West)
1	Patrick Vellner	2	2
2	Brent Fikowski	7	19
3	Samuel Kwant	15	14
4	Cole Greashaber	3	4
5	Justin Medeiros	1	6
6	Chandler Smith	11	16
7	Nick Mathew	4	13
8	Colten Mertens	16	3
9	Cole Sager	9	10

Every man on the above list has multiple individual CrossFit Games qualifications. None of them were surprises to qualify for the Games last year. And all of them have proven track records of fitness that are intact to suggest that it will take a special performance from the chase pack to unseat one or more of them. 

In the Hunt

Let’s take a look at a group of 12 men in the West region who have proven to be legitimate threats to upset some of the men who seem to have a pretty firm grasp on the spot out West. While spots out West are likely to be even rarer than they will be for men in Europe and NA East, the value of a clean execution in every workout in this Semi is quite high.

Athlete	2023 SFs	2023 QFs (NA West)	2024 Open (NA West)
James Sprague	11 NA East*	9 NA East	5
Brandon Luckett	1st team	2nd team	1
Luis Oscar Mora	11	8	12
Bill Leahy IV	WD	31	21
John Wood	12	17	48
Maximilian Krieg	15	34	40
Scott Tetlow	16	6	8
Chris Ibarra	17	21	51
Daniel Kuc	22	29	65
Will Bennett	23	24	22
Travon Benton	24	27	20
Tudor Magda	25	14	291

• James Sprague is the only man on this list who did qualify for the Games last year. 
• Tudor Magda made the Games the year prior, and certainly cannot be taken lightly. 
• Bill Leahy is a hot name in analyst circles who has been touted as a candidate for breakout athlete of the year, even nabbing the final spot in the latest Barbell Spin Top-25 Media Poll despite not having much of a competition resume. 
• Brandon Luckett comes into Quarters as the top seeded man out West following the Open, and boasts three individual and one team CrossFit Games qualification in his career already. 
• Luis Oscar Mora was two spots out of Games spot last year and all signs are that his fitness has caught up to his strength, making him an extremely intriguing candidate for a breakthrough year himself. 

Rounding out the Field?

This next group is a list of men who have distinguished themselves to the point of being serious contenders for qualifying to the NA West semis. It’s a list of 20, who could in theory “round out” the field of men in the West: 

Athlete	2023 SFs	2023 QFs (NA West)	2024 Open (NA West)
Adam McAdams	33	25	23
Anthonee Yim	47	50	29
Arturo Torres	46	39	50
Brian Huynh	31	20	7
Drake Lewis	30	19	63
Isaac Farias	51	42	38
Isaiah Vidal	18	45	44
Jacob Marlow	27	35	115
Jacob Schmidt	3rd team	team	47
Jeremiah Bailey	34	37	61
Joel Laney	48	26	69
Justin Dewing	28	49	93
Justin Rhodes	14	22	122
Lalo Torres	8th team	DNC	17
Leonel Franco	WD	36	57
Logan Ewing	41	33	164
Matt Brady	29	61	189
Rafael Sancen	26	32	46
Sam Dancer	4th 35-39	1st 35-39	36
Ty Jenkins	DNQ	84	70

In several cases, the margins between putting someone in this group, as opposed to the previous one, were very small. In general, this is where the depth seems to be for the men of the West, that 15-50 range seems very volatile. 

This year, the ability to qualify for a Semi is a huge accomplishment. But for this particular region, it feels like even a majority of the men who make it to Carson, won’t really be in the hunt for a Games spot. Nevertheless, they will want to qualify, and to do so, they’ll have to ward off yet another group of hungry dedicated athletes:

Athlete	2023 SFs	2023 QFs (NA West)	2024 Open (NA West)
Alessandro Zanet	55	44	32
Andrew Madrid	31st team	team	35
Anton Foss	35	23	215
Austin Evans	DNQ	68	66
Elijah Subiano	DNQ	117	60
Mike Evans	17th team	team	49
Nyko Flores	44	43	584
Ryan Nerenberg	DNQ	466	41
Ryley Humrighouse	DNQ	253	112
Stephen Jones	50	41	57
Tristan Harrison	DNQ	126	26
Tucker McLemore	DNQ	99	42
Zachery Buntin	DNQ	1321	31

Thirteen more men in this group who present varying levels of intrigue. 

• 2022 CrossFit Games teenage podium finisher Elijah Subiano enters the fray this year on the back of a decent Open finish. 
• REPS AHEAD Undercard champion from last month Ryley Humrighouse look to extend a streak of impressive performances this year after also taking 2nd in the Rx division of WZA in January

Old Guard Still Has It

Lastly, there’s this group of veteran athletes who all still managed finishes inside the top 50 amongst the North American West men’s field: 

Athlete	2024 Open (NA West)
Travis Mead	9
Jason Carroll	18
Brendan Willis	24
Jacob Heppner	25
Cody Anderson	30
Christian Vega	33
Irving Hernandez	34
Chase Smith	39
Alex Bozenhard	45

Based on what we know about these men, it’s unlikely any of them actually give a run at trying to make a Semis (some of them may not even sign up for Quarterfinals), but to see this level of sustained fitness from guys who have been at it for a long time is always cool as an overall testament to the prolonged level of fitness that can be achieved and maintained.

Individual Quarters

We’re now only about a week out from the Individual Quarterfinals for this year, and the anticipation is high. If you’re paying attention on social media, or to media outlets who cover this sport, you are well aware that the athletes are dialing in for this stage to a different degree than years past. Hopefully this three-part series has helped frame at least part of the competitive landscape for this season, while also giving an understanding of how exciting this weekend can be. 

Expect a lot of athletes to travel to locations where they can do these workouts with training camps or other athletes. There will be experienced judges at some of them, media crews covering some of them, and it seems even a live opportunity to watch some of the best men in North America do them from CrossFit Crash on The Sevan Podcast, a slightly risky decision for the athletes, but absolutely worth it for the crowd entertainment. 

A part of the season which has been referred to as not a spectacle by Dave Castro, and yet something fans of this sport both know is highly important for the athletes and desire to watch and follow.