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Team Semifinal Power Rankings

April 28, 202311 min read

Image Credit - PRVN Fitness

It’s difficult to do a Power Rankings for teams any earlier in the season than this. Given the rules about who can participate and contribute and be listed on a teams roster in the early stages of the season it isn’t really until Semifinals, the qualifying stage to the Games, that we have a mostly clear picture of who are likely the most competitive teams. 

In assessing the team division one of the biggest challenges is how to handle new teams composed of extremely talented individuals and attempting to assess their potential against teams who have been together for years and have the ability to draw upon experience and chemistry.

I’ve decided to whittle down the field of teams competing in Semifinals to what I believe are the top 40 teams heading into Semifinals.

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The available Games spots were somewhat arbitrarily distributed and by no means represent the actual competitive distribution with regards to a ‘Strength of Field’ or anything similar. There is an oversaturation of high level teams specifically in North America East, and therefore you will see that they account for nearly half the teams on this list.

Top 10 Teams

RankTeamCompetitive RegionsMale 1Male 2Female 1Female 2
1CrossFit East Nashville PRVNNorth America EastTim PaulsonTola MorakinyoTaylor WilliamsonAndrea Nisler
2CrossFit InvictusNorth America WestJorge FernandezJoshua Al ChamaaDevyn KimBrittany Weiss
3CrossFit Torian MayhemOceaniaRoyce DunneBrandon SwanChristee HollardMarnie Sykes
4CrossFit Oslo Navy BlueEuropeEivand RingardNicolay BillaudelLena RichterIngrid Hodnemyr
5No Shortcuts CrossFitEuropeAndre HoudetJulian Kragh-MaschvitszJulie HougardNienke Van Overveld
6CrossFit Franco’s MisFitsNorth America WestBrandon LuckettLogan CollinsAlexis JohnsonShaylin Laure
7CrossFit Mayhem IndependenceNorth America EastAngelo DiCiccoSam DemeesterZoe JonesKyra Milligan
8CrossFit OmniaNorth America WestCooper WiseJacob SchmidtKelly StoneMaryKay Driesilker
9CrossFit OBANorth America EastNick HechtJoey TortoraKelsey KielEmelie Lundberg
10CrossFit KryptonNorth America EastBen SmithAlec SmithCaroline SpencerErin O’Donnell

The top ten teams feature 4 from NA East, 3 from NA West, 2 from Europe, and 1 from Oceania. 

Oslo Navy Blue is coming off two straight runner up finishes at the Games to CrossFit Mayhem Freedom, but find themselves as the four seed here. 

The women from the aforementioned Mayhem Freedom team have joined up with Tola Morakinyo and Tim Paulson and already appear to be the team to beat. 

The third place team from 2022, CrossFit Invictus, are back and have been vocal about their intent to take home gold this year. With another year of training together it seems likely that they will improve. 

Mayhem has spread their influence globally (as we’ll continue to see throughout this list), but their most threatening team seems to be led by 2-time individual Games competitor Royce Dunne and is competing out of Oceania. 

All four of these teams have a great chance at the podium, and more of the picture will unfold during Semis as we see teamwork demanded in ways an online competition cannot account for.

Teams 11-20

RankTeamCompetitive RegionsMale 1Male 2Female 1Female 2
11CrossFit Move Fast Lift Heavy 247North America EastChristian HarrisWill CarterChloe Gauvin-DavidWinter Rodriguez
12CrossFit PorttiEuropeJoosua EskelinenPetteri PeuronenMirka HenrikssonLaura Isopoussu
13CrossFit CLT The Grit HausNorth America EastKevin SteinhausJosh HardinCaroline KluttzStevie Dellinger
14CrossFit Walleye AthleteEuropeSam StewartJoshua WichtrupMia HeskethAntonia Falt-Kottulinksy
15CrossFit Future the BrutesNorth America EastAaron KnisleyCory SpelmanAshley ShoemakerCece Pieper
1612 Labours CrossFit LionsNorth America EastRobbie CopelandMitch WagnerDanielle DunlapChelsea Espe
17CrossFit PrestandaEuropeVictor LangsvedAlexander ElebroHannah KarlssonMaria Langfors
18CrossFit Invictus UnconquerableNorth America WestEric CarmodyTyler SoderbachJessi SmithEmily Loogman
19TTT CrossFit BlackNorth America EastTanner BalazsMike NeedlemanHannah HardyJordan Adcock
208th Day CrossFitNorth America EastMichael PassDylan HammingHeather PassRachel Clousing

Most of the teams in this range are still very strong bets to make it to the 2023 CrossFit Games, however, this now brings us to 10 of the top 20 teams which are from NA East. As you’ll see in a minute, there are several other threatening teams from the same competitive region occupying spots in the range of 21-40.

Europe shows its strength here relative to North America West, now having five teams in the top 20 as opposed to NA West having four, including a couple newly assembled teams this season in Walleye and Prestanda. Both teams have athletes which make top ten seem possible, but the field of teams is rather deep this season and until I see them in a live competition I’m not ready to jump them up quite that high on the list. 

Teams 21-30

RankTeamCompetitive RegionsMale 1Male 2Female 1Female 2
21CrossFit GenasEuropeLucas HeuzeElliot GeninCarole CastellaniJulie Vernet
22CrossFit Move Fast Lift Heavy 365North America EastDex HopkinsJoe PierroKristine BestBrooke Haas
23CrossFit Pro1 MontrealNorth America EastAdam DavidsonFrederic DubeMaude RiopelLeigha Dean
24CrossFit WestchaseNorth America EastAaron HannaDevin O’NeillTammy GyorkosKimberlee Dekrey
25CrossFit Milford Team ConquerNorth America EastTony FacchiniJay AdamsSierra CameronNicolette Torreggiani
26CrossFit ResurrectionNorth America EastKyle CantTyler LeeJasmine SheehanDeanna Posey
27CrossFit PSC InvasionNorth America EastNicholas AnapolskyShawn ClarkErica FoloJulie Simon
28Rhino CrossFit DawgsNorth America WestRaph DurandEthan HelbigChristine MiddletonBrittany Marella
29AB CrossFit- MayhemNorth America EastIvan VerdunMario SantaellaLaura SanchezMaria Camila Quintero
30Sense Fitness CrossFit Mayhem SoulSouth AmericaSantiago CombaPiero GorichonMelina RodriguezEvelin Alvarez

At this point is where the real strength of the NA East team division starts to bear down on the competitive landscape. There are teams in this group of ten which would easily qualify anywhere else in the world, and will not make it to the Games this year. 

Again Europe has three teams in this range, while NA West has one. All four of these teams are also new this year, or at least have new athletes on their rosters, and should be looking to qualify for the Games. 

CrossFit Genas was third place at the Games in 2021, had a few athletes from that team unable to compete last season, and have revamped their lineup. There is a possibility that based on what we see from them at Semis they could make a big jump up the rankings heading into the Games. 

Teams 31-40

RankTeamCompetitive RegionsMale 1Male 2Female 1Female 2
31CrossFit Fly High Kolesnikov TeamAsiaAleksandr PlyushkinGrigory GribenyukAlexsandra BuzunovaKseniia Trubetskaia
32Plus64 CrossFit 64Army EndgameOceaniaClint KohlKendall PetersonPieta HansenKelly Benfey
33CrossFit TrondheimEuropeTobiaas OpdahlJorgen SkevikVar Thurman MoeStine Moen Nilsen
34CrossFit MerchtemEuropeMichiel Van GijzeghemSven GeensSarah MassoniEmiko Naets
35Koda CrossFit RedemptionNorth America WestKevin SchuetzCasey McCallisterTaylor Sanders (Looney)Randel Derose (Leahy)
36CrossFit FBDV Mayhem AfricaAfricaAlan FoulisAJ VisserMichelle MerandAngelique Connoway
37CrossFit Kilo IINorth America WestAustin NedelcoffBrandon HornbackDeidre FranzenMeredith Nedelcoff
38CrossFit Crash BlackNorth America EastSergio BricenoJared ShawLindsey LaneCristian Shaw
39CrossFit Invictus Sea of GreenNorth America WestSean EarlyLalo TorresLauren StallwoodKelsey Schulte
40CrossFit Oslo BlackoutEuropeHenrik YterrvikHenrik NegardVeslemoy KollstadIngrid Tondel

In this final group of ten we do see a couple more teams from each of the bigger three competitive regions. However, we have our second team from Oceania, in Plus64. They have Games experience, and have added American Kelly Benfey this season. They should be a strong contender to qualify second in Oceania. 

The Russian team from last year has relocated to Dubai, but they are bringing back just as strong, if not a stronger roster than last season. Expect them to dominate in Asia and have some strong individual event performances at the Games as well.

In both South America and Africa we see the global reach of the Mayhem Empire. The Sense Fitness team in South America is composed of very talented athletes, including Santiago Comba and Piero Gorichon, who spent some time in Cookeville this year following Wodapalooza honing their skills alongside Rich Froning and company. 

The Mayhem Africa team is stacked and should be run away victors in South Africa. How well they do at the Games relative to the rest of the world remains to be seen. 

All of these teams from the smaller competitive regions will have a chance to place better at the Games than they are ranked here. Don’t forget that even though I have 18 teams from NA East in my own personal top 40, only 10 of those will go to the Games this summer. 

There are ten teams from Europe on this list, and while it’s almost a certainty not all ten will actually make it, they would be my ten picks at this point. 

There are seven teams in NA West which I have ranked in the top 40. There are other teams which will be at that Semifinal like CrossFit Believe, Undefeated CrossFit, CrossFit Verday, CrossFit 417 and CrossFit Overtake Team Density who will all be vying for Games spots as well. 

Once we have the Team Games field solidified following Semis we’ll narrow our focus on the remaining teams for the season and have predictions and assessments for them heading into Madison.

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Brian Friend

Brian stumbled upon CrossFit in the Fall of 2013. He has been a writer, data analyst, content creator, commentator, and broadcast coordinator. He's worked at a majority of the largest CrossFit competitions over the last three seasons, is a regular guest on the Sevan Podcast, and has been amongst the leading sports analysts in the sport in recent years. He has a passion for advancing the sport of CrossFit, and spreading the CrossFit methodology, by living it out in both his personal and professional life.

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