As the oldest competitor in the field this weekend, Jen is one of the most experienced CrossFitters in Southern Ontario with an impressive track record on the local and international CrossFit competitive scene.  With a very diverse sports background of gymnastics, soccer, competitive speed skating, Jen is an extremely well rounded athlete.  Jen is the owner and head trainer at Burlington’s CrossFit Altitude, where her passion is helping people reach their full potential in fitness and translating those fitness and health gains to their lives in general.   Jen has competed in all of the CrossFit Games Regional competitions since 2009.  With the culmination of competitions coming in 2011 where she place 3rd overall in the Open for Eastern Canada in the CrossFit Games and then going on to compete with her awesome team from CrossFit Altitude at the 2011 CrossFit Games in California.  Jen’s speciality is not specializing and focuses on keeping balance between strength, power and speed.  She boasts a 275 back squat and 205 front squat.  Jen is currently working on her olympic lifting technique to round out her repertoire.  Look out 20 somethings, this 40 year old is in da house!

Pete was mentioned often as we gathered the invitees list for the Best of the Best Inivitational.  Boasting a 405 back squat, 500 deadlift, an impressive 2:26 Fran time and a ridiculous 9:30 Angie time, you see he, like most of these amazing athletes brings it all to the table.  Pete finished fourth in the the 2011 Crossfit Games Canada East Open and 4th at Crossfit Games Canadian East Regionals.   We’re looking forward to what he will be able to do with some of the programming we throw his way.

Tommy “Gunn” Snarr has improved so much over the last year, he needs to be considered a legit threat to have a shot at the crown.   With his near famous ability to go into the zone and push his body to ridiculous limits – Tommy is legit.   His ever improving strength, and second-to-none mental capacity, Tommy has no holes in his game.  He’s placed in the top 5 in several events over the last year, and represented CrossFit Select at the Crossfit Games Regionals finishing in third place this past June.

For us, there is little doubt that Tommy will find his way in to the final rounds.

This outstanding athlete has seen his ranking jump considerably from 2010 to 2011 and was the first name mentioned to CompWOD.com in the form of the question: “Is Cristini in??”

In the last year, competition after competition, Chris has honed his game and has been a regular in the top 5 of almost any event.   His 2011 laundry list of top finishes was highlighted by a huge win at the GNC Sweat Equity Challenge this past August.

Chris is thought by many, to be the odds on favourite to continue his torrid pace and be crowned: “Best of the Best”

Joanne is the owner of Driven CrossFit, and certainly “walks the walk”  after a 10th place finish at regionals.  She has gone on to place 3rd at the Markham Throwdown and help her team to a third place finish at Element team challenge!

With a sub-four minute fran, a 4:09 Diane and a 356 Fight Gone Bad, you can see that she clearly has a complete game.

Britney, who accidentally fell into CrossFit, found her way to California to help represent her team, CrossFit Altitude, put on an impressive performance against the world’s best.

Having nothing more than a background in figure skating, she somehow realized her true potential and parlayed that into a legitimate favourite to be crowned “Best of the Best”.  Boasting an elite 3:48 Fran time, and a sub 5:30 Annie time, Britney is definitely a threat from any angle.

Her 2011 highlight saw her rank 7th in Canada East, top 100 in the world, and, of course, her visit to the games.

Britney Holmberg is the complete package.

A lawyer by day, Matt Lefave is a stunning specimen of strength and speed.  He has a world class “Helen” time of 8:00, coupled with great strength and a legit 525 deadlift!   He can certainly play with both big man, and little man programming!    His ridiculous 30 rounds of Cindy, 14 minute Angie time while maintaining a 275 lbs clean & jerk are a testament to his gymnastics and endurance.

It would be a hard challenge for you to find as big a man who battles so well with the gymnastic, body weight primed bodytypes.

Chris Baillie has seen his stock rise considerably over the last year.  After putting up impressive numbers to get to the finals in Element Overdose, his big man gymnastics failed him in the final. Taking it as a learning experience, he’s honed his game and is “strong-az”, posting the highest thruster in Canada and impressively pulling a very smooth 570 lbs deadlift.   He manhandles 135 lbs overhead squats with ease and his world class 1:23 Grace time proves it.

Chris took second at Markham and second at Element this year and has developed his gymnastics game all off season.

Look for Chris to continue his strength dominance, while flashing his new and improved big man gymnastics!

Affectionately known as “Mel P”, Melissa is known for being a perennial top 10 performer in all local contests.  She was also an integral member of the CrossFit Select Regional Team, placing 3rd place overall.  Her unquestionable strength in all lifts makes her a legit threat to make some serious noise at the Invitational.

Outstanding deadlift, squat and overhead strength coupled with a fierce determination to excel have created an incredible athlete.  Her work on gymnastics has started paying off.  She has added excellent handstand push-ups and chest-to-bar pull-ups to her already impressive repertoire over the last twelve months.