US trip provides great experience

A combination of sunstroke, heat exhaustion and food poisoning derailed any plans Brooke Ah Sam held of doing well at the Teen Gauntlet Gathering in San Diego last month.

The combination of factors conspired to put Brooke in bed two days before the competition began, suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting, and forced her to pull out of the first day of the three day event.

Although the 15-year-old did not fully recover, she was still determined to make her mark, and returned to contest the two remaining days of the junior varsity division.

Her efforts included an impressive first place in the first WOD (workout of the day) on day two, and proving hard to beat over all three movements which comprised a 1000m row, 50 reps of wall ball at 14lb, and 30 pull ups.

Despite rowing in direct sunlight and no shade with temperatures reaching an uncomfortably hot 47 degrees Celsius, Brooke recorded the fastest time and beating her nearest competitors by 250m. She stayed in front of the field by completing 25 wall balls unbroken in a row before finishing on the pull-up bar - one of her strengths - to beating her nearest rival by over a minute.

It took 8 minutes and 16 seconds in total for her to complete the WOD, the fastest time in her division, and over a minute faster than eventual champion, Alannah Rihari from Kerikeri in 9.28s.

However, the bout of illness took its toll and while she participated on the third and final day, Brooke was far from full strength.

She still managed to complete the WOD2 with a 5th placing (as did Rihari), followed by a 6th in WOD3, to secure respectable 4th place overall.

Trainer Hine Lum from Infinite Scope Gym in Kaitaia accompanied Brooke on the trip and said her young charge had returned home richer for the experience, having competed against the best in the world, and picking up invaluable advice and encouragement as well as making the most of the opportunity to network with some of the top brass in the international crossfit community.

Brooke, meanwhile, has already put the disappointing campaign behind her and started training for her next challenge, the 2014/15 Teen Gauntlet Challenge series which will see events being held throughout the North Island in October, January and April. She will also be working with some new programmes under the watchful eye of another local currently highly ranked in national crossfit, Puawai Munro Halkyard, who said, "I just want to be there to help get Brooke where I believe she can be because she's such a talented and natural athlete."

Brooke's priority however, was to express her deep gratitude to the Kaitaia community, along with a wide circle of friends and whanau for helping her represent her home town and New Zealand in America.

"I couldn't of done this without all your help. The experience was amazing and a lifetime dream.

"Thank you for helping me get another step closer to my goal of competing at the Crossfit Games."

Thanks also went to Henry Heke from Teen Gauntlet NZ for organising the US tour, as well as various individuals here and overseas.