Crossfit: Hawke's Bay pair among world's best at Teen Gauntlet

Briah McGrail-Timms (left) and Reiley Bartlett made the top four at Teen Gauntlet in Houston, Texas. Photo/Warren Buckland

IT wasn't the welcome Hawke's Bay crossfit exponents Reiley Bartlett and Briah McGrail-Timms envisaged as they wandered into George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas last week.

"We had just got into the terminal and 10 armed security guards walked towards us. Apparently that's the norm over there. It makes you appreciate how good we have things here at home," Bartlett's father and the pair's trainer, Anaru Bartlett, explained.

"I asked one of them if their gun was real. He told me it was and he was nice enough to pose for a photo with us," Reiley said.

Thirteen-year-olds Reiley and Briah, who will start Karamu High School next week, shook off this scary welcome to finish second and fourth respectively in the 12 and 13 years girls division of the World Crossfit Teen Gauntlet in Houston. They were the only Kiwis at the event which catered for the top seven boys and girls in three age groups in the world who qualified through an online qualification process last year.

"Briah and Reiley were treated like celebrities as the rest of the competitors were from the States," Bartlett said.

"They loved the way we spoke and we made heaps of friends," Reiley said.

She finished two points behind the winner and Briah finished two points off the podium. They qualified fifth and seventh respectively.

The pair, who were coached by Hawke's Bay's Neil Hanson in the buildup to their trip, have been doing crossfit for two years and are products of the Outkast Sports Academy. Both are keen to return to the event next year with the aim of improving on this month's finishes.

"Crossfit is the No 1 sport for both of us now and we know what we need to improve on," Briah said.

"For me it's wall balls and toe to bars."

"For me it's double unders and gymnastics. It's like any sport ... you will achieve more if you are prepared to work hard on your biggest weakness," Reiley said.

"It would be good to do at least one more Teen Gauntlet and then aim for the World Crossfit Games after that. While our six weeks of training before going to Houston was tough we also worked hard to raise the $3500 each required for the trip with jobs like packing apples, which was good fitness training.

"Getting the results we did made all that hard work in and out of the gym worthwhile ... we trained right through the Christmas holidays," Briah said.

The Teen Gauntlet was divided into five different events. The first one involved a 1000 metre row, 150 double-unders and an 800 metre run. Reiley won this and Briah was fourth.

Event two consisted of snatches and burpee box jumpovers and Reiley and Briah were third and fourth respectively. Reiley won event three, a calorie bike and dumbbell press, and Briah was fourth.

Event four involved pull-ups, handstand walks and handstand push ups and Briah and Reiley were third and fourth respectively. The final event involved wall balls, toe to bars and squat cleans and Briah and Reiley were second and fourth respectively.

Former Hastings Intermediate School students, Reiley and Briah are former Hawke's Bay under-14 touch teammates. Both are middle players in the Hawke's Bay under-16 girls team which will play at the February 9-11 nationals in Auckland.

The side is coached by Bartlett, who said he is preparing it to be a force in the same age group next year. Briah and Reiley also intend to play netball for their new school, as well as the Outkast Sports Development team.

There's no doubt more will be heard about this pair in the years to come. It's obvious they have the potential to make as much impact in crossfit or any other code they choose as Reiley's father and their uncle Nui Bartlett had on touch fields around the country during the late 1990s and early 2000s.