Despite the interruptions to their team, they finished 13th out of more than 40 teams.
The team from Warkworth CrossFit, which featured two athletes from Whangārei, finished second in the scaled competition.
"The team has only been training about six months together," Workman said.
He said other teams had athletes who had several years' experience under their belts.
Hunia Pickering and Jaimee Poolman, who both live in Whangārei but train at the Warkworth gym, joined forces with Jack Swift, Shay Taua, Teresa Durrant and her daughter Mackenzie Durrant to compete.
"Training with people you're going to compete with, you make connections with them," Workman said.
Pickering has been training for about two years, but the other team members have been doing CrossFit for less than a year.
"You can imagine them in a year from now."
For all but one of the six, nationals was their first competition.
Workman said the result was a bit of a surprise given their lack of experience but watching their dedication and training he had thought they could get on the podium.
They were "pretty stoked" with second place.
Workman said the success had made the team hungry for more.
The teams of six competed in nine workouts over the two days.
The workouts also made use of the nearby beach in the form of beach flag racing and a swim-carry-run event.
Workman said those types of workouts take people out of their comfort zones.
