3rd Annual Super SteelFit Championships Hosted Finals at Point Pleasant

Athletes from across the region competed on beach for $9,100

POINT PLEASANT, N.J., June 23, 2015 – The 3rd Annual Super SteelFit Championships, a series of intense qualifying fitness competitions, culminated with the Finals at Jenkinson’s Inlet Beach in Point Pleasant on Saturday, June 20th.

Competing for a total prize purse of $9,100, one hundred and thirty-three finalists from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts participated Saturday in workouts utilizing varying aspects of fitness such as pull ups, push ups, goblet squats, bench press, kettlebell swings, and sled drags. First place finishers in Men’s and Women’s RX each received $2,500 cash prize. Super SteelFit’s Core Committee, which was comprised of Core Captain Joe Subia, CrossFit Annex, CrossFit Bison, CrossFit Clan, CrossFit East Hanover, CrossFit Shrewsbury, CrossFit TreeHouse, and CrossFit 13 Stars, helped design these workouts as well as the qualifier workouts.

Staff Sergeant Angelo Martinez of the New Jersey Army National Guard presented the winners with their medal and prizes.

For the Women’s RX Division, Erica Johnson of CrossFit Apex (PA) took first place, Michelle Fountain of Poughkeepsie CrossFit (NY) followed in second, and Kristen Graham of CrossFit Toms River finished in third place.

“The Qualifier workouts were not as much in my wheelhouse, but after I saw the Finals workouts, it was like game on,” said Erica Johnson of CrossFit Apex. “CrossFit Apex is awesome, especially travelling all the way here. When I was running around that last corner, I would not have been able to push that hard if they were not here.”

For the Men’s RX Division, Niklas Hecht of CrossFit FiveStar (PA) finished in first place, Ben Isabella of CrossFit Sayreville placed second, and Kevin Varno of CrossFit Sayreville took third place.

“I was nervous about the workouts, because I have never really worked out on the beach,” said Niklas Hecht of CrossFit FiveStar. “I have been training really hard and put a lot into this so I was expecting to be on the podium. I would not say necessarily placing first, but it is definitely what I wanted so I am happy to walk away with that.”
For the Women’s Scaled Division, Melissa Montalvo of CrossFit Westfield took first place, Lauren Dubek of CrossFit J Town placed second, and Melissa Sikorski of CrossFit Toms River finished in third place.

“There was so much hard work that was put into this and enabled us to come from behind,” said Melissa Montalvo, whose brother Peter Montalvo claimed first in Men’s Scaled. “But the encouragement of the CrossFit community and our friends from the FaithRX community, that support system is what made this possible.”

For the Men’s Scaled Division, Peter Montalvo of CrossFit KOA finished first, Nestor Bedoya of CrossFit Morristown took second place, and Justin Papa of Atlantic Sports Health placed third.

“It was awesome cheering each other on, being there for one another and wanting the other to do well,” said Peter Montalvo of CrossFit KOA. “It was a really neat experience to see each other at the top of the podium.”

For the Women’s Executive Division, Tracy Bacon of CrossFit Tigershark placed first, followed by Evelyn D’Onofrio of CrossFit Clan in second place, and Cathy Mastorio of CrossFit Sayreville finished in third place.

For the Men’s Executive Division, Fabio Rendon of CrossFit Morristown placed first, followed by Bart Zimmermann of CrossFit 908 in second place, and David Perna of CrossFit KOA finished in third place.

This is the second year Ben Isabella, Kevin Varno, and Nestor Bedoya took the podium. Last year, Varno finished in first place in Men’s RX and Bedoya finished third in Men’s Scaled. In 2013, Isabella placed second in the Men’s RX division.

Close to 1,000 spectators were on site Saturday cheering all the competitors.
In addition to workouts, a Veterans’ Division competed during the day in a special workout to honor a local fallen hero. Presented by the Warrior Wellness Center, ten veterans competed in honor of Navy Seal Petty Officer 3rd Class Denis Miranda who was killed in action September 10, 2010 in the vicinity of Zabul, Afghanistan. He was from Toms River, NJ.

Marine Corps Sergeant Brandon Densmore, US Army Sergeant Robert Hutchins, US Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Greg Delehanty, US Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class William Ditchkus, US Army Sergeant Darius Foster, US Army Staff Sergeant Jacqueline Rivera-Buie, Marine Corps Corporal Jonathan Veras, US Army Sergeant First Class Marlon Palma, US Army Staff Sergeant Lorraine Derowitsch, and US Army Sergeant Giuli Iommazzo participated in the workout.

This year’s Super SteelFit corporate partners include the New Jersey Army National Guard, Scion, Atlantic Sports Health Physical Therapy, North Jersey Orthopaedic Group, Lawless Jerky, Jack-EE-Boyz Equipment, and LatitudeGearRX. In addition, there were representatives from Nutrishop, Schuylkill Valley Sports, State Farm, Monster Energy, Revolutionize, Hylete, Copper X Compression, Faith RX and the Warrior Wellness Center on site at the Finals.

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