NorCal Classic 2025 Results showcased the some great performances of elite CrossFit athletes during Sacramento’s scorching 90°F heat. With only two qualifying spots available for men and women to advance to the CrossFit Games, athletes pushed their limits across seven grueling events. The competition maintained an old-school CrossFit atmosphere, reminiscent of the sport’s early days.
Event 1 Winners: Heavy Isabel
The first event of the NorCal Classic 2025 challenged athletes with the formidable “Heavy Isabel,” testing both technical proficiency and raw strength under pressure. This opening challenge required athletes to complete 30 snatches for time with significantly increased weights compared to the standard Isabel workout.
Mens Division
The men faced the daunting task of completing 30 snatches at 225 pounds—representing a 66.6% increase from the standard Isabel weights. The event, scheduled for 3:45 PM, demanded exceptional barbell cycling ability and stamina. Though the specific event winner isn’t detailed is still to be added in this article, William Leahy ultimately secured the top position on the overall men’s leaderboard with 42 points, suggesting a strong performance across all events including Heavy Isabel.
At previous competitions featuring the same workout, athletes demonstrated remarkable capabilities with the heavy barbell. For instance, at the 2025 Mayhem Classic, Guilherme Malheiros completed the workout in an impressive 3:58.61, setting a benchmark for what elite competitors might achieve at the NorCal Classic.
The men’s division saw fierce competition, with Jorge Fernandez and Nate Ackermann tied at 62.5 points for second and third positions respectively on the overall leaderboard, indicating how critical each repetition of Heavy Isabel could be in the final standings.
Womens Division
For the women, Heavy Isabel consisted of 30 snatches at 155 pounds—a 63.1% increase from the standard version. Scheduled earlier in the day at 10:48 AM, this event immediately separated the field based on strength and technical efficiency.
Elite women typically complete the standard Isabel in under two minutes, making this heavier version particularly challenging. At the Mayhem Classic earlier this year, Abigail Domit won the women’s division with a time of 3:55.53, providing context for what constitutes an elite performance.
The women’s leaderboard ultimately saw Alex Gazan claim first place with 46.5 points, followed by Hattie Kanyo with 64.5 points. The significant point gap suggests Gazan likely performed exceptionally well in Heavy Isabel, establishing an early advantage that carried throughout the competition.
For both divisions, this opening event proved crucial in setting the competitive tone for the entire weekend, foreshadowing how the remaining events would unfold across the competition.
Event 2 Winners: Ring Shuttle
Following the opening “Heavy Isabel” challenge, athletes faced the equally demanding “Ring Shuttle” workout in the second event of the NorCal Classic 2025. This unique test combined high-skill gymnastics with intense cardiovascular demands, forcing competitors to manage both technical proficiency and fatigue simultaneously.
Mens Division
The men tackled a grueling combination of gymnastics and sprint work in the Ring Shuttle event. Athletes were required to complete 30 ring muscle-ups for time, with a mandatory buy-in at the start of every three-minute window, beginning at 0:00. This buy-in consisted of suicide shuttle runs covering distances of 50, 75, and 100 feet.
The format created a strategic challenge—athletes needed to pace their muscle-ups efficiently while knowing they would be interrupted every three minutes for the shuttle run. This structure represented a classic CrossFit testing methodology, requiring competitors to maintain technical gymnastics skills despite increasing cardiovascular fatigue.
Among the notable performances, CJ Gerald demonstrated exceptional gymnastics capacity by completing all 30 ring muscle-ups within the time cap. The event proved pivotal for athletes looking to establish positioning after the opening event, with the combination of gymnastics and sprinting creating significant separation in the field.
Womens Division
The women faced identical workout parameters as the men—30 ring muscle-ups with the three-minute shuttle run buy-ins. The shuttle runs required athletes to touch lines at progressively increasing distances of 50, 75, and 100 feet before returning to the starting position.
This event highlighted the evolution of women’s CrossFit performance, as elite female athletes demonstrated remarkable proficiency on the rings. The format rewarded not only gymnastics capacity but also recovery ability, as competitors needed to quickly transition back to muscle-ups after completing each shuttle run.
The combination of technical gymnastics elements with sprint work created a comprehensive test that aligned perfectly with the “NorCal Classic” reputation for innovative programming. Athletes who excelled possessed both exceptional upper body pulling strength and the cardiovascular endurance to maintain output through repeated sprint efforts.
Furthermore, this event’s unique structure forced athletes to demonstrate adaptability—a quality highly valued in the sport of CrossFit—as they transitioned between dramatically different movement patterns throughout the workout.
Event 3 Winners: Gator Push
The third challenge at the NorCal Classic 2025 showcased raw power and endurance through the unique “Gator Push” event. Athletes tackled a 100-foot course while pushing the heavy apparatus, testing both lower body strength and mental fortitude under pressure.
Mens Division
Jorge Fernandez dominated the men’s division with the fastest Gator Push time. The event required athletes to load their Gator with D-Balls before navigating the course, adding an element of strategy to the strength component. Competitors needed to decide optimal loading configurations that balanced weight distribution with manageable resistance.
Fernandez’s performance demonstrated exceptional lower body power and pushing mechanics. His technique of maintaining a low driving position throughout the course proved effective against the unwieldy apparatus. Subsequently, this strong showing in Event 3 contributed to his overall standing in the competition.
The judges made a notable scoring adjustment in this event. Due to inconsistencies between lanes and variations in the Gator equipment itself, officials scored each lane separately. This decision ensured fairness among competitors despite the equipment differences.
Womens Division
Alex Gazan claimed victory in the women’s division with an impressive performance. Her efficient loading strategy and powerful pushing technique set her apart from the competition. Throughout the 100-foot course, Gazan maintained steady momentum without the stops and starts that plagued many competitors.
This victory added crucial points to Gazan’s overall score, reinforcing her position as a top contender. Her performance highlighted the importance of both strength and strategic execution in CrossFit competitions.
The Gator Push event’s unique implementation at the NorCal Classic 2025 exemplified the competition’s reputation for innovative challenges. By combining conventional strength with unconventional apparatus, the event created a comprehensive test that went beyond standard weightlifting or conditioning metrics.
Both division winners showcased exceptional physical capability alongside the tactical awareness necessary to excel in this distinctive test.
Event 4 Winners: Run Row
Event 4 brought competitors face-to-face with a classic CrossFit pairing: rowing and running. The “Run Row” challenge tested athletes’ endurance capacity across multiple domains, requiring precision pacing and mental fortitude.
Mens Division
The men’s “Run Row” event consisted of a 2000-meter row immediately followed by a 2-mile run. This combination demanded exceptional cardiovascular capacity alongside strategic pacing. Athletes needed to determine how much energy to expend on the rower versus saving for the run portion.
At the time of the event, William Leahy had established himself as the frontrunner in the overall standings with 42 points. His performance in this endurance-heavy challenge likely contributed to maintaining his advantage over competitors Jorge Fernandez and Nate Ackermann, who were tied at 62.5 points.
Spencer Panchik, sitting fourth with 71.5 points, potentially gained ground during this event given his background in endurance sports. Meanwhile, Matt Brady (77.5 points) and Max Krieg (85.5 points) continued their push toward higher standings.
The event started at 7:00 AM, forcing athletes to adapt to early morning competition—a factor that often separates elite performers who can execute regardless of time constraints.
Womens Division
The women tackled identical parameters: a 2000-meter row transitioning directly into a 2-mile run. This format required excellent transition efficiency between modalities alongside raw cardiovascular capacity.
Alex Gazan, leading the women’s division with 46.5 points, demonstrated her well-rounded fitness by maintaining her position at the top of the leaderboard through this challenging event. Hattie Kanyo followed in second place with 64.5 points, while Carolyne Prevost rounded out the top three with 66 points.
Norwegian competitor Kristin Holte, a CrossFit Games veteran, leveraged her experience during this event, contributing to her fourth-place standing with 73.5 points. Fellow Scandinavian athletes Oda Lundekvam and Andrea Solberg held fifth and sixth positions respectively.
Notably, athletes received scores for both their 2000-meter row split time and their overall completion time, adding strategic complexity to an already demanding test.
Event 5 Winners: Stow and Go
The fifth event of the NorCal Classic 2025 introduced athletes to “Stow and Go,” a challenging test structured to examine competitors’ efficiency in movement transitions. As day two of competition continued, this event represented another crucial opportunity for athletes to secure points toward CrossFit Games qualification.
Mens Division
The men’s “Stow and Go” event began at 6:39 PM, arriving after a full day of competition had already tested athletes’ recovery capabilities. Although complete details remained under wraps until competition day, the workout primarily challenged athletes’ loading and unloading capabilities combined with rapid transitions between stations.
This event required competitors to efficiently move equipment or weights between designated areas, creating a strategic element where athletes needed to balance speed with technique. The format rewarded those who could maintain composure under fatigue while executing precise movements with various implements.
The stakes remained exceptionally high as athletes recognized that only the top two finishers across all events would secure qualification spots for the CrossFit Games. This reality added pressure to each repetition as competitors fought to maintain or improve their leaderboard positions.
Womens Division
The women tackled the “Stow and Go” challenge earlier in the evening at 5:30 PM, facing identical movement patterns as the men but likely with adjusted loading parameters. Throughout this event, female competitors demonstrated remarkable efficiency in transitioning between stations, showcasing both strength and strategic acumen.
Additionally, the event’s design tested athletes’ abilities to pace effectively across multiple rounds of effort. Those who excelled maintained consistent work rates without succumbing to early fatigue or technical breakdown.
With $85,000 in total prize money on the line, along with coveted CrossFit Games qualifying spots, the women approached this event with tactical precision. Each movement represented an opportunity to gain crucial points toward the overall standings.
Moreover, the event reinforced the NorCal Classic’s reputation for programming tests that examine multiple fitness domains simultaneously, requiring athletes to demonstrate well-rounded capacities under pressure.
Event 6 Winners: Double Twos
As competitors advanced through day two of the NorCal Classic 2025, the sixth challenge presented a classic CrossFit combination test dubbed “Double Twos.” Contrary to speculation about jump rope movements, the event actually consisted of a 2,000-meter row immediately followed by a 2-mile run, with athletes receiving two separate scores—one for their rowing split and another for their overall completion time.
Mens Division
The men approached this endurance-focused challenge with strategic precision, knowing that pacing would be critical for success across both modalities. The dual scoring system created additional complexity, forcing athletes to make calculated decisions about energy expenditure between the rowing and running portions.
This event proved particularly significant for William Leahy, who maintained his overall lead with 42 total points. His performance in Double Twos likely contributed to the substantial point advantage he established over Jorge Fernandez and Nate Ackermann, both tied at 62.5 points.
Primarily, competitors who excelled possessed both rowing efficiency and running economy—two distinctly different skill sets rarely tested in direct succession. The format rewarded athletes with superior cardiovascular capacity and recovery abilities, especially as fatigue accumulated throughout the competition weekend.
Womens Division
In the women’s division, Alex Gazan further solidified her position atop the leaderboard, demonstrating exceptional endurance capacity that complemented her earlier event victories. Her cumulative score of 46.5 points reflected consistent performances, including in this challenging endurance test.
Hattie Kanyo maintained second place with 64.5 points, while Carolyne Prevost secured third with 66 points. The point distribution indicated that Double Twos created meaningful separation among competitors.
Essentially, this event represented a pivotal moment in the competition where athletes fought not only against each other but against mounting fatigue from previous events. With CrossFit Games qualification on the line for only the top two finishers, each split second on the rower and running course carried significant implications for final standings.
Final Event Winners: Hero Ball
The NorCal Classic 2025 culminated with “Hero Ball,” an intense final challenge that would ultimately determine which athletes secured coveted CrossFit Games qualification spots. This concluding test embodied the spirit of hero workouts that typically honor fallen service members through particularly demanding movement combinations.
Mens Division
The men took to the competition floor at 2:20 PM for their Hero Ball showdown. As the name suggested, this finale likely incorporated medicine balls into a grueling format that tested competitors who had already endured six previous events. Athletes faced wall balls, ball slams, or other dynamic medicine ball exercises within a challenging time domain.
With only one men’s ticket to the Games remaining after this weekend, the Hero Ball event carried exceptional significance. Throughout the competition, William Leahy had established himself as the frontrunner, while Jorge Fernandez and Nate Arian remained locked in a fierce battle for second place. Arian specifically needed to outperform Fernandez in this final challenge to secure Games qualification.
Spencer Panchik, the only remaining athlete with individual Games experience who hadn’t yet qualified, undoubtedly approached Hero Ball as his final opportunity to return to the sport’s biggest stage. Similarly, rising athletes Drake Lewis, Jorge Fernandez, Max Krieg, and William Leahy viewed this event as their pathway to potential rookie appearances at the Games.
Womens Division
The women tackled the Hero Ball finale earlier at 2:00 PM, facing the same fundamental test structure as the men. For the women’s division, this event carried particular weight given the depth of Games veterans in the field.
Specifically, five athletes with at least three Games appearances competed in Sacramento: Alex Gazan (3), Emily Rolfe (5), Bethany Flores (7), Caroline Prevost (3), and Kristin Holte (8). Gazan, who had bypassed the In-Affiliate Semifinals to focus exclusively on the NorCal Classic, entered as the frontrunner.
Rolfe, last year’s CrossFit Games bronze medalist, had been managing a back injury in recent weeks, making her Hero Ball performance especially revealing of her recovery status. Additionally, Kristin Holte’s participation attracted significant attention as the eight-time Games veteran and 2019 podium finisher considered a potential comeback after retirement and motherhood.
NorCal Classic 2025 Leaderboard
After seven grueling events, the NorCal Classic 2025 concluded with a definitive leaderboard showcasing the elite athletes who prevailed through Sacramento’s intense competition. Consequently, only the top two finishers in each division earned coveted tickets to the CrossFit Games in Albany, NY.
Mens Division
The men’s final standings revealed William Leahy as the dominant performer, accumulating just 42 points throughout the competition. Jorge Fernandez secured second place with 62.5 points, while Nate Ackermann finished third with an identical point total. The tie for second place was ultimately resolved through event placings.
The complete men’s top 10 leaderboard:
- William Leahy — 42 points
- Jorge Fernandez — 62.5 points
- Nate Ackermann — 62.5 points
- Spencer Panchik — 71.5 points
- Matt Brady — 77.5 points
- Max Krieg — 85.5 points
- Nicolas Bedin — 99 points
- Justin Johnson — 104 points
- Travon Benton — 104.5 points
- Jase Brooks — 111.5 points
Spencer Panchik, the lone Games veteran still seeking qualification, finished fourth, falling short of securing his third Games appearance. The competition also showcased impressive performances from rookie contenders Drake Lewis, Max Krieg, and William Leahy, who had been identified as athletes to watch prior to the event.
Womens Division
Alex Gazan validated her decision to focus exclusively on the NorCal Classic by claiming first place with 46.5 points. Hattie Kanyo, last year’s Games rookie, secured the second qualifying position with 64.5 points.
The women’s top 10 finishers:
- Alex Gazan — 46.5 points
- Hattie Kanyo — 64.5 points
- Carolyne Prevost — 66 points
- Kristin Holte — 73.5 points
- Oda Lundekvam — 88 points
- Andrea Solberg — 89.5 points
- Trista Smith — 99 points
- Maddi Foutz — 102 points
- Karisa Stapp — 105 points
- Nina Vragovic — 111 points
Eight-time Games veteran Kristin Holte finished fourth, narrowly missing qualification for what would have been her comeback competition. Concerning Emily Rolfe, last year’s CrossFit Games bronze medalist who entered despite a recent back injury, she was unable to crack the top 10. The women’s division featured remarkable depth with five athletes who had competed in the CrossFit Games at least three times.
Final Words
The weekend delivered dramatic finishes that will be remembered long after the dust settled in Sacramento. The men’s division witnessed an extraordinary tiebreaker situation between Jorge Fernandez and Nate Arian, who finished with identical point totals. The qualification came down to highest event finish, with Jorge securing the Games spot through his performance in the “Stow and Go” event.
Bill Leahy’s dominant performance throughout the weekend left no doubt about his deservingness, easily claiming first place despite the event’s occasional chaos. At this point, with only one qualifying opportunity remaining in the 2025 season, the stakes couldn’t have been higher for athletes on the bubble.
Evidently, injury management played a critical role, as demonstrated by Colton Mertens’ difficult decision to withdraw. “My back on Sunday… I’ve just been doing rehab since then. I got on the plane and didn’t know if I was going to be able to compete,” Mertens explained before ultimately pulling out when no longer in contention for a qualifying position.
The women’s competition featured its own nail-biting finish, with Kristin Holte, Caroline Po, and Haddie Cano separated by just one point heading into the final event. In light of this razor-thin margin, Haddie’s tiebreaker advantage ultimately secured her qualification alongside the dominant Alex Gazan.
Given these points, the NorCal Classic reinforced its reputation for unpredictability and challenge. As a result, the qualified athletes have proven their ability to adapt to ever-changing conditions—a skill that will serve them well at the CrossFit Games, where only one qualifying spot now remains to be determined.
NorCal Classic 2025 Results: Whats Next?
With the conclusion of the NorCal Classic 2025, the CrossFit Games qualification landscape has nearly solidified. As the final In-Person Qualifying Event of the 2025 season, all eyes now turn to the Last Chance Qualifier—the sole remaining opportunity for athletes to secure their spot at the CrossFit Games.
The Last Chance Qualifier, appropriately named “Hustle Up,” runs from June 12-17, 2025. This five-day window represents the final gateway to the CrossFit Games, where only one remaining individual spot per division awaits. Accordingly, after the NorCal Classic results, 29 of the 30 men and women who will compete for the title of Fittest on Earth have already been determined.
Throughout this competitive season, athletes have navigated a complex qualification path including the CrossFit Open, In-Affiliate Semifinals, and various In-Person Qualifying Events across the globe. Worth noting, the NorCal Classic stood out by offering an $85,000 prize purse alongside the coveted Games qualification spots.
Beyond the immediate horizon of the Last Chance Qualifier, the broader 2025 fitness competition calendar continues with several major events. These include the Masters Fitness Championship Qualifier in July, followed by the CrossFit Games in August, as well as the Masters, Teenage, and Adaptive CrossFit Games competitions.
The qualification journey that began with the CrossFit Open in February has narrowed a field of thousands down to the elite few. In this regard, the NorCal Classic represented a pivotal moment where dreams were realized for winners like William Leahy and Alex Gazan, whereas others must now regroup as they consider their competitive futures.