Muswellbrook’s Rylee Kent is getting ready to compete at the Torian Pro in Brisbane from May 30 to June 1, in the 16-17 teen division. The Torian Pro will see CrossFit athletes battle it out to be crowned the Fittest in Oceania.
Rylee walked in CrossFit Muswellbook when he was about 11 years old.
“It was when I was playing a lot of footy and Mum thought CrossFit would be some good added fitness. She had to force me to go sometimes, but I’m thankful she did.
“Seeing the other kids my age doing it and doing well, I thought ‘why can’t I do that’. I loved getting better at movements, climbing up the rankings and seeing how fun it was,” said Rylee.
Last year Rylee came 17th in Oceania, not enough to qualify for the Torian Pro. This year, it was a different story.
“This year the Top 8 after the CrossFit Open could qualify and after a couple of events I was sitting well in that Top 8 bracket. Then the final workout had a heavy lift which is one of my strengths. I was sitting in 8th position after the final workout but someone still had to put their score in.
“Literally 20 minutes before the submission time he put his score in, and I ended up in 9th. I was devastated.
“Then I was looking at my emails and saw one that said, ‘you’re invited’. It turned out that someone had dropped out so I was the next person in line to come.
“I had been training so hard and I wanted to show people what I could do and why I should’ve qualified in the first place, not just qualifying because someone had dropped out.
“I’m nervous, but I’m confident about the workouts with the effort I have put into training. I’m not usually that confident but I am feeling good.
“Everything CrossFit Muswellbrook has done has been awesome; it’s the community I love. Everyone has played a part in me getting to where I am now.
CrossFit Muswellbrook owner Olivia Daniels said they are all incredibly proud of him.
“It’s truly inspiring to watch a young kid put in lots of hard work to get there and succeed.
“He has taken his training to a whole new level since he qualified and we are all really looking forward to watching him on the competition floor.”
-JESS ROUSE
