Villanueva, 2 others prepare for Guam CrossFit

Salvi Villanueva uses the rings in one of his training sessions to prepare for the 5th Marianas Trench Throwdown set on April 23 and 24 at the Chamorri CrossFit in Guam. (Contributed Photo)

Salvo Villanueva, Joey Tudela, and Nicole Harkness are in the final stages of their preparation for the 5th Marianas Trench Throwdown set next week weekend at the Chamorri CrossFit Gym in Tamuning, Guam.

Villanueva won the silver medal in the similar competition last year after collecting 1,425 points, just 25 shy of champion Alex Johnson of Guam. Mike James, also from the CNMI’s southern island neighbor, was third with his 1,385 points.

Tudela and Harkness came in at 12th and 15th, respectively, out of 44 men and 22 women. Tudela, who competed for the fifth time in last year’s Trench Throwdown, garnered 892 points, while Harkness finished with 923.

Villanueva and Tudela have been training regularly at the latter’s house to prepare for this year’s tournament that will have the three CNMI bets going up against Guam’s top CrossFitters.

Villanueva said that aside from having Tudela as his training partner, he also incorporates running and swimming to his regimen.

“I’ve spent some time with my friends at the pool and also worked in track for running,” said Villanueva, who also participated in the Open Workouts qualifiers for the 2016 Reebok CrossFit Games that will be held from July 19 to 24 in California.

The CrossFit Open Workouts, where the CNMI and Guam are entered in the Asia-Pacific region, is one of the steps leading to the world games. The Open began on Feb. 25 and ended in the final week of March. The Top 30 people in the Open moved to the regionals set from May 13 to 29.

Competitors in the Open are allowed to do the workout of the day (WOD) at their homes or other CrossFit gyms provided that they submit a video to the judges as proof. Tudela and Bonnie Cruz also competed in the Open with the latter failing to submit her final video to the organizers.

Before trying CrossFit, Villanueva was a member of the CNMI national track and field team and trained under national coach Elias Rangamar. He credited Marianas High School physical education instructor Nick Gross for introducing him to weightlifting. He has been a CrossFit coach for three years at GetFit CNMI, joining the company of Tudela, Jose Quan, and Jay Sablan. CrossFit WOD is a combination of endurance training, gymnastics, and weightlifting merged into a single workout.