CrossFit Open 2025’s Extraordinary Results

Ellie McKenzie • March 24, 2025

CrossFit Open 2025’s Extraordinary Results

by Ellie Bishop McKenzie

The CrossFit Open 2025 has come to a close, but we wanted to give a quick shout-out to everyone who participated, whether just doing the workouts in class or signing up for the actual competition online. Your results may have taught you a lot about your strengths and weaknesses, but one thing is for sure, you learned exactly how amazing an athlete you have to be to still SUCK at the CrossFit Games!

It’s true - the best in the world are truly amazing. So why even try? Well, we have to remember that this is not as much about you verses others as it is about you verses you. When you enter a competition like this your weaknesses are exposed and now you know what to work on to get better. 

As an example, I’d love to tell you a few stories about some of our clients who participated this year.

Mike Hornung - Mike only did the first of these workouts as prescribed due to shoulder injuries - however the fact that he even signed up in the beginning is the true story. Mike started CrossFit about 18 months ago. When he began he had recently had both hips replaced, a new pacemaker, and some extremely tight and wonky shoulders AND he had a recent skiing accident that injured his shoulders even worse. He did the workouts to his ability, which sometimes meant scaling back more than the prescription scale, but he showed up, did what he could, and had a lot of fun! Congratulations, Mike!

Stacy Douglass - Stacy started doing private training with Ellie over 3 and a half years ago to fight the possibility of osteoporosis and get stronger to deal with life as we age. Stacy has competed in the Open every year just for fun to see how she does. For reference, Stacy has had some neck, elbow, and shoulder issues we have been trying to deal with (partially due to a funky elbow from a gymnastics accident when she was 12). Still, she has stayed steadfast and we have almost entirely worked through them AND she has increased her bone density significantly over the past 3 years to avoid that unhappy prognosis! This year Stacy was able to do all three of the workouts Rx for women 55-59 years old for the first time! She still has lots to work on (including those pesky double unders!) but her progress is simply amazing! Congratulations, Stacy!


Russell Huber - Russell has been with us at CrossFit Odyssey for so long he is known as the “Mayor” of CrossFit as well as the guy with the Hello Kitty weights. Russell is always very careful about his movement when he is not busy chatting with the other members. Two years ago, Russell was happy to get a few deadlifts safely at the prescribed weight. This year he got ALL of them plus more movements! He also was able to do all of the double unders and many more movements that he was not capable of doing before. Congratulations, Russell!


Allie Robinson - This was Allie’s first Open and she killed it! Not only was she able to get 21 pullups for the first time in her whole life, but she lifted heavy weights and learned new skills she didn’t even know she wanted to learn. Allie has definitely drunk the CrossFit Kool-Aid as she is now up at night watching videos to learn how to get better faster. Congratulations, Allie, and go to bed!


Jana Nobles - Jana has been with us at CrossFit Odyssey for over eight years! A mother of triplet girls at ESD, she does not have a lot of time for this crazy stuff, but this year she committed to giving it her all! Not only did she do all of the workouts Rx, but she also made the whole class do 8-minute Abs when it was over! Congratulations, Jana! You are amazing!

Hollis McMahon - Hollis officially started CrossFit with us when she was in high school, reluctantly joining her dad for the occasional class. Now she has graduated from Auburn and is attending Graduate school at SMU, but she still finds time to come to CrossFit with us (and her dad) almost every day. This past year Hollis has learned pullups, chest-to-bar pullups, toes-to-bar, double unders and so much more. She has increased her strength enormously! This was her first Open, but she did so much stuff she had never been able to do before! Congratulations, Hollis!


Adam Mengacci - Adam has been with us for 4 and a half years but has been dealing with some stomach issues. Recently his doctors discovered he had three hernias that were causing his discomfort. After getting this fixed, he felt much better and we worked on rehabbing his body and rebuilding strength. This was his first CrossFit Open and he is doing better than ever before! Congratulations Adam!


Jeff Bogacz - Jeff has been with us for almost 9 years and has competed in the Open several times. He is a guy who expects a lot from himself and always redoes his workouts to see if he can do better. This year in the new age range he did better than he has ever done before finishing #1110 in the world for men aged 55-59. Congratulations, Jeff!


John Kerr - John has been in and out this past year due to a very long spelunking expedition in Mexico and a lot of work as well as hiking with family. He is extremely diligent and the epitome of the phrase “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast”. This year he finished #694 in the world for men age 60-64. Congratulations, John!

Darin Gregory - Darin has competed in the Open for several years with CrossFit Katy Trail and even made it to the quarterfinals. When their gym closed he came to us and we started working on getting him a muscle-up and sadly, he tore his bicep tendon. (Quick note - biceps tendons can tear easily in our later years. My mom tore hers changing the channel with the remote control. It happens.) After he dealt with that he had to have jaw surgery that he had been putting off for years. Almost an entire year later recovering and building back strength, he competed again this year and finished #247 in the world for men age 60-64. This was his best finish ever! Congratulations, Darin!


David Savage - one of our longest members here at CrossFit Odyssey and an amazing athlete! David has made it to the quarterfinals several times and this year he finished #215 for men aged 60-64! Congratulations, David!


Chad Park - Chad is a fantastic athlete and has made it to quarterfinals several times. This year he had a fantastic start to the Open, however, he came down with the flu right after finishing his second workout. That said, he made it back to complete the 3rd workout as best he could and he still managed to pull off #1149th place for men age 55-59. Congratulations, Chad!


Coach Alexi Velazquez - Coach Alex is still in the 45-49 group and he kicked some serious ass! Although none of these movements are new to Alex, he has definitely improved his skills over the past year and found new weaknesses! Congratulations, Alex!


Coach Ann Smith - this was Ann’s first time competing through CrossFit Odyssey, but she has competed in the Open AND several other competitions in the past few years. Ann did AMAZINGLY in the Open this year as a 54-year-old in the 50-54 division. As many of us know - the last year in your age division is always the hardest and she still finished #282 out of those women WITH the heavier weights and higher skill level difficulty! Y’all that is HARD to do !!!! This was an AMAZING feat! Congratulations, Ann!


Ellie McKenzie - this was my first year in the 55-59 age group with the lighter weights and easier skill level and I LOVED it! I felt good about my workouts, I worked hard and finished #284 in the world for women aged 55-59.


John Mariotti  - the man, the myth, the legend! After knee replacement surgery just 3 months ago, John decided to compete and just see what he could do. He still managed to finish number 72 in the world for men aged 65-69! Just incredible! Congratulations on your score AND your new knee, John!


We also had several guys who are new to our gym classes and competed for the first time just to see how they measured up. Congratulations to Randy Hoff, Charlie Wensinger, William McGee, Jeff Kittleson, Shaun Nix, Andrew Ingrum (competing with an injured hand!), Chris Shollenbarger, John Hurlburt, Ted Felber, and Nick Miner! These guys all did great - several scores were not entered due to spring break travel and other stuff, but they worked hard and made great strides! Congratulations gentlemen!


If you are interested in getting better for a competition or just seeing more results, feel free to work with one of us either in private sessions or small group sessions with a couple of friends. This way we can really focus on getting you exactly where you want to be. CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION!


Last of all - thank you to everyone who participated in any way! It always a lot to have these workouts, but it’s also a lot of fun! You guys are all amazing and we love working with all of you!