Three local crossfit athletes have qualified for the CanWest Games this July in Port Coquitlam.

Avalanche Athletics co-owner Cliff Schultz, his son Alex Schultz and Melissa Laluk recently earned their places at the western Canadian championships through the online qualifying rounds.

Each athlete was required to perform four workouts over two weekends recently.

Cliff Schultz explained this week he qualified 13th for the 33 spots available in the men’s 40 to 44 age class while Alex qualified in seventh for the 14-17 age class.

Melissa Laluk qualified in the mid-20s for the 33 spots available in the elite women’s category for 18- to 34-year-olds.

Mark Dainton didn’t crack the top 33 for the elite men’s class but he is on the list of alternates should any of the top 33 drop out because of injuries or other reasons, Cliff said.

To qualify, the six local competitors were sent a set of four different workouts they had to complete and report their results for.

Cliff said one of his workouts required him to complete two sets of successful clean- and-jerk weight lifts. Each set involved two successful clean and jerks with the same weight within 20 seconds. He had six minutes to make three attempts.

The heaviest weight won. Cliff lifted 225, and the winner lifted 255.

Another one of the four workouts he had to perform was the 12, 9, 6: complete 12 power snatch weight lifts and then 12 bar muscle ups which involve lifting yourself above the bar until your arms are locked straight above. And then do nine of each, and then six of each, and then record your time.

The road to Coquitlam is one of steady training, proper nutrition and eight hours of sound sleep every night, he said.

Cliff said without proper nutrition and sleep, “your training is out the window.”

“We are starting to train right now,” he said. “We are going through a strength program right now and doing some cardio as well.”

As is routine with prominent crossfit competitions like CanWest, the organization will send each competitor information about the workouts they’ll be required to perform.

But not all of the information.

Just yesterday, for instance, Cliff received a list of the equipment they’ll be using for one of the workouts at the western championships. But no word on they’ll be used.

Eventually, perhaps as short as two weeks before the championships, the competitors will be notified about the type of workouts they’ll be required to complete.

Cliff said you just have to train so that your ready for all the different workouts you might face.

While Alex is focussed on the CanWest Games, he has not lost sight of his ultimate goal – earning one of the 20 spots available for 14- and 15-year-olds at next year’s World Championships in Madison, Wisc.

Alex took a crack at qualifying for this year’s Worlds as a 14-year-old, but didn’t make it.

In the initial online qualifying round to select 200 semifinalists for the 20 seats at the finals in Madison, Alex placed 138th from a field of 1,926 competitors from around the globe, the majority being 15-year-olds. In the online qualifier among the 200 for the final 20 spots, Alex increased his standing to 100.

Next winter he wants the top 20, and a ticket to Madison.

“I’m confident I can make it,” he said Thursday afternoon during a brief break from his training.