By Lauryn Lax

Competing at the 2014 South East CrossFit Regional for the first time this year made athlete Lauren Truszkowski hungry to be standing on the podium in 2015.

Truszkowski of CrossFit Willpower in Lake Worth, Florida has been working towards just that since she walked away from Jacksonville last May. She finished 6th overall in the South East Region and said she was only getting started.

On the road to her goal of the 2015 CrossFit Games, Truszkowski found herself on top of a different podium this past week—first place at the end of Wodapalooza Miami’s three-week Online Qualifier.

She will join 20 other athletes this winter to compete in Wodapalooza’s Elite Division the weekend of January 16-18. You can watch the event LIVE on Floelite.com.

“I am very shocked at the First Place finish for the Wodapalooza Qualifier and, even more shocking, this is my first time to ever finish first place in any competition series,” Truszkowski said.

Truszkowski described the workouts for the qualifier as “rough, but a very equal test of fitness.” The 5-foot-3, 130 lb. 25-year-old may be small, but she’s mighty.

“I had never tested a 4 rep-max shoulder to overhead and never thought I’d hit 190 lbs. I could definitely say that was a PR for me!” she said.

In order to continue to build strength, Lauren trains under the guidance and programming of Rudy Nielson from CrossFit Outlaw.

“(Since Regionals last year), my training changed a little, making strength training and my Olympic lifts the priority. I still make sure my metcons are there ,but my main goal overall is to get stronger and put up the same numbers girls that are 20-30 pounds heavier than me are putting up,” Truszkowski said.

Truszkowski was also on the roster, as part of the NPGL’s Miami Surge Team in its inaugural season, continuing to gain experience on the competition floor.

“My mentality while training and competing is knowing that there is always someone out there trying to be on top. The difference between all of us is a matter of who wants it more and I want to prove that through the training I put in day in and day out,” Truszkowski said.