A Troy University student is making a name for herself nationally as a top CrossFit competitor.

Alexis Smith, a junior exercise science major from Dothan, Alabama, recently qualified for and competed at the Granite Games, a national competition at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on Sept. 9-11. She placed 12th in the women’s 14-18 age category.

“I’ve done a bunch of local competitions,” she said. “Granite Games was my first one that was really far off.”

Contestants could qualify online by videoing themselves completing four weeks of four rigorous workouts starting June 9; those who did not qualify as an individual could register as a team of three.

She said she gained an interest in CrossFit when her parents opened CrossFit Wiregrass, a CrossFit gym in her hometown, during her junior year of high school.

“My mom and I usually compete a lot together,” she said. “My dad is just kind of like the cheerleader.”

She says her background in competitive gymnastics has helped her succeed in certain areas of CrossFit.

“My strengths are definitely from gymnastics, like handstand walking and handstand push-ups, stuff like that,” she said. During the Granite Games, Smith placed second overall in the handstand walk with a time of 3:02, just 17 seconds behind first place.

The next competition she plants to take part in is WOD for Water in Troy on Oct. 8.

“It’s really a fundraiser to build wells for people in foreign countries who don’t have clean water,” Smith said. “This is a big competition for us.”

WOD for Water became an annual event starting in 2012. The event raised $83,000 last year, and the organization plans to build 17 wells in three countries.

Registration is open until Oct. 1.