Achieving the Ultimate Goal

July 21, 2014

James Toland

“It was very surreal. ... It's still setting in. It's a great honor not only to represent Green Bay, but also the state of Wisconsin and the whole North Central Region.” ~Shane Hanson

CrossFit Green Bay from Green Bay, Wisconsin, is comprised of members with a multitude of talents.

Made up of a former collegiate runner, gymnast, powerlifter and Olympic wrestler, the team earned its first-ever trip to the CrossFit Games edging out CrossFit STL by 7 points to take third place.

When selecting someone to lead the group in competition, the team’s coach, Grant Soletski, chose two-time Olympian and bronze medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling, Garrett Lowney. After competing in the Olympics in 2000 and 2004, Lowney was no stranger to being on a big stage. But despite CrossFit Green Bay’s success, it’s still odd for Lowney to think of himself as anything but a wrestler.

“I laughed the first time someone randomly recognized me as a CrossFitter rather than a wrestler,” the 34-year-old said. “It’s been a decade since my last Olympics, yet my own social identity never really changed. Since qualifying for the Games, I no longer look at myself as a retired wrestler who is still playing around with the Sport of Fitness. I’m back to being an athlete in my own mind.”

Teammate Ashley Van Boxtel, 27, competed in the North East Regional in 2011 as an individual while she was in graduate school in New Hampshire, and for the past two years, she has competed in the North Central Region after moving home. Van Boxtel was an Olympic lifter at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, and has competed in marathons and triathlons.

“I would say my specialty role on the team is strength and consistency,” she said. “I need to be able to move the most weight the fastest, and be dependable and consistent with my abilities.”

Van Boxtel has had a lot of support since moving back to Wisconsin, especially from her teammate and fiancé, Justin Peterson. Peterson has been doing the programming for CrossFit Green Bay since he was a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in 2011.

The two are getting married on August 1, and Games qualification gave Van Boxtel a good reason to reschedule her bachelorette party, which was originally planned for July 26.

“We were pretty happy that we didn't have to change our wedding date,” Peterson said. “After coming back from the competition in Carson, we will have just four days until we get married. It'll be a fun and eventful two weeks.”

Twenty-eight-year-old Shane Hanson has only been training with Green Bay for a little more than a year, and is still trying to wrap his head around the team’s success.

“It was very surreal,” Hanson said. “With me being relatively new to CrossFit, it took me a while to realize what our team had just accomplished. It's still setting in. It's a great honor not only to represent Green Bay, but also the state of Wisconsin and the whole North Central Region.”

Rounding out the team are Anna Schumacher, a 24-year-old former NCAA Division I gymnast at Southern Utah University, and 35-year-old Tina Schmidt.

Schmidt, two-time All-American distance runner at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, is now a mother of three and a full-time physician's assistant.

“Since qualifying, my husband and I have had to be masters of time management,” Schmidt said. “Our goal is to not disrupt (our kids’) schedule too much. Most of my workouts have to be done before they wake up. I’m pretty sure that we have given the neighbors some free entertainment rowing or doing some clean and jerks in the driveway at 9:30 at night.”

Schumacher, who has only been a member of the team for 10 months, said she was overwhelmed when her team qualified for the Games.

“I was almost in tears,” Schumacher said. “I just thought back to all of the hard work that our team had put in, and to reach our ultimate goal was truly amazing. I knew we had a strong team, but I really had no idea that we were going to qualify for the Games. The fact that I was actually going to the Games really sunk in after my drug test and being fitted for the Reebok gear. I literally ran, skipped and jumped down the hallway.”