Canada East Regional Report: Deadly Duo

May 25, 2013

Kate Rose, Carolle Robinson and Stephanie Parniak

"I thought I would finish. I underestimated the effect the overhead squats would have," Beaudoin said. 




View more photos here.

 

After Jackie, the competitors faced a deadly duo of overhead squats and burpee muscle-ups

Women

Rachel Leblanc-Bazinet set the pace for the women, starting at 155 lb., and hitting all three with relative ease. 
 
“155 is an easy weight for me — I wasn’t worried about it affecting me on the burpee muscle-ups at all,” Leblanc-Bazinet said. 
 
She then lifted 165 lb. for three with a minute to go.
 
Lisa Kham of L’Usine CrossFit was second-best in the heat, managing 145 lb. 
 
In Heat 2, Carol-Ann Reason-Thibeault followed Leblanc-Bazinet’s lead and was quick to load 155 lb. After hitting three, she failed on her attempts at 160 lb.
 
Tina Balfe repped out 85 lb., then upped it to 105 lb. She seemed to be enjoying herself, often smiling and laughing, as she checked the clock. 
 
“It’s nice to be here. I’ve been thinking about it for awhile,” Balfe said. 
 
Heat 3 was the first to see 175 lb. as an opening weight. Jessica Cote-Beaudoin topped everyone before her. She hit 180 lb. and went for 185 lb., but was no-repped on her second squat and failed on her fourth. She wasn’t able to try again before the clock ran out. 
 
The final heat of the ladies was a flurry. At the start of the clock, plates flew off the bar. Camille Leblanc-Bazinet, Michele Letendre and Isabelle Tardif went right after 175 lb. Tardif was challenged, but Leblanc-Bazinet and Letendre had no difficulty, and quickly advanced. Letendre moved on to 190 lb. and decided to stop. 
 
“I hurt my bicep a couple of weeks ago. So I told myself if I felt it in competition, I would stay where I was. I’m happy with my 190,” Letendre said. 
 
Camille kept going, using her full seven minutes. She hit 195 lb. for three, and then a massive single rep at 200 lb. 
 
Women's Event 2
1. Camille Leblanc-Bazinet (200.10)
2. Michele Letendre (190.30)
3. Jessica Cote-Beaudoin (185.20)
 
After some impressive lifting, the women turned to the rings.
 
By the start of the third heat, no one had finished all 30 burpee muscle-ups within the 7-minute time cap. The crowd wanted a finisher, and they thought they had one. Jessica Cote-Beaudoin had two burpee muscle-ups left with 20 seconds on the clock, but managed just one before the buzzer. 
 
“I thought I would finish. I underestimated the effect the overhead squats would have,” Beaudoin said. 
 
Not long after, Camille Leblanc Bazinet walked to the rings still breathing heavily from her impressive 200-lb. overhead squat. Michele Letendre was by her side.
 
Five minutes and 35 seconds later, Letendre dropped from the rings and stepped onto the finish mat for the win. Leblanc-Bazinet followed shortly after in 6:41. The two former Games athletes were the only women in Canada East to finish all 30 reps.
 
Women's Event 3
1. Michele Letendre (5:35)
2. Camille Leblanc-Bazinet (6:41)
3. Jessica Cote-Beaudoin (7:02)
 
Men 
 
Heat 1 was a face-off between Olivier Tremblay and Chris Cristini. Both loaded up with 255 lb. and popped it with little obvious effort.  
 
Tremblay didn’t get his three reps at 265 lb., but Cristini did. The latter threw some more weight on the bar. And waited. With little more than two minutes to go, Cristini popped it up. He managed to hit 275 lb. twice before losing it at the last moment on the third rep. 
 
In Heat 2, a few athletes started with the minimum weight, while Jeff Larsh and Alexis Leblanc-Bazinet went right to 255 lb. Both failed to do three reps on the first try. Larsh, close to the athlete village, received some coaching from the crowd before his third attempt. Just before the clock hit four minutes, Larsh got three reps and immediately signaled that he was done. After a moment he added a bit more weight. He loosened his belt, walked around and attempted 265 lb. with a minute left. He got one. 
 
“Since we get points for one or two reps on the last weight, I decided to give it a shot,” Larsh said.  
 
Four athletes started at 255 lb. in the third heat. Matt Debreucq, Jonathan Laniel, Mike Deboever and Jean-Michel Riendeau went right for 255 lb. Laniel moved on to 265 lb. for three, and ended up at 275 lb., popping it overhead with an easy push press. Riendeau managed to lift 265 lb. for three. 
 
Though there were athletes lifting heavier, it was Mathieu Debreucq of CrossFit Laval who received the loudest cheers from the crowd. He started with 255 lb., and took his time, making sure he was stable. Shaking, fighting to control the weight, Debreucq managed to hit all three, and let out a scream with the result. He put on 265 for an attempt, and after one failure, he opted instead to rest before the rings.
 
Heat 4 started with more athletes setting out at 255 lb. Jay Rhodes, Charles Felx- Leduc, Pascal Baillargeon, Albert-Dominic Larouche and Paul Tremblay shed the starting weight and piled on the plates. All hit three reps on the first attempt and moved along, but the race came down to Matt Lefave and Albert-Dominic Larouche. Both successfully got 275 and put on more weight. Here, Lefave would leave Larouche behind, managing to overhead squat 285 lb., and win Event 2. 
 
“That was a big PR,” Lefave said. “I’d never gotten that for a single before. And getting the bar was half the battle — I usually get it from the rack.” 
 
Men's Event 2 
1. Matt Lefave (285.10)
2. Albert-Dominic Larouche (275.30)
3. Chris Cristini (275.20)
4. Charles Felx Leduc (275.20)
 
When the first heat of men turned to the rings, the shirts came off in anticipation of the effort required. 
 
Vincent Tremblay and Chris Cristini managed to experience all 30 burpee muscle-ups. Tremblay finished at 5:32, and Cristini at 6:33. Tremblay was happy with the result. 
 
“My plan was to be consistent and have a rhythm. I got carried away on my last one and went too fast. That’s why I missed it,” Tremblay said. 
 
The second heat was a similar display. Sean Lind’s burpee muscle-ups were so well controlled that they seemed effortless. Joe Johnson finished 28 muscle-ups, but unlike the first heat, no one was able to finish all 30 in the allotted time. 
 
Debreucq was again the crowd favorite in Heat 3. He was in a race again, this time with Michael Senecal and Riendeau.  Senecal took it in 5:46, followed by Riendeau. Debreucq took third in 6:30. Each of them turned to cheer on the rest of the athletes in the heat.  
 
In Heat 4, four athletes managed to beat the time cap, with Albert-Dominic Larouche finishing in 4:53, followed by Brandon Crump at 5:20 and Simon Paquette at 6:09. Jay Rhodes, coming in after the top three at 6:39, managed to come in under the seven-minute cap. 
 
Men's Event 3
1. Albert-Dominic Larouche (4:53)
2. Brandon Crump (5:20)
3. Vincent Trembaly (5:32)
 
Team 
 
Chaos reigned as bodies, shirts, bars and plates flew everywhere and athletes raced the clock. 
 
In the second heat, the Deka CrossFit women hit 185 lb., but failed the 190-lb. overhead squat. 
 
Deka finished second in the event behind CrossFit Select, who competed in the final heat. CrossFit Cambridge Thunder came in third, with a team total of 1080 lb. lifted. 
 
Other notable lifts originated from the L’usine ladies, who managed a 165-lb. overhead squat, and CrossFit Cambridge Thunder, who hit 155 lb. 
 
The gents from CrossFit Kinetics were able to hit 255 lb. Not to be outdone by their women, the Deka men also put up some impressive numbers, recording 255 lb. 
 
In the final heat, Tommy Snarr of CrossFit Select ended up turned around and backward on his platform, but managed to hit two reps at 255 lb. before the clock struck the seven-minute mark. 
 
1. CrossFit Select (1200)
2. Deka CF Team (1140)
3T. CrossFit Cambridge Thunder and CrossFit O-Town (1080)
 
For many of the teams in Event 3, the women proved to be the deciding factor on the rings. Saint Hubert’s women handled the muscle-ups easily, but many others were unable to fulfill the minimum requirement. Eight teams were eliminated.
 
The biggest cheers were reserved for the first-timers on muscle-ups. While the crowd preferred the heavy weight of the overhead squats to the skill-heavy third event, the points were no less valuable. 
 
1. Lusine CrossFit (109 reps)
2. Team We Are Fitness (96 reps)
3. CrossFit Firepower (91 reps)
 
Overall Standings
 
After three events, the overall men’s standings are as follows: Albert-Dominic Larouche is in first (5 points), Jean-Michel Riendeau is in second (15 points) and Brandon Crump (22 points).
 
For the women, Camille Leblanc-Bazinet is in first (4 points) but followed closely by Michele Letendre (5 points). Jessica Cote-Beaudoin is in third (17 points).
 
In the team standings, CrossFit Select sits in first (11 points), L’Usine CrossFit is in second (13 points), and CrossFit Firepower is in third (16 points).