"Coco is a phenomenal athlete, she just doesn't know it yet."
Photo by: Ted Kinyak
At 14 years old, Coco Kinyak is one of the youngest athletes to compete in the 2013 Reebok CrossFit Games Open in the South West Region.
But she has not let that stop her from competing with women twice her age.
“I started CrossFit about six months ago,” she says. “My mom was doing CrossFit and was a big inspiration to me. She started doing it to impress me, so I decided I would try it. I have always been pretty strong and CrossFit has made me even stronger.”
Kinyak has been training at CrossFit Sandstorm in Bernalillo, N.M.
“Coco is a phenomenal athlete, she just doesn’t know it yet,” says Jim Schoenberg, owner and coach at CrossFit Sandstorm. “She walked in our doors a typical 13-year-old dealing with growth spurts and hormones. When you are about to turn 14, what teen wants to deal with running sprint repeats, perfecting jerk lockouts, mastering kipping handstand push-ups or learning balance in the catch of a snatch or a clean? Well, Coco did.”
Kinyak says she knew she wanted to continue CrossFit after her first workout.
“I wish I could remember what my first CrossFit WOD was. I remember I was very worn out and it was very difficult, but I realized it was something I wanted to do,” she says.
Over the next several months, Kinyak began to embrace her training, listen to her coaches and ignore what Schoenberg calls her “inner voice.” In January, Kinyak and her coaches discovered she was too young to register for the Open. Devastated, the staff at CrossFit Sandstorm contacted CrossFit and found out that she had to be 14 before the first Open workout. She made that mark by celebrating her 14th birthday 17 days before Open Workout 13.1 was announced.
Kinyak completed all the Open workouts, as prescribed, within all specified judging standards.
“(Workout) 13.5 was my favorite workout of the five,” she says. “I am really good at pull-ups, so I feel that the last workout was made for me."
But her great accomplishment in the Open season was Workout 13.4 — an ascending ladder of clean and jerks and toes-to-bars. At that time, Kinyak’s one-rep max for the clean and jerk was 85 lb.
“Coco contacted one of our coaches, Shellie Schoenberg, and was obviously upset,” Schoenberg recalls. “She did not think she could hit the weight and that her journey had come to an end. With some nudging, Coco was nailing not only squat cleans, but power cleans at 95 lb.”
Kinyak adds: “I was able to clean and jerk 95 lb. in the workout and had a total of 17 reps in 13.4. Shellie was instrumental in helping me achieve that.”
Kinyak is in the eighth grade and homeschooled by her parents, Ted and Jennifer.
“I am very proud of her,” her father says. “She has been working really hard and giving it her all. She is very gifted athletically. CrossFit has given her the chance to push harder than she ever has, and I know by the time she is 18, she will qualify for the Games.”
From ages 6 to 10, Kinyak was in foster care. In that short time, she was placed in seven different homes. By fifth grade, she had attended 11 different schools.
“She’s my hero in so many ways,” Jennifer says. “The way she knocks down goals in CrossFit is just one manifestation of her personal strengths. She inspires so many people.”
When asked about her parents, Kinyak simply says, “I love my parents.”
“A key feature in Coco’s development as an athlete is her commitment,” Shoenberg says. “In 2012, she would always come in with mom and dad and they would workout together — a beautiful thing for sure. However, things have changed since January 2013. While Coco continues to work out with mom and dad, she has started attending additional classes as an individual. Her commitment to CrossFit has really become evident to us and we can only hope she’s caught the bug for good.”
Kinyak is already setting goals for next year and beyond.
“Next year, I want to improve in the Open and keep improving as an athlete,” she says. “It would be very nice to make the Games someday, but I know it will be very difficult."
