Licensed With Drive

May 2, 2014

Jillian Tymchy

"Coming out of the Open it was like a dream to make it to regionals. Now it’s just cool to see how far people will push themselves to go even further."





Photos courtesy of David Rollins

Despite posting impressive scores during the 2014 Open, Hannah Stokes didn’t qualify for the individual competition at regionals.

But that wasn’t her goal this year.

The 17-year-old athlete set out to compete with Team CrossFit Weddington this season. The team finished the Open in 22nd place, earning its spot to compete at the Mid Atlantic Regional in Fairfax, Virginia.

“We saw on the Leaderboard that we made top 30, but didn’t believe it until the official invite,” Stokes said. “Everyone at Weddington is one big community and we were all excited about it. It was my ultimate goal for this year.”

For Stokes, CrossFit is a family affair. Her dad, Stephen, started CrossFit in 2007 and built a small gym in their basement. He later joined an affiliate and began bringing his wife, Pam, and their two teenagers, Hannah and Jared. When the family joined an affiliate closer to home, Hannah started attending CrossFit classes regularly.

“We try to teach our children independence,” Stephen said. “We don’t want to push them. We want them to want it, not us.”

When Hannah got her driver’s license, the freedom allowed her to do CrossFit multiple times a day along with participating in track. She said CrossFit has helped with track and vice versa. Her personal record for the 400-m run is 1:04.

“Hannah isn’t OK with being mediocre,” said Cory Worf, a coach at CrossFit Weddington. “She works hard at mastering all of the skills.”

Fellow regional teammate Lindsey Kandrack said she sees potential in Hannah.

“Hannah is just beginning to make a name for herself,” Kandrak said. “I remember last year doing 13.1 with her and watching her struggle to get a 100-lb. snatch. Today, she is currently chasing a 170-lb. snatch and I believe a 215-lb. clean and jerk. As an athlete, she’s exploding and has nothing but time on her side to refine specific skills to complete the whole package.”

Stokes frequently makes the podium in local teen competitions and even partnered with Worf at an event earlier this year. In 2013, she was invited to the Teen Exhibition at the CrossFit Games in Carson, California, which motivated her to work harder in preparation for this year’s competition season. 

“We don’t put any pressure on her,” Worf said. “We tell her to have fun and be a kid.”

As for being a kid, several of her track mates have joined Stokes in CrossFit. She laughed that her friends think what she does is “cool, but crazy.”

While she doesn’t focus on strict nutrition, Stokes said she doesn’t indulge in junk food either. She stressed the importance of rest and aims for eight to nine hours of sleep per night to speed up recovery.

Stokes’ hard work does not go unrecognized by her teammates.

“At the end of the day, she’s my teammate, a fellow gym rat and training partner,” Kandrack said. “I’m excited for regionals and having her on our team, as I’m confident she’ll be able to handle just about anything that comes her way.”

For regional preparation, Stokes and her team have been working on skills, communicating as a team and really focusing on weaknesses.

“Right now, I’m focusing on handstand walks and becoming more efficient on kipping for muscle-ups,” Stokes said. “Myself, Lindsey, Johnny (Lester), Scott (Cottrill), Todd (Walling) and Hayden (Lancaster) trained together twice a week before the Open, and now we’re working more together and following special programming, like team swim workouts … . Coming out of the Open it was like a dream to make it to regionals. Now it’s just cool to see how far people will push themselves to go even further.”