North West Regional Report: The Home Stretch

June 2, 2013

Robin Runyan

“I remember missing a rep and Melanie picked me up. That is what a great partner does — pick you up.” ~Nicholas Rocco on his teammate.

The ShoWare Center in Kent was full of energy on Day 3.

Event 6 provides major drama as we see athletes move through 100 double-unders, 50 handstand push-ups and 40 toes-to-bars, then pick up the heavy axle bar for 30 shoulder-to-overheads and lunge across the arena floor with the axle in the front rack position.

Team

Event 6 combined several elements, testing even the most well-rounded teams. One man and one woman take to the floor starting with 50 double-unders each, 50 total handstand push-ups, 50 toes-to-bars, 50 axle shoulder-to-overheads, and finishing with a 90-foot front-rack lunge as a pair. While one teammate worked, the other was required to hold position in a handstand, a dead hang or a front rack. Teamwork and communication was a major factor.

CrossFit X-Factor (10:12) took the win in the event. Joey Arnold and Elaine Yoder went in confident with the movements and they had a plan.

“We wanted to stay relaxed and not rush through the handstand push-ups and toes-to-bars," Arnold said. "Once we got to the jerks and lunges, we really let loose. That was what helped us to get the win in that event.”

X-Factor’s win put them in sixth place overall.

CrossFit Fort Vancouver (10:17) took second in the event. Fort Vancouver has had an impressive run over this Regional weekend taking three first-place finishes and two second-place finishes. Fort Vancouver is poised for a return to Carson going into the last event.

Third place in Event 6 was taken by Cascade CrossFit (10:37). Nicholas Rocco and Melanie Deitch maintained constant communication throughout. 

“Melanie is a great partner," Rocco said. "We had rep counts we wanted to hit going in but when things didn’t go as planned, we communicated and compensated for each other.”

Rocco shared that they each had moments when they needed a boost.

“I remember missing a rep and Melanie picked me up. That is what a great partner does — pick you up.”

Event 6
1. CrossFit X-Factor (10:12)
2. CrossFit Fort Vancouver (10:17)
3. Cascade CrossFit (10:37)

Women

Event 6 was highlighted by breakouts in the early heats and saw the top women tighten the standings.

Tami Ough breezed through the first part of the chipper and was alone moving across the floor for the walking lunges, finishing in 14:41.

Tracy Nagai was not defined by her diminutive build in Heat 2 as she made it to the axle before the rest of the field had even started their toes-to-bars. She owned the floor, dropping the bar only once and moving steadily to the finish in 11:55, two seconds in front of Jodi Buschko.

The top women took to the floor in Heat 3. Ashleigh Moe was first to scramble under the wall to begin her handstand push-ups. Her lead continued as she set a furious pace, driving through her toes-to-bars. She was the first to pick up the axle at 5:19. Emily Carothers was second off the bar, followed by Lindsay Vaughan and Kendall Burnham as they began the shoulder-to-overheads.

Current leader Rory Zambard was nearly last off the handstand push-ups and last off her toes-to-bars, but gained speed through the overheads and lunges, crossing the finish line at 13:07.

Ashleigh Moe sailed to the finish in 9:49.

Janessa Brindza was alone on the floor as she began her lunges with less than 90 seconds to the time cap. The crowd came to their feet and the other athletes began to encourage her. The buzzer sounded when Brindza was just two strides short of the finish line.

The results of Event 5 left the top two women with only one point separation moving into the final event.

Event 5
1.       Ashleigh Moe (9:49)
2.       Lindsay Vaughan (10:01)
3.       Becky Clark (11:30)

Men

With just eight points separating Ryan Swobody and Kevin Simons, the men gave blood and sweat as they worked through the chipper.

Andy Rosenbaum electrified the third heat by flying through the double-unders, handstand push-ups and toes-to-bars. He reached the axle bar in 5:00, and finished the workout in 10:36, which placed him third in the event. Rosenbaum quickly repped out 30 handstand push-ups in a row and took few breaks through the event.

"After 2012 Regionals, I knew I needed a stronger kip on the handstand push-up. I worked on it and it paid off," he says.

Rosenbaum received a second chance invitation to Regionals, and now sees himself competing in the final heat for Event 7.

In the final heat, the tight race among the top competitors continued as the men took little time to fly through the chipper. The 160-lb. axle separated the competitors.

Bryan Miller and Ben Stoneberg, who entered the event in first and second place, went rep for rep on the shoulder-to-overheads. Noah Pester also looked strong throughout, staying with the top two competitors.

Miller was the first to start the lunges, and took a slight lead with his long strides. The others soon followed, and before the first man could cross the finish line, seven men were lunging across the arena floor.

Bryan Miller finished first at 9:57, pointing to the crowd after he stepped on the mat. Stoneberg followed at 10:15. Austin Stack, who made up a lot of time on the shoulder-to-overhead, finished strong at 10:36.

After 11 of the men finished, they gathered around Dave Powell and cheered him on through the lunges in the last minute of the workout.

After Event 6, the top three men remain unchanged. But with a strong showing by Simons and a ninth-place finish by Swobody, the gap between third and fourth has tightened.

Event 6
1. Bryan Miller (9:57)
2. Ben Stoneberg (10:15)
3. Andy Rosenbaum (10:36)