It's the Webb and Forte show at the Pacific Regional.
With the combination of the Australia and Asia Regions, it was no surprise to see the stands at the WIN Entertainment Center were more energetic and diverse on Day 1 of the 2015 Pacific Regional.
The crowd seemed focused on Australia’s Kara Webb.
The 25-year-old was in first place for much of last year’s competition before an injury forced her to withdraw from the final two events. After a dominant performance in the 2015 Open, where she placed second overall worldwide, Webb is expected to be right on the top of the leaderboard.
In the men’s half, Rob Forte is aiming to win his third straight regional title, while Khan Porter and Brandon Swan are hoping to earn a ticket back to the StubHub Center in July.
MEN
Hero workout Randy—75 snatches at 75 lb.—pushed all athletes to the absolute limit testing grip strength and leg stamina.
The fastest time of the day came from Heat 3 with one of the tallest athletes in the field, Alex Ranieri going unbroken on the snatches for a time of 2:37.8 – just 3 seconds off the event record set by Dominick Maurici in the Atlantic Regional last weekend.
“I’m a tall guy, I had the confidence that I could do it unbroken,” Ranieri said. “But because I have so far to go, I just didn’t know how my time would stack up even if I did.”
None of the men in the top heat were able to go unbroken oor beat Ranieri’s blistering time.
The final heat did see the qualifying hopes of one athlete almost certainly crushed.
2014 Games competitor Khan Porter and Ben Garard were clear leaders through the snatches. In a sprint to the finish pads, Garard appeared to have just beaten Porter, however, seconds after he thought he was finished, Garard was pulled back to complete one more snatch.
Porter finished in 2:39:3, in second, while Garard placed 27th after his premature sprint to the finish.
“Benny (Garard) got me at the end, but he was called back for a no rep, not sure what happened there,” Porter said.
Porter added: “I didn’t test that workout much and wasn’t looking forward to it, so to come away with a top-five finish on that is pretty good for me.”
Four-time Games veteran Rob Forte and crowd favorite Chad Mackay tied for third with 2:41:2.
Men’s Event 1 Results
1. Alex Ranieri (2:37:8)
2. Khan Porter (2:39:3)
3. Rob Forte (2:41:2)
3. Chad Mackay (2:41:2)
5. Dean Linder-Leighton (2:42:8)
The men took to the floor in the afternoon to tackle the second event of Hero Friday—Tommy V—a combination of thrusters and rope climbs.
Rope-climb technique made the difference for the top men, much as it did in the team competition in the morning.
It wasn’t uncommon to see athletes taking a knee between climbs to get their breath back.
While three of the top-five times came from Heat 4, Tommy V brought some of the crowd favorites unstuck.
Garard, Mackay and Swan all fell off pace on the first set of rope climbs and finished in 23rd, 24th and 23nd, respectively.
All athletes went unbroken on the thrusters, so the event came down to the 27 rope climbs.
Forte stamped his authority on the competition with a dominant performance. Forte’s rope climbs were smooth, efficient and steady, which gave him the edge over the competition.
Luke McMahon and Kyle Frankenfeld were the only men able to keep up with Forte, but he extended his lead to 15 seconds by the end of the 9 rope climbs and was the only man at the Pacific Regional to finish Event 2 in less than 8 minutes.
“It was one of my favorite CrossFit workouts in the early days, as I was never a fan of heavy lifting or anything like that so I was excited to see (the Hero workouts),” Forte said. “A tough first day on the forearms and got a bit of throat burn on the first workout, but it’s a good start and definitely well programmed.”
Frankenfeld and McMahon finished in second and third, respectively with Sean Brickwood from Heat 3 finishing fourth.
“I didn’t think this would be my strongest event with the rope climbs, but I seemed to pace it really well and came out better than I expected,” Frankenfeld said.
Event 2 Results
1. Rob Forte (7.44.3)
2. Kyle Frankenfeld (8.00.7)
3. Luke McMahon (8.02.5)
4. Sean Brickwood (8.15.3)
5. Rory Boyden (8.53.9)
Overall Standings
1. Rob Forte (190 points)
2. Kyle Frankenfeld (160 points)
3. Khan Porter (154 points)
4. James Newbury (146 points)
5. Sean Brickwood (138 points)
6. James Connew (138 points)
7. Josh Santhou (136 points)
8. Matt Reilly (132 points)
9. Alex Ranieri (129 points)
10. Rory Boyden (127 points)
WOMEN
Fans got a show when Webb entered the arena. They expected Webb to not only take the event at the regional, but also challenge for Sam Briggs’ record set at the Atlantic Regional last weekend.
While she dominated the and was the only woman to go unbroken, Briggs held on her record.
A grip change between rep 50 and 51 cost her precious seconds, but she extended her lead in the final 25 to hit the finish mat in a time of 2:33:8—5 seconds slower than Briggs.
“It was a hard workout, but it was what I expected it to be, but it was good fun to get out there and get moving," Webb said. “Go hard, recover well and go to the Games—that’s the goal.”
Alethea Boon took second with fast snatches and minimal rest breaks. This weekend is Boon’s first time on the floor as an individual after a trip to the CrossFit Games in 2014 as part of Team CrossFit Active.
“I’m no Kara Webb, I cannot hold onto that bar, so I have to be smart about my strategy and if I do that, wherever I end up, I’m pleasantly surprised,” Boon said.
Stephanie Ortiz, who came into the regional as the fourth seed from the Open, proved she deserved her place in the top heat finishing third in a time of 2:50:2.
Event 1 Results
1. Kara Webb (2:33:8)
2. Alethea Boon (2:45:7)
3. Stephanie Ortiz (2:50:2)
4. Joelene Neville (2:55:7)
5. Amanda Allen (2:58:2)
After crushing Randy, Webb went on to crush Tommy V and setting a new event record.
From “3, 2, 1 … go,” Webb went out hard and established herself as the one to beat in the Pacific.
She went unbroken with ease on the 21 thrusters, but it was 2014 Games competitor Denae Brown who was first onto the 12 rope climbs after she completed the opening thrusters in just 39 seconds.
Ortiz was close behind, but a gap of 5 seconds had already formed between the three leaders and the rest of the field.
Brown was fast up the rope for the first 6 climbs, but it was the methodical approach of Ortiz and Webb that proved more effective.
Ortiz returned to the barbell just a step ahead of Webb before the two matched each other rep-for-rep through their unbroken sets of 15 thrusters.
By the time Brown started her thrusters, Webb and Ortiz had returned to the rope for the set of 9. Webb’s engine proved the difference when her lead extended. She went unbroken on the barbell and returned to the rope with 90 seconds remaining and showed no signs of slowing.
Webb sprinted to the finish mat at 8:17.6, beating Anna Tunnicliffe’s record by 7 seconds.
“I was kind of running my own race on that one,” Webb said after the event. “It was just about pushing it to your own limit and also being really smart, being able to judge where your fatigue levels are at, not underdoing it or overdoing and I think I hit that spot on.
She added: “I wasn’t going after (the record). I’m really trying to do my own thing and do my best. I want to test my limits, test my body and test my mind this weekend, and I feel like I’m doing that so far.”
Brown snuck past Ortiz for second place, stepping on the finish mat at 8:54.6 with Ortiz just 2 seconds behind.
“It’s my last year competing and I’m just really looking forward to enjoying every little aspect and every little moment and taking it in as much as I can,” said Brown, who plans to open an affiliate and focus on motherhood.
For Ortiz, the time was a massive personal record over her training performances where she took closer to 13 minutes to complete Tommy V.
“I was trying to bang out the first 12 climbs as fast as I could because I knew I’d be fresh after the thrusters,” Ortiz said. “The last six (rope climbs) couldn’t have gone better for me, and I mean I can’t ask for anything more than that. It was fun.”
Event 2 Results
1. Kara Webb (8:17.6)
2. Denae Brown (8:54.6)
3. Stephanie Ortiz (8:56.9)
4. Tia-Clair Toomey (9:23.2)
5. Sammy Wood (9:44)
Overall Standings
1. Kara Webb (200 points)
2. Stephanie Ortiz (180 points)
3. Alethea Boon (166 points)
4. Tia-Clair Toomey (160 points)
5. Denae Brown (156 points)
6. Amanda Allen (145 points)
7. Ashley Higgins (142 points)
8. Lindsay Vaughan (138 points)
9. Sammy Wood (137 points)
10. Justine Beath (128 points)
