Stamina, strength and gymnastic prowess are revealed on Day 2 at the Pacific Regional.
After an exciting Day 1 at the Pacific Regional the crowd was electric at the WIN Entertainment Center on Day 2.
Going into the second day of competition, favorites Rob Forte and Kara Webb were comfortably sitting at the top of their respective leaderboards—with some new names with them.
WOMEN
Two more athletes have joined the elite group of women to complete Event 3.
The chipper of running, overhead squats, GHD sit-ups, double-unders, sumo deadlift high pulls and box jump overs has been the nemesis of almost every athlete to tackle it at the 2015 Regionals.
Two-time 40-44 Masters Division champion Amanda Allen was in her element on the TrueForm Runner, but it was Webb who would be first onto the overhead squats in the final heat.
At the 2014 Reebok CrossFit Games, Webb won the overhead squat event with a lift of 250 lb. That strength paid off on the 50 overhead squats at 95 lb. where she broke it into reps of 15 and 10 on each set of 25.
Allen came heartbreakingly close to doing the 50 squats unbroken, but on rep 49, she was no-repped and dropped the barbell.
Webb made it to the GHD for her 100 sit-ups in a time of 11:10, which is when Denae Brown started making her surge to the lead. Despite being one of the last athletes off the treadmill, Brown made short work of the overhead squats and chased Webb down on the GHD.
“My plan was just to try and go unbroken the whole way,” said Brown. “As crazy as that sounds, I just wanted to.”
After catching Webb, the two champions stayed within 5 reps of each other throughout the double-unders and the sumo deadlift high pulls building at least a 90-second lead on the rest of the field.
Brown broke the 95-lb.sumo deadlift high pulls into singles while Webb went with touch-and-go doubles until the second set of 25 when she went to singles. Brown raced through her box jump overs at almost one rep per second to hit the finish mat more than a minute before Webb.
Webb finished with 20 seconds left before the 26-minute time cap.
“That was the goal,” Webb said. “I figured if there was a 26-minute cut off, then it could definitely be done in time, so I thought, ‘Why can’t I be that person?’ It was good.”
Webb added: “It was fucking hard.”
Event 3 Results
1. Denae Brown (24:31.9)
2. Kara Webb (25:41.5)
3. Justine Beath (CAP+52)
4. Amanda Allen (CAP+55)
5. Alethea Boon (CAP+63)
When it comes to handstand walking, Alethea Boon seems as though she can move faster on her hands than many people do on their feet.
Sammy Wood raced out hard over the first 125 feet and established a 20-foot lead over the field at the beginning of Event 4—a 250-foot handstand walk for time. But shoulder fatigue set in at the halfway mark and Boon’s steady pace saw her take the lead.
Boon originally crossed the finish line in less than 1:40 but was called back to walk the final 10-feet again as she failed to get both palms across the final line.
“Apparently my right palm didn’t go across the line before I rolled out, so I ran to the finish line, ran back and re-did the last 10 feet,” Boon said.
She finished in a time of 1:45.8 with Wood behind in 1:54.9.
“Going upside down—it’s my thing,” Boon said.
Olympic lifter Andrea Miller rounded out the top three in Event 4 during Heat 3. Webb showed she’s been working hard on her handstand walking to be just one of 12 athletes in the region to finish the event under the 3-minute time cap.
“I’m so happy with where I’m at with my handstand walking, and I’ve come along way mentally,” Webb said. “I seriously spent months feeling like I had post-traumatic stress about handstand walking and every time I’d go to kick up, I’d just cry. So for me to kick up and learn how to love it again and just do my best, I got so much out of that. I loved it!”
As expected, Webb ran away with Event 5. She opened easily with 176 lb., then went on to lift 181 lb. on her second attempt.
“(That) 181 lb. was a bit sneaky,” Webb said. “My goal was to do just enough to get myself a ticket back to the Games and push the ego aside a little bit. I’m not competing with the big girls yet on that big stage, so for me it’s keeping myself healthy and safe, and just doing enough to tick the box and move on.”
Tia-Clair Toomey and Andrea Miller posted the next highest lifts at176 lb. for a tie for second.
“I absolutely love lifting so I knew that was a strong point for me,” Toomey said, “but after doing the handstand walk you’re a little unsure. It was really good and I’m glad I got 176 lb. (I’m) very happy.”
Miller added: “I had to consider the side effects and the handstand walk, so I was trying to push the limits but without missing a lift.”
Event 4 Results
1. Alethea Boon (1:45.8)
2. Sammy Wood (1:54.9)
3. Andrea Miller (2:00.8)
4. Stephanie Ortiz (2:01.2)
5. Lindsay Vaughan (2:01.4)
Event 5 Results
1. Kara Webb (181 lb.)
2T. Andrea Miller (176 lb.)
2T. Tia-Clair Toomey (176 lb.)
4. Sammy Wood (166 lb.)
5. Justine Beath (165 lb.)
Overall Standings
1. Kara Webb (460 points)
2. Alethea Boon (399 points)
3. Stephanie Ortiz (395 points)
4. Tia-Clair Toomey(393 points)
5. Denae Brown (386 points)
6. Sammy Wood (384 points)
7. Lindsay Vaughan (364 points)
8. Justine Beath (349 points)
9. Andrea Miller (340 points)
10. Ashley Higgins (331 points)
MEN
On the men’s side, perennial Games competitor Rob Forte was the leader going into Day 2 with Kyle Frankenfeld and Khan Porter in second and third, respectively.
Many were surprised to see Brandon Swan and Chad Mackay—both multi-time Games athletes—lower down on the leaderboard. Swan was in 25th place and Mackay in 14th.
One man has now gone where no man has yet: the finsh mat of the Event 3 chipper.
Two of the tallest men on the floor, Kyle Frankenfeld and Rory Boyden, finished the 1-mile run first in the final heat.
“When I did the workout in training, I did it just with a normal road run and obviously that’s not quite as difficult as running on the TrueForm,” Boyden said, “so I did get to the overhead squats and find that my shoulders and hips were a little more tight, which made it more challenging.”
Frankenfeld received a no-rep on his 48th overhead squat, allowing Porter to catch up on the GHD.
Matt Reilly made his move on the GHD, using a faster cycle on the sit-ups to catch the leaders and progress to the rope one rep in front.
“The GHDs hurt my legs, not my heart, so that’s where I tried to pick it up,” Reilly said.
Despite the core destruction athletes experienced on the GHD, Reilly appeared to experience no side effects and moved straight into rapid-fire double-unders, hardly stopping for a break. He moved onto the sumo deadlift high pulls just under the 18-minute mark and opted for fast singles.
The tactic proved worthwhile as he advanced to the box jump overs at 21:35 with Boyden 20 reps behind his pace.
Reilly started slow on the box jumps, but Ben Smith’s event record of CAP+5 was well within sight.
“I didn’t know I was going to make (get the event record) until the crowd got behind me,” Reilly said. “But knowing I’ve got a really big support team in my family (at) CrossFit Urge and a lot of other gyms around really helped out a lot and made everything so fun. I really enjoy doing this."
Event 3 Results
1. Matt Reilly (25:50.3)
2. Rory Boyden (CAP+11)
3. Rob Forte (CAP+32)
4T. Kyle Frankenfeld (CAP+34)
5T. Khan Porter (CAP+34)
The top score for both Events 4 and 5 came from Heat 3.
After a false start, Luke McMahon went out hard and looked like no one would be able to catch him on the first lap of Event 4—a 250-foot handstand walk.
But New Zealander Kevin Manuel showed the most proficiency upside down and calmly walked two lengths of the stadium in 148.2 to claim victory in his heat and the event.
“I just wanted to go as fast as I can,” Manuel said. “I quite enjoy handstand walks generally and it went well. I didn’t expect it to go that well actually, but it did and I’m very happy.”
Brandon Swan, in an attempt to improve his ranking and get back to the Games, swept in and got second place in Event 4 with a time of 1:56.2.
Swan walked the first length unbroken before he hit the fatigue point under the rig on lap two. It became a race for the finish between Swan, Zeke Grove and Ben Garard, but Swan prevailed.
“I feel really good and I did what I needed to do,” Swan said. “Went fast in the handstand walks and won my heat. We’ll see where it sits me at the end of Day 2.”
In Heat 4, James Newbury went out hard with Forte in behind but halfway through the second 125-foot stretch, Newbury had trouble staying vertical.
Forte remained calm and crossed in a time of 1.56.6.
“I usually like handstand walking,” Forte said after the event. “I’m not the best at it, but I feel comfortable in that position, so for me it was more focusing on the snatch and making sure I hit that well.”
In Event 5—the 1-rep-max snatch—athletes were given two 20-second windows to establish the best snatch for the day.
All eyes were on Chad Mackay in Heat 3.
Mackay is known for his strength and lifting prowess and the big man did not disappoint with an opening lift of 245 lb., which he made easily. On his second attempt, Mackay successfully snatched 267 lb.
“I did a fair bit of practice in training,” Mackay said. “What I’d open at and then started taking bigger jumps. In training I went 245 lb. and 265 lb. the first time, then 245 lb. and 270 lb., which was a bit touch-and-go, and then 245 lb. and 275 lb. and kept missing it behind, so I thought I’d just stick with 265 lb.”
He added: “I thought there might be a couple of other guys around that mark so I decided to go 267 lb., so if someone wanted to go for the win they’d have to really push it. … I’m stoked with 267 lb.”
Event 4 Results
1. Kevin Manuel (1:48.2)
2. Brandon Swan (1:56.2)
3. Rob Forte (1:56.6)
4. Dean Linder-Leighton (1:57.3)
5. Zeke Grove (1:58.4)
Event 5 Results
1. Chad Mackay (267 lb.
2. Brandon Swan (260 lb.)
3T. Michael Mogard (258 lb.)
3T. Khan Porter (258 lb.)
5. Ben Garard (256 lb.)
Overall Standings
1. Rob Forte (435 points)
2. Khan Porter (367 points)
3. Brandon Swan (343 points)
4. Chad Mackay (338 points)
5. James Connew (339 points)
6. Matt Reilly (334 points)
7. Kyle Frankenfeld (323 points)
8. Patrick Fitzsimons (307 points)
9. Dean Linder-Leighton (305 points)
10. Rory Boyden (302 points)
