Pair of Threesomes

July 28, 2013

CrossFit

Three men, three women, 900 reps.

Three men, three women, 900 reps.

 

In the final team events of Saturday, male and female trios got together to work through a dirty chipper.

The Ascending Chipper comprised 50 deadlifts, 60 chest-to-bar pull-ups, 70 cleans, 80 pull-ups, 90 snatches and 100 toes-to-bars. The men and women from each team were scored separately, but the women could start working once the men finished the 80 pull-ups.

Going into the event, Hack’s Pack Ute held a lead of 50 points over CrossFit Dallas Central and was looking to put a stranglehold on top spot with a solid finish to Day 2 of Team competition.

The teams entered the tennis stadium to face triangle-shaped Rogue rigs and barbells for an event that featured classic CrossFit movements, a change from the more unconventional events the teams have seen thus far at the Games.

Leah Polaski of CrossFit Atlanta said her team was happy for what some might consider a more traditional CrossFit workout. 

"Finally," she said.

Though the movements were classic CrossFit, the two scoring opportunities meant a different type of strategy came into play. Instead of pacing the beginning and turning it on at the end, the men had to get through the first four movements as quickly as possible to give the female athletes a chance to get their hands on the bars.

Hack’s Pack showed off their well-rounded sextet and precision-like teamwork by taking an early lead and staying ahead for the entire event. The cleans were separating factor in the early heats (190 lb. for the men and 135 lb. for the women), but the barbell proved no match for Hack’s Pack. The Utah team took first in both Ascending Chipper 1 and 2, solidifying its first-place position.

“Our men crushed it, which put us in a great position at the start. And we all did our job,” Taylor Richards-Lindsay of Hack’s Pack said.

“One of the keys to our success was that we didn't slow down on the snatches like many other teams did."

Among the riot of swinging bodies and flying barbells, CrossFit Dallas Central fell behind. They entered the day in first place, but fell to second after Squat Burpee and took 24th in Ascending Chipper 1 and 17th in Ascending Chipper 2. The disappointing finish moved them into fourth place.

CrossFit New England came in determined to move up the Leaderboard. With first place in the event sewn up by Hack’s Pack, CrossFit New England and Diablo CrossFit locked into a race for second. The men of New England edged ahead and grabbed the second-place spot in Ascending Chipper 1.

Then it was the ladies’ turn. Although CrossFit New England beat Diablo CrossFit in the final heat, CrossFit Invictus, who competed in an earlier heat, took the second-place spot on Ascending Chipper 2, with the women holding onto the bar and moving smoothly through the last 100 toes-to-bars.

New England’s performance moved them well up the Leaderboard from fourth to second overall, behind Hack’s Pack. 

The second heat saw a gutsy performance by Dave Foster of Front Range CrossFit. He completed one rep of each of the movements with a bandaged broken hand, injured on the Worm in the Burden Run. In order to meet the minimum work requirement of the event, Foster managed a one-arm deadlift, chest-to-bar pull-up, clean and pull-up, and he finished with a beautiful one-armed 140-lb. snatch before the time cutoff.

As the teams walked off the tennis stadium floor and into the tunnel, they stopped and huddled around one of the TVs to check their standings. Only the top 20 teams will move onto Sunday’s final event, after the Stadium Relay in the morning.

After two days and eight events, Hack’s Pack Ute holds a 78-point lead over CrossFit New England, with CrossFit Dynamix 109 points back of first.

Ascending Chipper 1
1. Hack's Pack UTE (13:59.9)
2. CrossFit New England (14:50.0)
3. CrossFit CDR Redlands (15:26.0)

Ascending Chipper 2
1. Hack's Pack UTE (19:53.5)
2. CrossFit Invictus (21:37.9)
3. Diablo CrossFit (21:45.9)

Overall leader: Hack's Pack UTE