SoCal Regional Report: Fast and Heavy

May 19, 2013

Hilary Achauer, with Jamie Bougie, Jaala Thibault and Ashley Van Horne

V is for victory, and also Voigt, Voboril and Valenzuela.
View more photos here.

If Event 4 was long and grueling, Event 5 was short, heavy, and brutal.

Take a break, stumble on a box, or earn a “no-rep” on a deadlift, and it was over.

This event, a repeat of a 2011, 21-15-9 deadlift/box jump event, taxed the already-tired legs of the athletes. It took good form, raw strength, and overall guts to come out on top.

Men

Never count out an athlete in the early heats, especially if his name is Dave Lipson.

Lipson, competing in the third heat, burst onto the floor with a jog, and smiled as he waved to the crowd.

As soon as the event kicked off, Lipson’s grin turned into a look of determination. He completed the majority of his deadlifts unbroken, paced the box jumps evenly, and finished in 4:02, the fastest time of the day.

"My Baywatch body was a big contribution to me winning,” Lipson said with a smile after the event.

“You can say what you want about the workout, but deep down I know that I look awesome!” he said.

Paul Gregrow finished second in Lipson’s heat with a time of 4:34, which placed him third overall on this event.

The final heat started in a flurry as Ryan Fischer, Kenneth Leverich, Wes Piatt, and Josh Bridges all finished 21 reps of 315-lbs. deadlifts, and got to the box jumps at almost the same time.

Fischer quickly dropped off, and slowed down even further when he accumulated a number of “no-reps” on his deadlift.

Leverich hung with Piatt into the round of 15, but then Piatt found an extra gear and took off. He didn't let up until he jumped onto his finish pad at 4:04, then yelled "Fuck yeah!"

Immediately after finishing, Piatt sought out his wife, Megan, who was watching carefully from the sidelines. The two hugged, Megan in tears.

“I’m so proud, so excited,” Megan said. “These (deadlifts and box jumps) are two of his strongest things,” she said, “but I didn’t know how he was going to do.”

Piatt won his heat and came in second overall in this event.

"I am just on cloud nine right now,” Piatt said. “This is more than I ever expected. I'm just so happy to be here. To get to compete next to guys like Kenny and Josh, (and to) be in an arena with those guys is just a great feeling,” Piatt said.

Bridges struggled with “no-reps” on his box jumps, but still finished at 4:35 in fourth overall. Leverich followed closely behind with a time of 4:38.

Piatt said he is looking forward to sleep, and then maybe a jump in the hot tub.

“I eat Zone, so everything is portioned out already for me back at the hotel,” Piatt said.

Tommy Pease, whose consistent performance over the last two days earned him third place overall, has a different agenda than Piatt.

“My back is pretty shot up but my plan for tonight is just to take an ice bath and eat some McDonalds!” Pease said.

Event 4
1. Josh Bridges (21:01)
2. Wes Piatt (22:32)
3. Ryan Fischer (22:39)

Event 5
1. Dave Lipson (4:02)
2. Wes Piatt (4:04)
3. Paul Gregrow (4:34)

Overall
1. Josh Bridges (19)
2. Kenneth Leverich (29)
3. Tommy Pease (54)

Women

V is for victory, and also Voigt, Voboril, and Valenzuela.

These three women dominated Event 5, and secured their top-three spots overall as we head into the last day of competition.

Just as with the men, a woman in an early heat set an impressive time. Amani Floyd of Mean Streets of L.A., who competed in the first heat of the day, grabbed the fourth spot, finishing in 3:54.

“I was a sprinter in college,” Floyd said, “so that helps with these kind of really quick workouts. Deadlifts and box jumps, it's all explosion, which is what I'm good at. If it's a little longer, around 10 minutes, I start to struggle, but keep it short and sweet, and I really get to move,” Floyd said.

In the final heat, after the set of 21 deadlifts, Voigt, Voboril, Hale, and Valenzuela all made their way to the box jumps together. Voigt and Voboril connected the jumps fluidly while Hale and Valenzuela pushed their hands off of their knees to stand up a little more easily.

In the set of 15 deadlifts, Voigt pulled ahead, repping out the deadlifts while the other girls rested.

Voigt held her lead and finished in 3:24, the top time of the day.

After finishing, Voigt triumphantly threw her weight belt on the ground and screamed in celebration, smiling at the crowd.

Just behind Voigt, both Valenzuela, and Voboril lunged for the finish mat, tying for second with a time of 3:47.

Kristan Clever, who has been slower than normal over the last two days, confirmed before Event 5 that she’s battling an injury.

“My shoulder is hurt,” Clever said.

“I think it's pretty obvious to anyone who has watched me work out this weekend,” she said. “I was originally freaking out about it and now I'm not freaking out anymore. Now I'm just sad.”

The injury put Clever in the unfamiliar position of being at the back of the pack, cheered on by her friends. Usually, Clever blazes through events so quickly she is the one shouting encouragement.

Clever finished the event in ninth place, with a time of 4:37, putting her in fourth place overall.

Allison Truscheit, who performed so well on day one, struggled with the events today. She took 16th on Event 5, and now sits in seventh place overall.

Truscheit knew the day was going to be a battle.

“I am going to try and just get through today,” she said in the morning.

“It'll be tough because longer is not better for me,” Truscheit said. “If I can get through today, I am really looking forward to those workouts tomorrow. For now it is time to grind away!”

Jamie Hagiya, a former professional basketball player, took a sixth place on Event 5, and now sits in sixth place overall.

Hagiya’s recovery plan for the night is an ice bath.

“I'm going to refuel with a fish salad, steak and potatoes—lots of food,” she said.

“I think today was the toughest day and Friday wasn't really in my wheelhouse so tomorrow I'm looking forward to just having fun while working hard and getting it done!”

Event 4
1. Valerie Voboril (23:27)
2. Rebecca Voigt (23:34)
3. Danielle Hale (25:26)

Event 5
1. Rebecca Voigt (3:24)
2T. Lindsey Valenzuela (3:47)
2T. Valerie Voboril (3:47)

Overall
1. Valerie Voboril (14)
2. Rebecca Voigt (15)
3. Lindsey Valenzuela (15)

Team

Like Event 1, this event was up to one man and one woman. How fast could they rep out heavy deadlifts and box jumps?

Pretty darn fast, if you’re Brick Nation. They won the event with a time of 7:10, the fastest time of any team so far in regional competition.

In the early heats, the Sea of Green dominated. From start to end, the team kept a steady rhythm. Cody Burgener finished his work in 3:31, the third-fastest men's split of the day.

Amanda Douglas of Brick Nation once again wore her orange tutu on the floor, waving to the Brick crowd as she walked to her place.

When the tutu came off it was all business. Douglas started her leg of the event with her team in fourth place overall behind Invictus, CDR Redlands, and CrossFit 760. She quickly chipped away at everyone's lead, and in the final three box jumps passed Team CrossFit 760 without them even noticing.

CrossFit 760 came in second with a time of 7:16.

“Our strategy was just to sprint it out and get all good reps, and make everything happen all the way through,” said Casey Parlett of CrossFit 760.

“We've kind of flown under the radar this weekend, especially with our bad finishes yesterday, but if you look at the 2011 scores for this workout, we got 12th in the world with this particular workout, so we're happy to move up on that!" he said.

Parlett’s teammate Jacquie Johnson completed this workout in 2011 as an individual; when asked her preference on doing it as individual or team, she replied, "Hell yeah! Team all the way!"

Event 4
1. Brick Nation (15:38)
2. Invictus (16:13)
3. Team Kinnick (16:53)

Event 5
1. Brick Nation (7:10)
2. CrossFit 760 (7:16)
3. Invictus (7:35)

Overall
1. Invictus (10)
2. Team CDR Redlands (17)
3. Brick Nation (21)