Week One in Review: South Central

February 28, 2012

Dave Re

There is a 260 percent increase in Open participation in South Central from 2011 to 2012.

You've been waiting a whole year for it, and now it's here. The 2012 CrossFit Games Open has begun, and already we're seeing a lot of new names show up on the Leaderboard for the first workout.

Before we dig in on the scores and performances from around the South Central Region, check out the announcement on Regional cities. The South Central Regional will be held in San Antonio, Texas on the weekend of April 27-29. Please note that CrossFit HQ recommends holding off on booking travel at this point. We'll get you more information on the venue and other details as soon as they're available.

Most CrossFit athletes are aware that this year marks the second annual CrossFit Games Open, but were you aware how much bigger participation in the Open is this year? On March 23, 2011, there were over 23,500 athletes signed up to participate in the inaugural CrossFit Games Open. As of Sunday, February 26, at the close of the first workout of the 2012 Open, in just the Individual Men's division, there are 32,520 competitors registered for the Open. In the South Central Region, we had 1,535 athletes participate in the Open, whereas this year, we have almost that many Individual Women (at 1,495). In Individual competitors, we have 3,999 athletes participating in 2012. That's a 260 percent increase over 2011.

Without a doubt, CrossFit Central has taken the prize for most registered athletes on their team in our Region, so they'll be winning tickets for each of their 209 athletes to the South Central Regional.

Workout 12.1

The workout was simple - do as many burpees as you can in seven minutes. Like them or not, burpees are a solid test of conditioning, and anybody can do them. It was a very interesting way to launch the Open.

At the top of our Individual Men's Leaderboard, we have a tie. Jeremy Hohle – Ragin' CrossFit – and Dave Schwanke – Woodward CrossFit – both eeked out 141 burpees, placing them both in an 11-way tie for 34th place worldwide. Many of the names on that first page are not unknown to us, but there are a lot of fresh faces in the mix, too.

Justin Adams, also from Woodward CrossFit, Junior Delfin – Mission CrossFit SA – and Kevin Hickey – CrossFit Plano – all tied for 3rd with 140 reps. In effect, South Central has five men bunched up at the top, and two of them are from the same box. Are we going to see a strong push from CrossFit Woodward this year?

On the Individual Women's side, Jessica Myers from CrossFit Deep Ellum, knocked out 134 reps, almost equaling the top Men’s efforts, and putting her in a five-way tie for 14th overall. Remey Dondoyano – Body Armor CrossFit – knocked out 130 burpees to land in 2nd place, and Jane Metz turned in 128 for 3rd place. All of these athletes are in the top 45 worldwide on Workout 12.1.

The team competition really won't surprise anyone who paid attention last year when you look at the top 20 teams. But the top two teams are affiliates that might not be so familiar. Team De-Shirt (CrossFit Woodward), sits on top with a score of 741, which was enough to put them in 14th place overall. Not far behind is CrossFit Deep Ellum, with 732 reps, and Get Lifted by CrossFit with 731. The top 10 teams in our Region all had 700 or more reps on their scorecards.

Competing again this year in the Masters 45-49 Division, Cliff Lewis of CrossFit Heath turned in a solid 125 burpee performance, which put him in a tie for 8th place. Lewis won the Open last year in this same division, and placed 2nd at the 2011 Games. Scott Patenaude from Atomic CrossFit, a Masters 50-54 Division athlete, posted a 102-rep performance, which ties for 68th place. Darlene Price of CrossFit Austin did 83 burpees to cement a five-way tie for 36th in the Masters 55-59 Division.

With the first deceptively nasty little workout under our belts, there has been a lot of shake up on the Leaderboard and a huge leap in participation for athletes in the South Central Region. This is already shaping up to be a highly competitive season, and there are four weeks of the Open left.

*The scores and rankings are unofficial until Tuesdays at 5 p.m., PT.