Week Two in Review: Northern California

March 5, 2012

Leah Lutz

Only two other men in the world bested Neal Maddox's 97 reps in Open Workout 12.2. 

Week 1 was fun, but Week 2 was a blast. 

As expected, this technical and heavy workout flipped many Leaderboard rankings. The top men of NorCal killed this workout, with both Neal Maddox of CrossFit X-Treme (1st) and Jason Khalipa of NorCal CrossFit (2nd) joining the small handful of men worldwide who made it into the 210-pound snatches.

Only two other men in the world bested Maddox’s 97 reps, and Khalipa was only a three reps behind with 94 as the 5th place finisher worldwide. Holding 3rd place for this workout, Joey Warren of CrossFit Cadence, is a force to be reckoned with this year.

At the close of the second Open workout, the stellar performance of Warren in both 12.1 and 12.2 has him into 1st place in NorCal and 8th overall. Will Zerlang (Humboldt CrossFit) holds 2nd place, Maddox has moved to 3rd place with his incredible 12.2 performance, while Zack Height, of CrossFit 209 Sport and Chad Augustin, of Rocklin CrossFit, are tied for 4th place.

While Workout 12.1 didn’t favor some of our NorCal favorites, 12.2 brought Blair Morrison (CrossFit Anywhere) into 6th place in the region. Khalipa’s ability to move into the highest level of the snatches jumped him into 7th place, up from 27th last week. Pat Barber also moved into the top 10, finishing in 8th place this week.

Fifteen women in the NorCal worked through the first 90 snatches and put up some great numbers with the 120-pound snatches. Both Sarah Hopping, a collegiate All-American hammer thrower from Lalanne CrossFit, and Brandy Richardson, from CrossFit 808, hold 1st place for Workout 12.2. Their incredible work – 105 snatches – puts them in the top five overall for this workout. After 90 “warm-up” snatches, these ladies then completed 15 snatches at the heaviest weight. Lindsay Taylor from CrossFit CenCal, who also lifted at the U.S. Weightlifting Nationals this past weekend, finished just behind the leaders with 104 reps.

The second workout has also brought a number of last year’s Regional and Games competitors onto the Leaderboard, clearly demonstrating the depth of talent among our CrossFitters. Both Ashley Carriveau of CrossFit San Jose and Elyse Umeda from CrossFit 808, the 2011 NorCal Region champion, move into 1st place. Whitney Heuser of Diablo CrossFit Anejo fame, moves to 2nd place. Jenny LaBaw, the 2011 Regional runner-up, holds 4th, and well-known CrossFit trainer Miranda Oldroyd (CrossFit Maxim) takes 5th place. 

Although many of the team standings shifted dramatically in NorCal, the top teams are holding strong. The Rocklin CrossFit Honey Badgers and Diablo CrossFit Anejo both retain their 1st place standings. CrossFit CSA holds onto 3rd place, although now sharing that rank with NorCal CrossFit. 

Masters prove their athletic depth as they continue to rank well in the world of CrossFit. In the Men 55-59 division, Tim Anderson (South Tahoe CrossFit) is now 3rd worldwide.  Among the Women 55-59 division, Charm Mathis (CrossFit Excel) is 3rd worldwide. In the Men 60-plus division, Clarke Holland (Tamalpais CrossFit) continues to demonstrate his athleticism by holding 1st place worldwide. On the women’s side of the 60-plus, Kristine Sessions of CrossFit Maxim moves up to 2nd worldwide and Mary Schwing (CrossFit 808) is now 3rd worldwide.

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