July 22, 2013
Emmalee Teribery's Game Changer

 

“Friday, I was really happy. Saturday, I left there thinking, ‘Well, I’m out.’ I didn’t too well in (Event) 5, and I literally left there like, ‘Oh, that was it. I guess I’ll just show up on Sunday and see what I can do.’ And then Sunday was the game changer."

Video by Jay Vera
Article by Mandi Lo
 

Emmalee Teribery’s last-minute slide into third place at the 2013 CrossFit South West Regional was nothing short of a spectacular showdown between her, Becky Conzelman and Natalie McLain.

Teribery (nee Moore) entered Event 7 only three points behind both competitors and knew she had to give it her all to stand a chance of beating out either Conzelman or McLain. In the end, she edged out Conzelman to get her spot on the podium.

This will be Teribery’s first year going to the Games, but she is a familiar face at Regionals, having competed in 2010 and 2012.

“As long as I’ve been doing CrossFit, I’ve been slowly and slowly getting better as a competitor,” she says. “For 2010, I was eighth or ninth place, and in 2012 I finished in fourth place.  And so I’ve just kind of been getting a little better, and I was like, ‘Well, the only place I can go is tied for fourth or hope for a podium spot.”

Teribery says a huge part of her success at Regionals to having a support system she didn’t have before.

“I recently got married, and my husband who during this whole thing has been very supportive and a huge help,” she explains. “I never really had that kind of support before. He helps me with nutrition stuff. At the start of the Open is when I started Zone Paleo and he did it with me. He’s the support that I have on the home front, that’s one of the things that changed over the last year.”

In addition to her husband, Teribery also had the support of her coach, Zac Pine, and CrossFit Verve owner Matt Chan. Teriberry hired Pine to be her coach and to program for her after the first week of the Open, when she felt she didn’t perform as well as she would have liked.  

Teribery’s confidence was up and down during Regionals. She started in 10thplace on Event 1, then finished in first place in Event 3 and struggled in Event 5 at 13th. It wasn’t until she placed first again in Event 6 that she truly felt she could win a podium spot.

“Friday, I was really happy. Saturday, I left there thinking, ‘Well, I’m out.’ I didn’t too well in (Event) 5, and I literally left there like, ‘Oh, that was it. I guess I’ll just show up on Sunday and see what I can do.’ And then Sunday was the game changer,” she recalls. “When I won Event 6, that was when my mindset changed. I was like, ‘Hey, I’m still in this. I’m not out of this just yet.’ I walked away from that event with the first place finish and I was ecstatic.”

Teribery plans to just enjoy her first year competing at the Games, though she is unsure of exactly what to expect.

“As far as the programming goes, anything is up in the air, so as far as my training, I’ve implemented a whole bunch of new stuff I wouldn’t necessarily be doing aside from training for the Games. You just don’t know what’s going to be pulled out of the hat,” she says. “I’m just excited about the whole experience itself.”