CrossFit Covington's team is made up of mostly family members.
Of all the teams competing at the Central East Regional this weekend, CrossFit Covington just might take the title of “Wickedly Funny and Pretty Awesome.” Spend any time with Laura Cook, Emily Wagner, Alicia Wagner, Jarrett Baston, Alex Scott and Ben Scott and you will most likely find yourself wanting to cheer this team on as if they were your own.
By the completion of CrossFit Covington’s Day 1 at the Regional, they were in 3rd. By the time every heat thereafter got their turn, CrossFit Covington ended their day in 4th place, respectively. “Very pleased, very pleased,” Ben said as his team regrouped in the athlete’s village at the Ohio Expo Center.
In Event 2, the team’s unique bond had a chance to shine as Alex ripped through each of the event’s components – a 1,000-meter row, pistols and hang power cleans, followed by Wagner, Cook and finally Ben Scott; a rather newly created strategy CrossFit Covington decided on that very day. “It came to me in a dream last night,” Scott joked.
“We just didn’t want our fastest lead to waste any time,” Laura said. “As soon as someone was off the rower we wanted someone else right on.”
Alicia pushed through her cleans with visible intensity with the crowd in front of her screaming at the top of their lungs. No spectator could know the personal triumph she felt as she threw her arms around Alex, who was waiting for her on the mat.
For the past three weeks, Wagner has been struggline to maintain her composure while practicing Event 2 often crying during every attempt. CrossFit Covington’s cheering section was screaming so loudly because they knew the achievement they were watching first hand.
Family affair
The unique bond of CrossFit Covington could be linked to their close relations. Emily and Alicia are sisters; Ben and Alex are brothers. “We were neighbors,” Cook says of she and Jarrett.
When asked to describe their team, Cook sums it up with one word. “Sarcasm.”
“We pretty much spend all day and night with each other,” Emily said. “None of us are married or have kids, so we’re always at the gym.”
And like many of the teams on the floor, the individual competitors and those cheering from the stands are bonded by the culture that is the sport of fitness. “I just feel like it improved my life overall, not just my fitness,” Jarett says. “Every aspect,” Baston said.
Going into Day 2 of the Central East Regional competition the team is focused, not outrageously hopeful, but realistic. In fact, until last week, none of the girls on team CrossFit Covington could even snatch the 70-pound dumbbell. Thankfully Cook is the one finally up to the task completing the movement as prescribed, however the movement is still fresh.
CrossFit Covington is aiming to better the 11th place Regional finish from 2011 with a trip to California in 2012. With a year’s worth of training under their belt, and a new competitive mindset, CrossFit Covington just might pull it off.