Canada West Team Report: Day 3

May 11, 2014

Lisa Zane and Jaimie Bougie

With Team Taranis and the Centaurs holding the top two spots overall, only CrossFit 604 had a chance to upset one of the two leaders.

With Team Taranis and the Centaurs holding the top two spots overall, only CrossFit 604 had a chance to upset one of the two leaders.

To start Day 3, top teams in Canada West took the floor to chants of “Six-oh-four! Six-oh-four!”

With Team Taranis and the Centaurs holding the top two spots overall, only CrossFit 604 had a chance to upset one of the two leaders.

The excitement was obvious as male/female pairs hit the rowers and jump ropes while waiting partners paced, jumped and twitched.

Team Event 7

The first pair from 604 led the group, followed closely by the Centaurs. Their second pair sprinted the short distance from the waiting area to the rower and Robbie Perovich quickly started the deadlifts.

The Taranis pair seemed to take extra time on the chalk-up, forcing the female athlete to hold the bar longer than necessary. Would it affect them in the end?

Studeo 55 pulled ahead by finishing the deadlifts fastest with its fans counting down the last five reps from the stands. The Centaurs raced to catch up on the toes-to-bars. Taranis again waited and rested their grip while other teams moved, rigidly adhering to their pacing strategy.

The front runners raced to stay ahead of their teammates, but the performance and score of the fifth and six athletes would decide the event. Taranis saved its leader for the end—Angie Hay took to the rower last—while the Centaurs leader Perovich took to the field first.

Perovich was the first across the line, but Hay anchored her team with disciplined adherence to a plan. When 604 moved ahead of Taranis on the final row, Hay and partner Paul Lance locked eyes, counted to three, and commenced their deadlifts in sets of five.

While 604 broke theirs up, Taranis stuck to its strategy, counting down rest periods and doing the same amount of work on every set.

Building on an early lead, the Centaurs moved off the deadlifts first, but were forced to wait until their second pairing completed their final set of toes-to-bar before their third could progress.

Meanwhile, Taranis worked to close the gap on CrossFit 604, gaining one rep, then two, and finally passing into second place in the heat.

As the Centaurs finished the last set of toes-to-bars, they were the first to drop from the rig, finishing in 15:45.

The race for second continued.

Hay held strong until the last set of toes-to bar. Shaking her hands quickly, she jumped back up and finished her reps, dropping off the bar before 604 to finish second. The order was reestablished: The Centaurs in first, Taranis in second, 604 in third.

“For the first and second heats, it was all about the row,” said Kurt Baker of the Centaurs. “But for the third group, it all came down to Robbie (Perovich) and Delaina (Snider), who moved really quickly though the entire workout, and that’s how we pulled ahead.”

Angie Hay admitted that although Taranis had a set strategy, it was nerve-wracking to have to come from behind.

“We knew we had to fly through it as fast we could,” she said. “We had set rep schemes, but we knew the last pair had to just go balls out!”

Team Event 7 Results
1. The Centaurs (15:45)
2. Team Taranis (16:12)
3. CrossFit 604 (16:35)

Team Event 8

When Event 8 began, the race was all but determined—the Centaurs with 11 points, Taranis with 13, and 604 trailing with 33. Barring catastrophe, the final event would simply be about bragging rights.

Both Taranis and the Centaurs athletes finished the pull-ups unbroken, and quickly made their way to the bar, going rep-for-rep. Baker finished his eight overhead squats unbroken and finishing in 1:49 for the Centaurs.

While Taranis struggled with the overhead squats, three other teams finished and crossed the line. Hay cycled her pull-ups rapidly, staying on the bar longer than anyone else, and then hoisting the barbell over her slim frame. Her reps were fluid, and the crowd howled its approval as she passed larger athletes who struggled with form.

Baker darted onto the field to encourage Snider, their first female through, as she fought to complete her overhead squats. After Baker told Snider to narrow her grip, his judge dragged him back to the finishing mat. Snider missed several attempts, and several other teams pulled ahead.

Other teams spent up to a minute with their barbell on the ground, forced to break up the overhead squats while Taranis continued onto their second pairing. When the Centaurs’ second athlete, Perovich, jumped onto the rig, they had dropped far behind Taranis. Their use of a longer kip, instead of a butterfly, seemed to require more time and grip strength.

Taranis’ fifth athlete, Matt Hilton, was large enough to require extra time on the pull-ups, but he finished the overhead squats without hesitation, hurdled the high-bouncing bar, and sprinted across the line to clear the lane for Robyn Horner.

Horner cycled through butterfly pull-ups efficiently as her teammates had done before, likely knowing her score would be the result that counted most.  No teams in the final heat finished the workout in under the cap. Taranis was the closest—just five reps short—followed by the Centaurs and CrossFit Brio - Flex.

Though the final finish was pre-determined, every team pushed as though their ticket to Carson, California was on the line, and the crowd roared throughout the event.

“We feel awesome,” said Baker after the event. “The last event was definitely a nail biter.”

This will be the Centaurs’ third trip to the CrossFit Games.

“We’re so excited to return to the Games again this year,” said Jackie Snell of Team Taranis.

Taranis will be headed to California to compete for the fifth time.

“It was our goal since the day we left California last July,” Snell said, “so we’re super excited.”

Team Event 8 Results
1. Team Taranis (16:05)
2. The Centaurs (16:31)
3. CrossFit Brio-Flex (16:33)

Final Standings
1. The Centaurs (13)—Games Qualifier
2. Team Taranis (14)—Games Qualifier
3. CrossFit 604 (39)