The East kicked off this year’s Regionals and created a ton of hype, thanks in large part to Mat Fraser and Katrin Davidsdottir. The competition in the East was stiff and brought some unexpected twists that added to the drama and excitement of Week 1.
After three days, six workouts, and enough coffee to give Andre the Giant the shakes, here are three big things we learned from the 2017 East Regional.
CAROL-ANN REASON-THIBAULT IS PLAYING FOR KEEPS
Arguably one of the biggest—and most pleasant—surprises of Week 1 was the breakout performance of Carol-Ann Reason-Thibault. The Games veteran and former hockey player from Canada East ripped a knuckle-puck across the bow of the women’s competition.
Reason-Thibault upended two-time reigning Fittest Woman on Earth Katrin Davidsdottir for the top spot on the podium. A handful of us at HQ expected any victory over Davidsdottir to happen at the hands of Kari Pearce. Instead, the often understated Reason-Thibault used three event wins as a foundation to build a sizeable lead over the field midway through Sunday. Heading into the Event 6 finale, she had a 38-point cushion over Davidsdottir and a whopping 169 points over then sixth-placed Tori Dyson.
The final event was simply a victory lap for the beast from Canada East, but she still managed to finish the event in sixth place and seal the deal.
Reason-Thibault has been an athlete on the rise, improving her finish at the Games last year, and consistently finishing the Open in the top 10 worldwide. Last year, she represented Canada at the Invitational alongside now-retired Michele Letendre.
Her dominance in the East does little for me in terms of raising questions about Davidsdottir’s chances of a three-peat, but it does everything in the way of putting everyone on notice that come August, Reason-Thibault is a serious threat for the podium.
PATIENCE PAYS OFF FOR TWO ROOKIES
The Sport of Fitness is a cruel and fickle mistress. Athletes train multiple times a day, countless hours a week, year-round for the small window of opportunity to earn the right to be called a Games athlete.
From the outside looking in, a handful of workouts scattered across a weekend may seem like a paltry platform to represent the thousands of hours spent training, but Regionals competitions emphasize the importance of execution and performance under pressure. A smaller target requires a better shooter.
For the past few years, Chelsey Hughes and Tim Paulson have missed qualification to the CrossFit Games. Hughes, after reaching the Games on Brick CrossFit’s affiliate team, moved to New York and worked on replicating the success she’s had in the Open at Regionals. She improved from 11th in the East in 2015 to eighth place last year.
Paulson, co-owner of CrossFit Pallas in Ithaca, New York, started his Regionals saga in 2013, finishing 44th at the North East Regional. Since then, he has seen improvement. Paulson finished eighth two years ago at the 2015 East Regional and 15th place last year.
Years of hard work and patience paid off when both Hughes and Paulson qualified for the 2017 Reebok CrossFit Games. Hughes was steady amid the turmoil of athletes see-sawing up and down the Leaderboard, never finishing lower than 11th and buying herself some breathing room on the final event.
Paulson, who was boom or bust with his event finishes in 2016, was a model of consistency all weekend. He never finished lower than sixth and was the only athlete not named Fraser or Vellner to win an event.
Hughes and Paulson were better shooters in Albany this weekend, and now that they’ve hit their Regionals target, they’ll set their sights on a new one: Madison, Wisconsin, and the CrossFit Games.
NORTH EAST TEAMS OWN THE EAST
Part of the fun of our Regional format is getting to see multiple regions that previously had their own sandbox to play in duel each other for supremacy of the larger, more competitive sandbox.
This year, the teams in the North East made a statement by taking all five spots to the Games in the East Regional, shutting out Canada East, and earning bragging rights for the next 365 days. Look a little further down the Leaderboard and you’ll notice that the North East also nabbed eight of the top-10 spots as well.
Heading to the 2017 Games are Team Back Bay (first), Team CrossFit Milford (second), Reebok CrossFit ONE (third), CrossFit Queens (fourth) and Ocean States Finest (fifth).
This weekend’s results are a continuation of Canada East’s gradual regression in the Affiliate Cup competition, as they’ve watched the North East become the bigger, badder and more exciting half of the Regional.
In 2015, Canada East’s Pro1 Montreal won the Regional and helped maintain a semblance of balance in the region. In 2016, the gap at the top began to widen, as JaktRx Red was the lone qualifier from Canada East, even though Canadian teams occupied four spots in the top 10.
At the Games, all four of the North East teams finished in the top 20, and Team Dynamix of Astoria, New York, barely missed the podium in fourth place.
The top five teams only had one finish outside the top 10 all weekend in this year’s Regional. Ontario’s East Woodbridge and Pro1 Montreal simply couldn’t hold on and settled for sixth and seventh, respectively.
Canada East teams will have to sit the rest of the season out because 2017 belongs to the North East.
