Las Vegas Affiliates Take on 13.2

March 20, 2013

Mandi Lo

Las Vegas affiliates continue their Open rotation as This Is CrossFit hosted more than 100 athletes for 13.2



Photos courtesy of Damary Toledo.

 

More than 100 athletes showed up to compete in the second week of the 2013 Reebok CrossFit Games Open at This Is CrossFit, Las Vegas’ newest affiliate.

Only its owners and coaches are competing in the Open since the affiliate just opened in October of last year, and most of its members are still new to CrossFit. Even so, the affiliate successfully accommodated the 100 athletes who showed up from the other Las Vegas affiliates to compete.

“All of my members are ‘newbies,’ but I tell them that anything is possible,” Damary Toledo, owner of This Is CrossFit, says. “I tell them they have to come out and see it, be motivated, be inspired. Maybe not compete this year, but definitely next year.”

Toledo says she has never viewed herself as a serious competitor and is competing in the Open for the first time this year, finishing 13.2 with a score 154 reps.

Toledo wasn’t alone as a first-time competitor in the Open. Leslie Hernandez from CrossFit Las Vegas has been CrossFitting for two years, but never competed in the Open until now.

“Last year, I didn’t compete because I thought that everyone who signed up was a serious athlete and I was a little intimidated, so I was just a bystander,” Hernandez says. “This year, I was motivated by my gym and my team to go in and just have fun with it. My team was definitely my No. 1 reason to compete.”

Lauren Scholl, from CrossFit Max Effort, on the other hand, is a seasoned veteran and is aiming to make it to Regionals this year as an individual. Last year, Scholl was sick with the flu during the Open and didn’t perform as well as she had hoped, but still went on to compete in Regionals with Max Effort’s team. This year, Scholl hired a coach to help her train and program her workouts in hopes of securing one of the 48 spots for women in the South West who get to move onto the Regional. Scholl completed 13.1 with 163 reps and 13.2 with 287 reps.

As a coach at CrossFit Max Effort, Scholl has stressed the importance of competing in the Open to her members.

“Even though I know I’m not at the level of competing in the Games, I am still competing because I want to see how I do at Regionals,” Scholl says. “I encourage my members to compete no matter what level you’re at because it gives you another purpose and reason to your training.”  

The excitement and camaraderie could be heard and felt throughout the gym as the members from CrossFit Max Effort, CrossFit Las Vegas, CrossFit 702 and This Is CrossFit performed Open Workout 13.2 in heats. The last minute of each heat was filled with excited cheering from judges, spectators and athletes who already performed or were still waiting to go.

Fernando Garcia, a coach at This Is CrossFit, says Saturday’s event was a success. 

“I thought today went great, everything ran smoothly, everyone was excited and did a great job,” Garcia says. “It was great that we were able to host the event because our members got to see what the CrossFit community is all about, which is so important. Now, they have some goals to really look at to see where they want to be.”

The schedule for the Las Vegas Open rotation for the next three weeks is as follows:

March 23 @ CrossFit Max Effort

March 30 @ CrossFit Las Vegas

April 6 @ CrossFit 702