"Community is what makes CrossFit fun and that energy and camaraderie is what made me stick with CrossFit when I first started. It’s easier to push harder when you have people around you ..." ~Courtney Modecki
To start the second day of competition at the 2013 Latin America Regional, the competitors had to face their fears.
Event 4 — 100 wall balls, 100 chest-to-bar pull-ups, 100 pistols, and 100 dumbbell snatches -- has struck fear into the hearts of most competitors.
And, as the Latin American competitors soon learned, the fear was justified. Only one competitor would come close to finishing all 400 reps within the 25-minute time cap.
Teams
As the six remaining teams took to the floor of the arena, all eyes were on CrossFit 7 Mile who started Day 2 in first place after winning all three events on Day 1.
CrossFit 7 Mile took an early lead as their first male completed his repetitions first. This lead would only increase as each of the remaining five athletes moved through the different stations of the arena. The defending champions from the Cayman Islands were the only team to complete the workout, with a time of 20:59.
The team who came close to finishing was CrossFit Santiago. They were 26 dumbbell snatches short. CrossFit Jundiai was 36 reps shy.
With another win, CrossFit 7 Mile continues to write history having won the last 10 Regional Events in Latin America.
“Our strategy was going over the events multiple times in order to figure out who was better at what. We intend to keep the lead to make it back to the Games,” Chris Spigner of 7 Mile said. “The Regional is very well planned this year and we can see that it only gets better and better.”
CrossFit SP maintains an overall second place despite their last-place finish on Event 4.
“Most of us have been training for less than a year and the team has been training together for only three months,” Debora Diegas from CrossFit SP said. “Still, we are very satisfied with our performance and we only hope to get better from here on.”
She attributes the success of the team to their union.
“We are very close and we believe that together we are stronger. We’ll do the best we can on the remaining events, using what each of us individually has to offer so we can excel as a whole,” Diegas said.
Event 4
1. CrossFit 7 Mile (20:59)
2. CrossFit Santiago (25:26)
3. CrossFit Jundiai (25:36)
Overall
1. CrossFit 7 Mile (4)
2. CrossFit SP (21)
3. CrossFit PTY (27)
Women
The final women’s heat of Event 4 started as a close race but early into the pull-ups, it became evident this was going to be a race between two women — Courtney Modecki and Tarasa Barnett, who finished Day 1 in first and second place, respectively.
Barnett got an early lead on the pull-ups by butterflying her chest-to-bars, but Modecki was able to get longer and more consistent sets using a regular gymnastics kip. Modecki’s strategy paid off as she was the first on the pistols and she never looked back, winning the event with a time of 25:47. Barnett finished second showing an extraordinary performance that did not go unnoticed. In third place was Dominique Jocelyne from CrossFit Alfa.
Modecki had a big smile on her face as she walked out of the arena.
“That went better than I expected,” Modecki said. “Nothing in this workout is in my wheelhouse. But I train so hard that I just hope it’s enough.”
“In Medellin, I train alone most of the time, and it is so hard to get the drive that comes with working out with other people. Community is what makes CrossFit fun and that energy and camaraderie is what made me stick with CrossFit when I first started. It’s easier to push harder when you have people around you and this comes with the growth of CrossFit as a sport. When I first got to Medellin, there were only two gyms and now there are at least five or six. It’s amazing.”
Event 4
1. Courtney Modecki (25:47)
2. Tarasa Barnett (26:02)
3. Dominique Jocelyne (26:21)
Overall
1. Courtney Modecki (5)
2. Tarasa Barnett (8)
3. Solange Jean-Francois Mon (19)
Men
Previous stats played against the male competitors. In previous weekends, only 12 percent of men have been able to complete Event 4.
Luis Giraldo was the first competitor on the pull-ups and pistols, but Orlando Trejo kept himself within distance.
During the pistols, Trejo moved comfortably and distanced himself from Giraldo and the other competitors who had at one point been ahead of him. With a minute left on the clock, it was clear that if any of the competitors had a chance to finish, it would be Trejo. The music was silenced and the crowd stood up to count Trejo’s last 20 reps right as he moved his dumbbell to the 100-rep mark. Time ran out as Trejo completed his 99th dumbbell snatch.
“I feel bad because I feel like I let people down by missing one last rep to complete the event. They thought that I would finish it but I didn’t,” Trejo said. “It took me longer than expected to finish the wall balls, but I gave my best and that’s what matters.”
“Every second counts,” Trejo said.
Joel Bran was able to complete 84 dumbbell snatches to secure a second-place finish and Giraldo completed 82 dumbbell snatches to land him in third place.
Event 4
1. Orlando Trejo (25:02)
2. Joel Bran (25:16)
3. Luis Girlado (25:18)
Overall
1. Orlando Trejo (8)
2. Conor Murphy (18)
3. Andres Danelutto (37)
