At the tender age of 21, Logan Morris has hung up his skates. After taking two years off from college to play in the Eastern Junior Hockey League, the CrossFit North East athlete was poised to start his collegiate hockey career at Stony Brook University this past fall. But after three concussions in six months, Morris saw things going a different direction.
“My cousin introduced me to CrossFit while I was playing Junior Hockey last year,” Morris says. “ I wasn’t very open to the idea at first, but after a couple of workouts, I was sold.”
Up until this fall, Morris and his cousin had been training on their own, often at a YMCA.
“My cousin introduced me to CrossFit while I was playing Junior Hockey ... I wasn’t very open to the idea at first, but after a couple of workouts, I was sold.”
Still, a collegiate hockey career was most important in Morris’ mind when he and his parents visited the SBU campus last summer to meet his future hockey coach and teammates. Determined to be in the best shape of his life, he also set out to find a nearby CrossFit affiliate, Stony Brook CrossFit was within walking distance to campus. Everything was set. And then came the twist.
“I had never gotten concussions before, so three in six months was a little worrisome,” he says. “After the third one, it took me a good month to be able to start working out without getting horrible headaches.”
Doctors warned him of the risks for complications, and potential lifelong implications, should another concussion occur, and Morris made the heartbreaking decision to quit hockey.
Luckily, he still had CrossFit. Morris joined Stony Brook CrossFit and quickly developed a friendship with affiliate owner and coach Michael Denicola.
As a freshman at SBU, Morris juggled academics, a social life and CrossFit. He cleverly combined CrossFit with pleasure when he created the SBU Cross Fitness Club. Denicola agreed to ‘host’ the club and afforded Morris and club members the use of the box at off hours. He also offered student a discounted rate at the semester to get more involved. The club started small, with a few of Morris’ hockey friends, but has been growing rapidly. So much so that Morris is thinking of asking Denicola for additional access to the box.
Morris has been working hard in preparation for the Games, training six days a week, with three of those being double days. His strategy has been to program his weaknesses into met-cons, and work on his flexibility.
Morris says he is “definitely in the best shape of my life,” and now says he wishes he “had CrossFit four years ago, during hockey.”
Morris is determined to make it to Regionals and is not afraid to work for it. If there is one thing that CrossFit instills in you, Morris says, “there is no substitute for hard work.”
Morris has improved each week of the 2012 Open. He took 264th in the region on 12.1, 112th on 12.2, and 58th on 12.3. Heading into 12.4, Morris is ranked 62nd in the North East. The top 60 qualify for Regionals, so he's within striking distance of his goal.
Stats
Age: 21
Affiliate: CrossFit Stony Brook
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 195
Deadlift: 445
Squat: 385
Front Squat: 315
Fran: 2:40
Grace: 2:09
Murph: 27:32
Sprint 400m: 0:57
Run 5k: 19:31
Clean and jerk: 245
Snatch: 185
Max Pull-ups: 55