Regional Report: Double-Unders Make The Difference

May 13, 2012

Manuela Echeverri

"To see someone do something they really struggle with and succeed is amazing."

Day 3 is finally upon us and all the athletes left standing know today is the last chance they will get to shine in Cali, Colombia.

The day started with the Snatch Ladder. In the world of CrossFit watching someone PR their snatch is as exciting as watching someone get their first muscle-up, and the crowd was ready to witness greatness.

The women from the four teams left standing took the field and early on in the Snatch Ladder it became evident few competitors would be able to advance past several stations. When Jenn Chailler of CrossFit 7 Mile stepped up to the 105lb. barbell and successfully completed the lift, her teammates went crazy, as this was a PR for her.

By the time 130lb. came along, only one athlete was left standing and from here on it became the Schmarrah McCarthy show. McCarthy, of Team CrossFit 7 Mile, power-snatched her way up to 155lb. and the crowd couldn’t stop cheering every time she completed a lift. After failing at 160, McCarthy looked happy and her teammates immediately surrounded her to congratulate her. As McCarthy walked out of the area, a big group of fans approached her to congratulate her and have her picture taken with her.

McCarthy was very happy about her performance but even more excited about Chailler´s PR. “To see someone do something they really struggle with and succeed is amazing,” McCarthy says. “[Jenn Chailler] has amazing conditioning and I don´t. Jenn cheers for me when I do burpees, so to see her PR her snatch makes me very happy.”

As the male athletes from the teams took the field, Team CrossFit 7 Mile already had a significant lead over the other teams after the females snatched. Chris Spigner was the last male from CrossFit 7 Mile left standing and was able to successfully lift 225lb. Matthew Barnett from CrossFit Cayman was able to snatch 235lb., but it wasn´t enough to make up for the point differential. With this, CrossFit 7 Mile wins Event 5 with a combined score of 960.

Event 5 Standings
1st Place: CrossFit 7 Mile (960)
2nd Place: CrossFit Cayman (855)
3rd Place: CrossFit Guayaquil (755)

Overall Standings
1st Place: CrossFit 7 Mile (5)
2nd Place: CrossFit Cayman (11)
3rd Place: CrossFit Guayaquil (15)

Tarasa Barnett from CrossFit Cayman is the only individual female athlete left in competition and she completed a 125lb. snatch. In a few hours, Event 6 will determine if she will gain her ticket to the CrossFit Games this summer for the second year in a row.

As the individual men took the field for Event 5 the crowd grew as many spectators wondered if any athlete would be able to top Matthew Barnett´s 235lb. snatch.

In Heat 1, Doug Oberbeck lifted 195lb. and completed 12 double-unders, but his lead would be short lived as Alvaro Lopez on Heat 2 would also lift 195lb., but outscored Oberbeck by completing 27 double-unders. Christian Aguirre, Erik Hamilton, Chris Irwin and Evan Yoak all lifted 185lb., but it would be Yoak who would take the 6th place overall in the event after completing 41 double-unders.

Heat 3 brought to the floor the top three athletes from the Leaderboard. Conor Murphy got the crowd going as he stretched wearing beige “booty shorts.” Murphy snatched 205lb., and completed 18 double-unders, which secured him a 3rd place in the event.

Soon the only two competitors left standing were Orlando Trejo and Giancarlo Vera Ochoa, who comfortably made their way through the snatch ladder. By the time Vera lifted 235lb., the crowd went wild, as 225lb. was his former PR. Both athletes were able to lift 245lb. after much struggle but none of them were able to snatch 255.

In dramatic fashion, both athletes attempted to get some double-unders in as the time expired, Trejo got five and Vera, seven. Those two extra double-unders gave Giancarlo a 1st place on Event 5, however, the Leaderboard remains the same.

Event 5 Standings
1st Place: Giancarlo Vera  Ochoa (245.07)
2nd Place: Orlando Trejo (245.05)
3rd Place: Connor Murphy (205.18)

Overall Standings
1st Place: Orlando Trejo (7)
2nd Place: Giancarlo Vera (18) 
3rd Place: Connor Murphy (27)