Close races and another world record in NorCal.
As athletes entered the arena at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in San Jose, Calif., on another beautiful sunny morning, relief and eager anticipation were the themes. Athlete after athlete expressed their relief that Event 2 was done, but there were just as many who expressed some dread for one of today’s events. The broad mix of work with the relatively quick Event 3, requiring a mix of strength and skill, and then the long grueling mass of work in Event 4 hung over each athlete.
Team
In the first heat of the team competition, the men from Team CFP, LaLanne Fitness and Humboldt CrossFit were the first to finish round 1, but the women of CrossFit Solano and NorCal CrossFit surged ahead to put their teams in the lead. By the third round, NorCal increased their lead and won the heat in 7:17.
In Heat 2, CrossFit Cadence and Tamalpais CrossFit were the early leaders and fought neck and neck for the first two rounds, until Tamalpais' Meshelle Mifsud dominated the snatches to put her team into the lead. They never looked back, flying through the dumbbell snatches and setting a new world record at 4:45.
The teams of Heat 3 were fired up after hearing about the world record set in the previous heat; they knew they were coming into this event with a three-way tie for the leading score of 5 points. From beginning to end, it was a close race between Diablo CrossFit Anejo and CrossFit 808, with both male and female athletes of the teams making the heavy dumbbell snatches look easy.
In the end it was Diablo CrossFit Anejo who won the heat in 4:56. Both DCF Anejo competitors came into this event psyched; yet knowing it would be a burner and that they “just needed to get it done.”
CJ Martin, coach of Team 808, came today knowing the 808 women would crush the snatches in this event, and this proved true with the CrossFit 808 finish in second at 5:15, moving them to 1st place overall.
Event 3
1. Tamalpais CrossFit 4:45 (WR)
2. Diablo CrossFit Anejo 4:56
3. CrossFit 808 5:15
Overall
1. CrossFit 808 (8 pts)
2. Diablo CrossFit Anejo (9 pts)
3. Rocklin CrossFit Honey Badgers (15 pts)
Men
The men of NorCal faced the 100-pound dumbbells and sprints as the temperature on the field rose. For some this event would play right to their strengths – a heavy, quick workout and for others this would be the workout that tested their fortitude.
In Heat 1 most of the men came out strong, but few were able to maintain their pace through the whole workout. This heat demonstrated well what would be the standard for the event. Brendon Mahoney and Victor Dowell moved ahead of the pack and battled neck and neck all the way to a photo finish with both men diving and tumbling in for the final dumbbell tag, finishing in 5:26.
As Heat 3 began, the men charged into this workout, and it was clear from the first round of dumbbell snatches that there were men in this heat determined to win it. With barely time for an extra breath, even amongst the heavy snatches and sprints, big-man Shaun Eagan of CrossFit Lifeworx came out early as the man to beat. He knew going into this heat that the key would be to “drive, focus and breathe.” With his impressive strength base, Eagan seemed to have little trouble with this workout, completing it in just 4:00.
Even before the start sounded in Heat 4, the crowd was on their feet, knowing the next couple of minutes would be CrossFit history in the making. Jason Khaplia and Neal Maddox both clearly dominated the 100-pound snatches, seemingly not phased by even one rep. Both men blazed through the lifts, leaving them time to recover and almost jog on the sprints. During this fast and riveting match-up, the field was surprised by the work of Garrett Fischer, NorCal CrossFit, who stayed right behind the two leaders during the first two rounds. Khalipa was no-repped on a few snatches due to not locking out, and this seemed to give Maddox the chance to pull just ahead.
Maddox never gave up this lead and broke Dan Bailey’s previous world record with a time of 3:18. Khalipa finished seconds later at 3:24, and the battle for No. 1 continues between friends and training partners.
Garret Fisher was unable to keep up his pace during the final round, but he fought hard until the end with an impressive finish in 4:05.
Maddox called this event early this morning, saying that he was “ready to make it happen,” and with his incredible focus and determination he did just that.
Event 3
1. Neal Maddox 3:18
2. Jason Khaplia 3:24
3. Shaun Eagen 4:00
Overall
1. Neal Maddox (4 pts)
2. Jason Khalips (5 pts)
3. Blair Morrison (25 pts)
Women
The women of Heat 1 struggled with this imposing dumbbell, but each and everyone fought to the end, with several fighting for to complete the first round and retain their place in the competition. This heat also took out several women due to the weight and an injury.
One of the surprising strong finishes here was Casilia Loessberg with a time of 6:19 and a 6th place finish in the event. Even Loessberg herself was shocked with her performance here. She has only been CrossFitting for seven months, and will be leaving in just one week for active duty service with the Marines, and she sees this weekend
as her last big hurrah at home.
Heat 2 was led from start to finish by Anh Vu, with rousing support from the CrossFit 101 cheering section, and she took 1st in her heat with 6:33. Kelly Edelmann stayed close and consistent the whole time with a strong finish in 6:47. The new crowd favorite Lauren Fisher, finished in 7:34.
The top women took the field for their first event of the day in Heat 3, with some excited for this event and some just eager for it to be behind them. With some of these women moving more than half their body weight overhead with just one arm, this is tough no matter who you are.
The snatch was clearly a struggle for some of the women in this event, but the heart and soul of the competitors were seen again, especially as Jackie Perez of CrossFit CSA struggled to finish and every woman stayed on the field not just cheering her on, but also truly pulling for her to finish in the time cap.
Sarah Hopping, Jenny LaBaw, and Miranda Oldroyd came out early and stayed at the front, battling for the top finishes. Hopping pulled ahead in the 3rd round of snatches, and LaBaw and Oldroyd clearly battled with absolutely every last bit of strength and effort. Hopping demonstrated her strength and skill, pulling finishing 1st in 4:40, significantly ahead of the rest of the field. Oldroyd pushed for 2nd place in 5:06, knowing that above all else she did not want to end this event in a foot race with LaBaw. LaBaw took 3rd overall with 5:37. Candace Hamilton Hester is proving her strength and consistency with a 4th place finish here in 5:37, moving her into the top three overall.
Event 3
1. Sarah Hopping 4:41
2. Miranda Oldroyd 5:06
3. Jenny LaBaw 5:20
Overall
1. Jenny LaBaw (12 pts)
2. Candace Hamilton Hester (13 pts)
3. Annie Sakamoto (15 pts)
