Regional Report: North West Sends Brost, Hanson to the Games

May 27, 2012

Robin Runyan, Carla Conrad and Wendy Wilson

After a brutal weekend full of snatches, squats and strength, the athletes had to prove their worth with a series of deadlifts, muscle-ups, toes-to-bars, wall balls, farmer carries and burpee box jumps.

The three teams, men and women going to the CrossFit Games were determined Sunday afternoon in Puyallup, Wash. After a brutal weekend full of snatches, squats and strength, the athletes had to prove their worth with a series of deadlifts, muscle-ups, toes-to-bar, wall balls, farmer carries and burpee box jumps. The toll of the weekend showed on the athletes, but the crowd cheered them on to the finish.

Team
 
The top 12 teams poised themselves behind their bars at 3, 2, 1 … Go! bursting into the final event of the North West Regionals. With the final three positions on the podium still not clearly decided going into this final event, CrossFit Fort Vancouver and CrossFit Intensify were vying for the top spot. On their heels, CrossFit Coeur d’Alene, CrossFit Spokane Valley and Jet City CrossFit were pressing hard to be standing on the podium with them at the end of the day.
 
The men began with the 20 muscle-ups, while a team member held the 225-pound barbell, then to the 60 wall balls while partners did their bar hangs. The first team off the rack headed across the floor with their farmer buddy carry was CrossFit Spokane Valley, then Jet City CrossFit and followed shortly by CrossFit Fort Vancouver. CrossFit Coeur d’Alene struggled with the bar hang/wall ball combo. CrossFit Fort Vancouver was the first team back to the rack and into the rings for muscle-ups.
 
The women of CrossFit Fort Vancouver moved out in front, quickly through their muscle-ups, wall balls/bar hangs and first to the box jumps, where they were the only team there for several minutes. However, CrossFit Intensify regained time with fast box jumps and closely followed CrossFit Fort Vancouver back to the rack, pursued by CrossFit Spokane Valley. 
 
CrossFit Intensify overtook the clock by knocking out their remaining muscle-ups and took first with a time of 14:49. The final muscle-ups intensified as CrossFit Spokane Valley pushed past CrossFit Fort Vancouver with a final time of 15:25. The crowd continued to cheer and callout for teams as they pushed to meet the time cap, electrifying the venue and rounding out the team events to the final buzzer
 
Team Event 6 Results
1 CrossFit Intensify (14:49) 
2 Spokane Valley (15:25)
3 CrossFit Fort Vancouver (19:37)
 
Overall Standings
1 CrossFit Intensify (11 points)
2 CrossFit Fort Vancouver (13 points) 
3 Spokane Valley (29 points)
 
Women
 
The final event truly challenged these competitors – including the top women in the North West, as not one completed the entire workout.
 
But what was notable was the raging cheers from the crowd along the complex of racks as the women struggled with the muscle-ups. The final 18 athletes drew energy from the excitement as the fans rooted them on.
 
In the first heat, Andrea Roozen of CrossFit Pearl District led the women the entire 17 minutes. Relative to the other athletes in the heat, she made the dreaded muscle-ups look effortless. Samantha Snyder of CrossFit Refinery stayed close behind. The crowd cheered on Carleen Lessard of CrossFit X-Factor as she attempted to pull herself up with the rings. In the end, Roozen completed her third round of the wall ball and toes-to-bar couplet and hefted the two 70-pound dumbbells to the plyo boxes before time ran out.
 
In the second heat, the fierce determination showed as the women glared at the rings. As with the first heat’s competitors, these women struggled with the muscle-ups, but the crowds yelled with support when the underdogs pulled themselves up for reps. Emily Carothers of Maple Valley CrossFit dominated the heat, while Jenna Gracey of CrossFit Industrious battled her for the lead for the entire event. In the end, none of the women were able to make it into the farmer carry and burpee box jumps.
 
The third and final heat featured the top women – but not before a special appearance by Ashleigh Moe, the former leading woman who had to bow out due to an ankle injury. She called out the 3, 2, 1 … Go! 
 
For the entire round, top woman Cheryl Brost of Eugene CrossFit and second place Samantha Petersen of CrossFit Whidbey Island stayed neck-and-neck. Petersen led through the majority of the competition, with Brost right behind her. They both struggled but succeeded through the muscle-ups and deadlifts, grinded through the wall balls and toes-to-bar, and carried the dumbbells down the concourse. Petersen walked briskly down the field while Brost let the dumbbells slip through her hands halfway through. 
 
Both Brost and Petersen made it to the burpee box jumps and started powering through them. Brost’s strategy was to stay in a squat as she jumped up and off, while Petersen jumped and stood up, costing her precious time. When the 17-minute mark hit, both women had completed 28 burpee box jumps. The No. 1 and No. 2 women embraced after the grueling workout. 
 
Women Event 6 Results
1T. Cheryl Brost: 17:04 
1T. Samantha Petersen: 17:04
3T. Emily Carothers: 17:33 
3T. Andrea Roozen: 17:33
 
Overall Standings
1. Cheryl Brost (18 points)
2. Samantha Petersen (19 points)
3. Allison King (44 points) 
 
Men
 
The final event of the 2012 CrossFit Games Regionals was a test of grip strength as well as physical and mental stamina. In the first heat, only one man nearly finished in the 17-minute time limit. 
 
The crowd cheered as Connor Nelson from CrossFit X made it back to the bar for one final muscle-up. The second heat saw two men finish the workout. Ryan Swobody from CrossFit Marysville steadily moved through the deadlifts, muscle-ups, wall balls and toes to bar and jumped over the box for most of his burpee box jumps. Swobody finished first in the heat in 16:08 and Bill Pappas from Lane 5 CrossFit finished in 16:31. 
 
The final heat would determine who would make it to the CrossFit Games in July. Last year’s North West champion Jesse Disch led for most of the heat, with Kevin Simons right behind him. Disch and Simons were the first to the farmer carry, with Apollo Lewis close behind. 
 
As the other men made their way across the floor with the 100-pound dumbbells, Lewis kept a steady pace with his burpee box jumps and was the first back across the floor and quickly jumped to the rings for his first muscle-up. With the encouragement of the crowd, he jumped back up and repped out two more muscle-ups, winning the event with a time of 15:54. 
 
Simons followed close, finishing at 16:03. Disch finished third in the heat with 16:13. Yurii Hanson, who quietly finished near the top all weekend, finished at 16:33 and rose to the top of the overall men’s Leaderboard. 
 
Representing the Northwest in the CrossFit Games for the men will be Yurii Hanson from CrossFit Billings, Kevin Simons from CrossFit Basic and Austin Stack from CrossFit The Den.
 
Men’s Event 6 Results
1. Apollo Lewis 15:54
2. Kevin Simons 16:03
3. Ryan Swobody 16:08
 
Overall  Standings
1. Yurii Hanson (33 points)
2. Kevin Simons (34 points)
3. Austin Stack (36 points)