South Central Team Report: Day 2

May 24, 2014

Lauryn Lax

After a day spent testing skill and technique, teams arrived to the Freeman Coliseum ready to prove strength and endurance on Day 2.

After a day spent testing skill and technique, teams arrived to the Freeman Coliseum ready to prove strength and endurance on Day 2.

 


 

 

After a day spent testing skill and technique, teams arrived to the Freeman Coliseum ready to prove strength and endurance on Day 2.

Athletes know in this sport, any event can shake up the Leaderboard, and with the first-day nerves out of the way, teams members seemed more relaxed and determined as they entered the arena floor.

Seven points separated Friday’s first place leaders, CrossFit Central Downtown Black from #TeamDensity of CrossFit OverTake leading into the morning events. Fans from CrossFit Central in Austin, Texas, poured into the arena wearing red T-shirts with the double Cs cheer their team.

“There’s a ton of energy. It’s been a ton of fun,” said Chad Fisher, a spectator from CrossFit Central. “We all rode down here separately, but are staying at the same hotel and are here all day to watch the team and our two individuals compete.”

Other team contenders were hungry to fight their way up the Leaderboard, and screams and shouts could be heard throughout the arena all morning from spectators giving teams an extra boost of support.

Team Events 4 and 5

The infamous thruster made its way to the event lineup Saturday morning with team members sharing the work. Fifty thrusters at 135/95 lb., followed by 10 rope climbs, 40 thrusters and 8 rope climbs and finally, 30 thrusters and 6 rope climbs.

Events 4 and 5 were separated by gender. Women performed Event 4 and men performed Event. 5.

The 10-minute event was a test of not only strength and power, but also teams’ ability to communicate and work together.

Strategies ranged from team to team.

“Yesterday was the worst possible case scenario, since two of our guys missed their lifts and muscle-ups did not go well for me,” said Lindsey Guelde of Team CrossFit Austin 1, “but we came into today knowing we wanted to make a run for the next two heats, and it went really well. We had practiced that workout with even heavier weight, so it felt good out there. And we communicate really well, so we were able to use that strength.”

“The guys did sets of 10, the girls did a little less,” said Greg Gossett of CrossFit EaDo on the team’s strategy. “Then for the rope climbs, the guys did singles, and the girls did 2-1-1, 2-1-1, and so on.”  

Team CrossFit Kemah prepared for this event by practicing—a lot.

“We practiced it three times before today,” said team member Michael Pugh. “And the girls did sets where we divided the workout up so we each went twice, sets of nine, or sets of eight. The guys aimed to go for bigger sets, and then when it hit the set of 40s, they broke it up just when they got tired—in about sets of six or seven. Communication was huge, but we communicate really well, so we felt like the workout went really well.”

During the women’s final heat, it was a race among the women of CrossFit EaDo, CrossFit Katy, CrossFit Central Downtown Black, Team Ballistic and #Team Density as the women were neck-and-neck.

With the goal of getting into a top-three spot after a 19th-place finish at the 2013 South Central Regional, the women of CrossFit EaDo came out on top in 8:53.

“We have a rope climbing ‘spider,’ Rosalyn (Adkinson)—a former volleyball player,” Gossett said of his teammate. “She can go up and down twice in the time it usually takes to climb up once.”

The women of Skyline CrossFit struggled through the heavy thrusters, missing out on their last full set of rope climbs at the buzzer.

Event 5 immediately began when 10 minutes was up on Event 4.  

As Event 5 started, the MCs reminded everyone: “It’s not how you start the race, but how you finish the race.”

The men of Skyline CrossFit took this to heart as they fought to redeem the women’s 21st-place finish in Event 4, taking second with a time of 7:40.

The men of CrossFit Katy logged the top time with 7:30, an event record of the morning for the South Central.

“We knew what our plan was throughout both events and we wanted to stick with it,” said team member Chad Morales. “Our goal was to make our transitions as fast as we could, and it didn’t really matter what other people were doing, we were just going to stick with what we know.”  

At the end of the event CrossFit Katy moved to the No. 2 spot, while CrossFit Central Downtown Black remained in first with a four-point lead. CrossFit Katy team members were all smiles in their neon pink shirts and white shorts, happy to not only move up the Leaderboard, but also happy to honor one of their team members.

“Madeline (Felio) was supposed to be getting married today! But when we asked her to be part of the team in January, she moved her wedding date for us,” said teammate Leah Kay. “We are wearing white shorts just for her, and had these team shirts made. The back of hers says ‘Moore,’ her married name.”

“I honestly didn’t think I would be here today competing on this team, so when they asked me to join, I couldn’t turn the opportunity down, and everything actually worked out great. My fiancée is my biggest supporter, and I am actually getting married in two weeks. This is my first Regional and it’s been a blast,” Felio said.

Team Event 4 Results
1. CrossFit EaDo
2. CrossFit Cedar Park
3. #TeamDensity

Team Event 5 Results
1. CrossFit Katy
2. Skyline CrossFit
3. CrossFit Big D

Team Event 6

Team Event 6 included strict handstand push-ups. There was plenty of shaking out the arms between the transitions from burpees to handstand push-ups as shoulders took a beating.

The body weight, upper-body strength ninjas on each team were the first to go for the majority of teams, first all three men, followed by all three women. Many of the men approached the wall with confidence, able to push through multiple reps at a time.

“Our guys were able to go all unbroken on the handstand push-ups, and one of our girls was too,” said Chase Ingraham of CrossFit Big D. “The other two girls we intentionally had go last, and the goal was just for them to get through as many reps as they could. They were able to do them, just one at a time.”

After a second-place finish in Event 4, CrossFit Cedar Park used renewed momentum to move through their handstand push-ups, power cleans and burpees quickly, finishing in 21:28, to move up to one spot outside the top 10 at the end of the day.  

It was a tight race among CrossFit Katy, #TeamDensity and Team Ballistic when the men of the final heat began the event. When it was time for the women to go, Team Ballistic took the lead.

The final woman on the wall completed her handstand push-ups unbroken, finishing the event for the team in 16:45—the third fastest time in the world according to MC Larry Moss.

“(Our strategy was) just one person at a time,” said Ryan Bielefeldt of Team Ballistic. “Don’t get out of sorts, do not get distracted. If you hit muscle failure, just take a step back and just go. And once that memento goes, there’s no stopping.”

The handstand push-ups proved to be the separator amongst the women, and the women of CrossFit Central proficiently muscled through each rep after having practiced for only the past three weeks.

The final athlete of the team, Ingrid Kantola, was the secret weapon, coming off the wall once during the set of six, but kicking right back up, securing the second fastest time of the day (17:54).  

“We all knew that we could do our first 9 (handstand push-ups) unbroken, split the sixes into three and three, and do three unbroken at the end,” Kantola said of the team’s strategy. “I was the only one who deviated from the plan because my six felt good, so I went 4 and 2. That was our plan. We stuck to it, and had no misses.”

Team Event 6 Results
1. Team Ballistic
2. CrossFit Central Downtown Black
3. CrossFit Katy

Overall Standings
1. CrossFit Central Downtown Black (18)
2. Team Ballistic (32)
3. CrossFit Katy (34)
4. #TeamDensity (34)
5. CrossFit EaDo (49)
6. Skyline CrossFit (51)
7. Pillar CrossFit (58)
8. Get Lifted (65)
9. CrossFit Big D (65)
10. CrossFit Abilene (61)