East Valley CrossFit, NoCoast CrossFit, and BackCountry Black hold the top three spots after Day 1.
Anticipation and excitement radiated from the athletes this morning.
After weeks of waiting and watching the other regions complete the 2014 Regional Events, the South West Region finally had its chance on the competition floor.
With many top competitors shifting between the team and individual competitions, the field looks different than in past years. Hack’s Pack is gone, leaving the race for the top three spots wide open.
Team Event 1
It all started with muscle-ups and clean and jerks.
The relatively tough gymnastics movement quickly showed which teams are proficient in gymnastics movements, and which teams may suffer this weekend.
Only 12 teams completed all of the work within the time-cap, and many teams had to advance an athlete after three failed reps which forced them to get a score of the time cap (16:00) plus one second for all uncompleted reps.
Muscle-ups weren’t a problem for many of the men, who in many cases did their work unbroken, but muscle-ups challenged many of the women. The women’s skill and endurance with muscle-ups determined the fate of their team.
Some teams, like CrossFit Max Effort, CrossFit the Club, and Ute CrossFit started off strong but slowed when their later team members struggled with their muscle-ups and either fell behind, or were time-capped. None of them finished within the time cap.
The top teams on this event finished well within the time cap. BackCounty Black got off to a strong start, but slowed allowing East Valley CrossFit to blaze past them for the win in 7:56.
“We are all strong at muscle-ups, but the speed really came in the clean and jerk. We knew we had to get the 12 and 9 sets unbroken, “ East Valley CrossFit teammate Melissa Einbeinder said.
NoCoast CrossFit and BackCountry Black followed nearly three minutes after East Valley CrossFit, but were just six seconds apart. NoCoast’s last teammate reached the finish mat in 10:43, and BackCountry Black followed in 10:49.
BackCountry Black’s score put them just one second ahead of Front Range CrossFit, which had dominated Heat 2 with a time of 10:50.
“We were really looking forward to this event because it has a lot of most of our strengths,” said Leah Hosburgh, NoCoast teammate. “On the muscle-ups we got through as quick as we could and then just ripped it on the clean and jerks. The triceps were definitely burning a little on the barbell.”
Unlike most of the other teams, BackCountry Black found that this event was “all about the muscle-ups,” according to their team competitor, Chris Dozois.
“We put our best muscle-up (athletes) from beginning to last to give them the most time. All our men went unbroken on the clean and jerks and our women were as close to two or three sets,” Dozois said.
Team Event 1
1. East Valley CrossFit (7:56)
2. NoCoast CrossFit (10:43)
3. BackCountry Black (10:49)
Team Events 2 & 3
The biggest lift of the day belonged to Adam Awaa on team Mile High CrossFit, with a 280-lb. hang squat snatch.
Cassidy Duffield of team Salt Lake City lifted the most weight of any female team competitor at the regional, with a 175-lb. lift.
The top teams were only 10-30 pounds apart, so any small mistakes resulting in missed lifts could knock them down a few spots.
Salt Lake City CrossFit’s women continued putting up big numbers, landing them in first place with a 1160-lb. total. Despite an impressive performance, the team was glad to be done for the day.
“The team all has pretty solid starting numbers so we hit our openers then risked it on the second one. We are glad to get day one over and excited for day two and three,” said Salt Lake City CrossFit’s Dana Howell.
Bomb Squad also had very strong women, one of which snatched 150 lb. They finished the event just 30 lb. behind Salt Lake City with a 1130-lb. total.
CrossFit Utah Valley’s men carried them into third, with one man snatching 275 lb.
East Valley CrossFit suffered when three of their athletes missed their second attempt, and finished in fourth with a 1100-lb. total.
Two minutes after the hang squat snatches, the teammates kicked into handstands one by one for a max distance handstand walk in one minute. With six teammates walking a maximum of 120 feet, a perfect score would be 720 feet.
CrossFit the Club, East Valley CrossFit, and CrossFit Verve all topped 500 feet on the handstand walk total.
With a 555-foot total, The Club won the event. East Valley and Verve were almost evenly matched with just a five-foot difference between their two totals. With 520 feet, East Valley edged out Verve for second on the event.
Team Event 2
1. Salt Lake City CrossFit (1160)
2. Bomb Squad (1130)
3. CrossFit Utah (1110)
Team Event 3
1. CrossFit the Club (555)
2. East Valley CrossFit (520)
3. CrossFit Verve (510)