During the four days after the announcement, men from around the world chased Spealler’s score of 110 reps. Remarkably, 28 men from North Central were able to beat the legend.
Four hours before the Live Announcement of Open Workout 13.4, fans started to line up in the snow-covered parking lot of CrossFit TNT in St. Charles, Mo. Unfazed by the cold, they waited for a chance to see six-time CrossFit Games competitor Chris Spealler go head-to-head with 2010 CrossFit Games champion, Graham Holmberg.
Standing in line, you could hear people talking about the last three workouts, their scores, what they could have done better and their hopes for 13.4. But at 7 p.m. CT, the speculation was brought to a halt when Dave Castro announced a seven-minute, ascending ladder of clean and jerks and toes-to-bars.
Inside the brightly lit inner ring, the two men started the workout.
At first, Holmberg was in the lead, but Speal got ahead with efficient push jerks and fast toes-to-bars. By the time the clock hit seven minutes, Spealler had tallied 110 reps while Holmberg fell eight reps short at 102 reps.
That means Spealler did Grace twice plus 47 toes-to-bars. Not bad for seven minutes of work.
Let’s check out what North Central brought to 13.4.
Men
During the four days after the announcement, men from around the world chased Spealler’s score of 110 reps. Remarkably, 28 men from North Central were able to beat the legend.
Ian Barnhouse, a firefighter, EMT and co-owner of CrossFit Philia, turned in the top score in the region with 125 reps. Barnhouse was a Division 1 swimmer and rugby player at the University of Northern Iowa before working as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He went on to work as head strength and conditioning coach for NFL Europe’s Rhein Fire and the XFL’s Orlando Rage before settling into CrossFit four years ago.
Garry Martin the second is second yet again. With a score of 123 reps, he took second in North Central on 13.4 (he took second on 13.3, too). The former University of South Carolina track and field decathlete schedules his rest days when he is on call for his residency as a plastic and reconstructive surgeon. Soon, Martin will undertake an additional year of specialized training in hand and micro-vascular surgery.
“Sometimes I have to tailor my workout to cases I have coming up, i.e. a toasted grip/arms make for a shaky hand in the OR for micro vascular cases,” Martin says. “13.4 was deceptively tough, so I just stuck to the plan. I do toes-to-bar with a mixed grip, which I feel helped save my forearms a little throughout the workout.”
Brice Collier and Macy Mitchell tied for third with 122 reps. Collier, the co-owner of CrossFit Koda, is new to North Central, but not to CrossFit competition. Last year, he took first in the Asia Region during the Open and went on to take third at the 2012 Asia Regional. As a U.S. Air Force Logistics Officer, Collier keeps packing his bags and competing in new regions as he’s moved around the globe.
Brandon Pastorek and Andreas Janzen tied for fifth with 120 reps.
After four weeks of competition, Justin Allen is in first overall. Allen scored 119 reps in 13.4 and characterized the workout as a “grip tester.”
“I loved the (workout),” Allen says. “My approach was to not gas out on the clean and jerks and save my grip as much as possible to get the toes-to-bars unbroken. After seeing the top score, I wish I would have gotten to do it again.”
Newcomer Garry Martin II is in second overall, and Joshua Page, the 24-year-old owner of Reckless CrossFit is in third overall. Surprisingly, Kyle Kasperbauer is cruising along in the middle of the pack. Over the last week, he dropped from 18th to 23rd overall. Former Games competitor, Phillip Kniep, has gotten closer to the bubble as he has moved down from 31st to 38th overall.
Women
At the last minute, Stacie Tovar’s score appeared on the North Central Leaderboard — at the top. The multi-year CrossFit Games competitor finished 107 reps, and surpassed Elisabeth Akinwale by just one rep (106 reps, second) and surpassed Deb Cordner Carson by two reps (105 reps, third).
Newcomer, Madison Freeman, was able to break into the Games-competitors’ hold on the top three, tying Deb Cordner Carson for third with 105 reps.
To get fifth, your name needed to be Kristin. Kristin King, Kristen Rosenau and Kristin Miller tied for fifth with 104 reps.
After four weeks of competition, Deborah Cordner Carson leads in first place, followed by Elisabeth Akinwale in second and Stacie Tovar in third, overall.
Teams
CrossFit 515 and CrossFit Bellator tied for first on 13.4 with a cumulative score of 623 points. All but one of the teammates from CrossFit 515 turned in a score of 100 reps or higher. Two teammates from CrossFit Bellator finished under the 100-rep mark, but Allen was able to make up the difference with a score of 119 reps.
The third-ranked man on 13.4, Mitchell, helped bump CrossFit Springfield into fifth by contributing his 122 reps to the team total. He and his teammates say that the community has helped cheer them to top performances.
“CrossFit Springfield's members have all been extremely enthusiastic and supportive from week to week with many people staying after the group (workouts) to cheer on our Open competitors,” Jeremy Mhire, CrossFit Springfield teammate and co-owner, says.
“This extremely positive and competitive energy has created an environment which has fueled our Open athletes to perform at their absolute best. Without question, the entire community here at CrossFit Springfield has contributed to the success of our team.”
After four weeks of competition, CrossFit 515 is in first (13 points), CrossFit Kilo is in second (15 points), and CrossFit Bellator is in third (17 points). CrossFit Lincoln holds 30th place with 126 points, but other teams aren’t far behind. CrossFit Amplify is on their heels in 31st place with 130 points. With one workout left, a lot can change for the teams on the bubble.
Masters
Only the 20 fittest athletes from each Masters Division will be invited to the Games. It’s a worldwide competition with a direct shoot from the Open to the Games.
Several Masters-aged athletes from North Central have made it into those few spots. If they can hold onto the top-20 worldwide for another week, they will represent our region at the highest level of competition.
Krista Colson (CrossFit Rockford) is tied for 15th place in the Women’s 40-44 Division, and 34th in the Individual Division. If she stays on track, she will qualify for the Masters Competition at the Games and the Individual Competition at the 2013 North Central Regional.
Amy Kelly (CrossFit 540) is 18th in the same Division.
45-49 Men
Frank Colavita (CrossFit Greendale) continues to hold strong to third place in the Men’s 45-49 Division, with Brent Colson is in fifth.
Clift Cox (CrossFit Springfield) is just inside the bubble in 19th.
Ingrid Hurley (CrossFit St. Charles) is in 14th place for women 45-49, while Karen Wilson of CrossFit Ice holds the last Games position in 20th place. She will have to give her best in the next workout to assure that she stays in the top 20.
For Women 50-54, Theresa Rosenquist (CrossFit Aplleton, known as the WODMother, is in 19 place in her division.
In the 55-59 Division, CrossFit NWA’s Denny Hawkins has made a powerful showing, placing second overall.
For the Women 55-59, Patty Failla (CrossFit Fit Farm) and Shelley Noyce (CrossFit 515) are neck-and-neck, placing seventh and eighth, respectively.
For the 60+ Division, Ken Woolfenden (CrossFit Springfield) is in 10th. William Parton, of CrossFit Priority, is tied for the 11th. CrossFit Enhance’s, Lance Schaefer, is in 18th place.
On the women’s side of the same age division, three women from North Central hold onto spots in the top 10. Cindi Little, of CrossFit Springfield, is tied for sixth. CrossFit Rockford’s, Andrea Woodyatt, holds the eighth place, and Rhonda Pierce, also from CrossFit Rockford enters the last week of the Open in 10th place.
