We’re down to the final week of Open competition. Many athletes around the North West are hoping for one big final score to help push them into a qualifying spot. It’s sure to be a week of great elation and celebration for some and total devastation for others.
Around the globe, everybody has been waiting for the return of the seven-minute, ascending ladder workout for the 2013 Open. Many predicted that with Kristan Clever and Talayna Fortunato going head-to-head on 13.3, it would be a three-peat for the Fran Ladder, which first appeared as 11.6 and then again as 12.5.
When that didn’t happen, all eyes turned to 13.4, which pitted Chris Spealler against Graham Holmberg. Well, we did see the seven-minute ascending ladder, but it came in a different form for 2013 — clean and jerks and toes-to-bars.
Some in the North West appear to be rather comfortable in their current spots while others are fighting to stay off the bubble. Here’s where the athletes and teams of the North West find themselves with one week remaining in the first phase of the 2013 Reebok CrossFit Games season.
Men
A new name appears in the overall top three for the North West this week. Adam Neiffer, owner of CrossFit Fort Vancouver and stalwart on the perennial powerhouse affiliate team, has made a steady climb up the Leaderboard. He began the Open in 37th place and has moved up each week to now occupy third.
Ben Stoneberg remains at the top of the Regional Leaderboard for the second week. The CrossFit Intensify coach and athlete has dominated the North West Region this year, never placing any lower than fourth in the overall standings. Apollo Lewis has been another consistent name near the top of the Regional standings. Lewis jumped back into second place after week four. He has been in the top three for three out of the four weeks.
CrossFit Basic’s Kevin Simons posted the top score in 13.4 for the North West with 119 reps, just seven reps behind the top score in the world. In total, 143 men in the region posted scores over 100 reps.
Women
There is just no shaking up the women’s top three in this region. Emily Carothers, Ashleigh Moe and Rory Zambard seem to have a death grip on the top three spots. They have occupied them for three out of the four weeks and Zambard continues to be the only woman to hold the No. 3 position this year. Carothers and Moe have been going back and forth between first and second for three weeks.
Carothers' jump back into the No. 1 position was bolstered by her score of 113 reps on 13.4, which was the top women’s score in the region. The next highest score was eight reps back at 105, which was attained by both Marissa Luchau and Roselle Fryberg.
Team
The top three teams in the North West remain the same from week three. CrossFit Intensify’s Team A sits atop the Leaderboard again, having yielded that position only once in week one to CrossFit Fort Vancouver.
The Fort Vancouver team had the highest score on 13.4 in the region with 612 total reps. Five of the top six athletes from the Vancouver, Wash., based team had individual scores of more than 100 reps.
On the worldwide scene Intensify Team A and Fort Vancouver are in 14th and 15th, respectively. Not to be out-shined in the consistency department, CrossFit X-Factor is in third place after week four. You could call CrossFit X-Factor the Rory Zambard of the Team competition as they have occupied the third place ranking every week thus far.
Masters
While the Open competitors and Teams are battling for invitations to the ShoWare Center for Regionals, the Masters are looking to punch their tickets straight to the Games. Many of the top Masters athletes in the region seem to be pretty well placed to do just that, while a handful of others find themselves on the bubble. Only the top 20 athletes worldwide in each of the five divisions will earn those slots at the Games. Here are the North West athletes who, after four weeks of competition, find themselves in precarious positions on the worldwide Leaderboard.
Ken Idler, of FallOut CrossFit, has posted consistently improving placings in the Men’s 50-54 Division and now sits in 20th place in the world. He’ll need one more consistent week to guarantee that spot to the Games.
Another steady climber on the Men’s Masters Leaderboard has been CrossFit Fort Vancouver’s, Kirby Doyle. Doyle currently sits in 19th position in the Men’s 55-59 Division, just one spot above the magic cutoff point.
Over on the women’s side, 50-year-old Mary O’Rourke, of Bridger CrossFit, finds herself just on the outside looking into the Women’s 50-54 Division for a second straight week. O’Rourke sits in 26th place worldwide, a slight slip from her 22nd place spot of last week.
The same division has three North West women who sit solidly in the top 20 in Joy Bruening, Laurie Carver and Litsa Olsson. O’Rourke will need one big final push in week five to break the top-20 barrier and put the North West at 20 percent representation of that age-groups top worldwide athletes.
One other athlete who sits on the verge of a qualifying position is Bryn Widman, of CrossFit Lake Oswego. Widman is the mother of long-time CrossFit Level 1 Seminar Staff Flowmaster, Todd Widman, and is currently in 22nd place in the Women’s 60+ worldwide rankings.
We’re down to the final week of Open competition. Many athletes around the North West are hoping for one big final score to help push them into a qualifying spot. It’s sure to be a week of great elation and celebration for some and total devastation for others.
Be sure to tune into the live announcement of 13.5 from the Santa Cruz, Calif., Civic Auditorium, Wednesday, April 3 at 5 p.m. PT.
