Week One in Review: Mid Atlantic

February 28, 2012

Brian Wilson

 

 

Overall
Open WOD 12.1 allowed a lot of new Individual athletes to get out front early. The top competitors are relative unknowns outside of their immediate area: Justin Hill and Sean Thomson for the men, and Mila Harris for the women. 
 
For the Master’s, it’s no surprise that Jerry Hill is tops in the 45-49 age bracket. Jerry was 44th in last year’s Mid Atlantic Open rankings at the age of 44. Lisa Quinn qualified for a Master’s slot at the Games last year, but finds herself at 136th in the Master’s after WOD
12.1.
 
In the Team competition, R.A.W. Training is in first place after 12.1. R.A.W. took first place at the 2011 Regionals.
 
DC/VA/WV
New names emerged at the top after Open WOD 12.1 Justin Hill is tied for first in the Region and trains at District CrossFit in Washington, D.C. Justin did not compete in last year’s Open.
 
Another D.C. athlete, Blake Bassett (CrossFit Praxis), is in a five way tie for fifth place which includes last years 10th Place Regional Athlete: Thomas Hooton (Mountaineer CrossFit).
For the women, games qualifiers Christy Phillips and Gretchen Kittelberger finished 13th in the region. Autumn Spence, who is a C.R.U.N.C.H. Fitness instructor and incorporate Yoga and AntiGravity into her daily training regimen, is second place in the Mid Atlantic after a score of 136 on 12.1.
 
NC
Week one of the Open is over and familiar names are at the top of the leaderboard: Brock, Crawford, Schrader. Many of the top athletes tried the WOD two to three times as the scores kept going higher. In the Individual Women’s division of North Carolina, Michelle Crawford was initially first in North Carolina with a score of 120, followed quickly by Charlotte’s Pamela Gagnon, edging into the lead with 124. The two athletes jockeyed for the lead as Crawford tried again and achieved a score of 126. Yet the weekend’s exchanges concluded with Vitality’s Jessica Pinkerton’s crushing score of 133. Jess maintained the lead a until a last-minute entry by Southern Pines’s Mila Harris. Harris, with a score of 138, not only became North Carolina’s current top Woman, but also finds herself standing at a staggering 5th place worldwide. Mila did not compete in the 2011 Open.
 
The Individual Men’s competition saw similar jostles for supremacy. CrossFit Wilmington’s Nathan McFetters opened quickly, only to be quickly edged out by a strong performance from David Borrelli of CrossFit Eternal with a score of 127. As the week progressed and the fight intensified, the dust eventually settled over North Carolina’s CrossFit athletes with Raleigh’s Ben Bizzell achieving a stupefying 132, placing him at the top of North Carolina, and 24th in the Mid Atlantic region. Likewise establishing dominance over the North Carolina sector reigns CrossFit Wilmington. Following a dramatic back and forth on the Mid Atlantic scoreboard between CrossFit Wilmingon, R.A.W. Training and CrossFit Explode, Wilmington held onto 3rd place with a total score of 727, and staking a worldwide placement at 41st.
 
PA/MD/DE
Pennsylvania athletes stepped up big in the first WOD. Sean Thomson tied for first in the Region. Sean is new to Pennsylvania, but he competed at the North East Regional in 2011, finishing in 13th.
 
Mike Abgarian finished third in the Region. Mike is a seasoned CrossFit competitor, having finished 16th in last years Mid Atlantic Regional.
 
Several other 2011 Regional Individual Male competitors made the top 25 after Open WOD 12.1: Jud Dean, Jordan Troyan, and Ian Hardin.
 
For the women, Jenny Butler is the big surprise. Jenny finished 3rd in the 2011 Mid Atlantic Open and 20th in the Region. She also plays semi-pro football and tore several ligaments in her thumb during her last game of the season. She had told reporters that she was not going to compete in the Open, but ended up signing up and earning a 4th place spot after 12.1.
 
*The scores and rankings are unofficial until Tuesdays at 5 p.m., PT.