Week One in Review: North Central

March 11, 2013

Nicole Scott Smith

To the surprise of many CrossFit Games fans, the first workout of the 2013 season was neither simple, nor short.

To the surprise of many CrossFit Games fans, the first workout of the 2013 season was neither simple, nor short. Open Workout 13.1 coupled burpees with snatches, and ran for 17 minutes.

This workout was a fusion of two workouts from the 2012 season. Last year, we saw seven minutes of burpees (12.1), and a 10-minute snatch progression with 30 reps at a light, medium and heavy load, followed by as many reps as possible at a particularly heavy load (12.2).

Open Workout 12.1 As many burpees as possible in 7 minutes

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Open Workout 12.2 As many reps as possible in 10 minutes: 30 snatches (75 lb. for men/45 lb. for women) 30 snatches (135 lb. for men/75 lb. for women) 30 snatches (165 lb. for men/100 lb. for women) As many snatches as possible (210 lb. for men/120 lb. for women)

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Open Workout 13.1 As many reps as possible in 17 minutes 40 burpees (jump to target six inches out of reach) 30 snatches (75 lb. for men/45 lb. for women) 30 burpees 30 snatches (135 lb. for men/75 lb. for women) 20 burpees 30 snatches (165 lb. for men/100 lb. for women) 10 burpees As many snatches as possible (210 lb. for men/120 lb. for women)

Although snatches are technical enough to be one-half of an Olympic sport (Olympic weightlifting), by starting the workout with burpees and light-weight snatches, Open Workout 13.1 was inclusive enough that anyone who could get down on the ground, get back up and jump to a six-inch target could find a place on the Leaderboard.

Athletes from North Central smashed this workout. To make it into the top 48 in the region, men needed to get at least 23 snatches at 165 pounds (173 reps) and women needed to get 179 reps.

Individual
Joshua Page of Reckless CrossFit sealed the first spot on the North Central Leaderboard, and ninth spot on the worldwide Leaderboard with 192 reps (two snatches at 210 pounds).

Had he gone head-to-head with Scott Panchik and Dan Bailey at the Live Open Workout Announcement, he would have finished two reps ahead of Bailey and two shy of Panchik.

Page is no stranger to the top of the North Central Leaderboard. Last year, he finished the Open in 16th place.

The second- to fifth-place men in the region finished 190 reps (zero snatches at 210), but were separated by the tiebreaker (the time when they finished the 30 snatches at 165 lb.)

Page’s occasional training partner, Sam Dancer (Q-Town CrossFit), won the tiebreaker with a time of 15:48 and sealed second place. Dancer, a former collegiate football player, (http://games.crossfit.com/article/whos-sam-dancer) generated buzz in the preseason by posting a video of 22 back squats at 405 lb. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOAqpYcyMGs&feature=youtu.be). We’ve yet to see whether his freaky strength will pay off in a sport that rewards the generalist, but he’s off to a strong start.

Three-time Games competitor, Brandon Pastorek (CrossFit VisOne), came in third place with a tiebreak time of 15:49 — just one second behind Dancer. In this workout, every rep and every second counted.

Newcomers Michael Bodi and Drew Hymer took fourth and fifth, respectively.

Surprisingly, the third-place finisher at the 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games, Kyle Kasperbauer, did not put in a top-10 finish on the worldwide nor North Central Leaderboard. With a score of 174 reps, Kasperbauer took 38th in North Central.

Other former Games competitors finished outside of the top 10, including Justin Allen (11th in North Central, 181 reps), and Phillip Kniep (54th in North Central, 172 reps). Women Ashley Van Boxtel sealed the win in North Central by completing 202 reps. That means the 5-foot-1, 132-pound athlete snatched 12 pounds under her bodyweight, 12 times. The score was good enough to put her in 11th place on the worldwide Leaderboard.

If you’re wondering where on Earth Van Boxtel came from, the answer is the North East. In 2011, Van Boxtel took 4th place in the North East in the Open and 12th place at the North East Regional. Later that year, she moved to Green Bay, Wis. In 2012, she quietly finished the Open in 49th place in the North Central region. It seems she’s now ready to make her presence known in the Midwest.

To get to the top of the North Central Leaderboard, Van Boxtel had to surpass three formidably strong Games veterans: Deborah Cordner Carson, Stacie Tovar and Elisabeth Akinwale.

The 2012 Spirit of the Games Award Winner, Cordner-Carson, came in second place with 201 reps (11 reps at 120 lb.). Tovar came in third place with 197 reps (seven reps at 120 lb.) and Akinwale followed in fifth with 194 reps (four reps at 120 lb.).

Newcomer, Kady Onken, took fourth in the region with 195 reps, passing Akinwale.

Teams
To make it into the top 30 in on 13.1, North Central teams needed a combined score of at least 994 reps. With six athletes contributing to the score, that means the athletes on the top teams were putting in performances of 165 reps or better (15 snatches at 165 lb. for men, or 100 lb. for women).

Kady Onken helped her team, CrossFit 515, to a first-place finish on 13.1 with a combined score of 1,079 reps. CrossFit St. Paul took second with 1,065 reps, thanks to the help of Cordner-Carson. CrossFit Bellator also completed 1,065 reps, but lost the tiebreak and took third.

The 2012 North Central Regional champions, CrossFit Jenks, came in fourth with 1,056 reps, and the eighth-place finishers in the Team competition at the Games, CrossFit Kilo, came in sixth place on 13.1 with 1,050 reps.

Masters
This year, CrossFit introduced a new, younger age division to the Masters competition. For the first time, athletes 40-44 years old are now in the running for their own separate competition at the Games. As expected, the competition for the top-20 spots will be fierce.

Former North Central Regional competitor, Krista Colson (40-44, CrossFit Rockford), locked in an impressive 193 reps on 13.1. While that performance left her just two reps behind the second fittest woman on Earth, Julie Foucher, it wasn’t enough for first place in the 40-44 Division. Colson took third, behind Meshelle Mifsud (first, 198 reps) and 2011 Reebok CrossFit Games competitor, Amanda Allen (second, 196).

Two athletes from North Central top the Men’s 45-49 Division: Brent Colson (CrossFit Rockford) took first with 172 reps, and Frank Colavita (CrossFit Greendale) took second with 168 reps.

Michael Bridges (CrossFit Peoria) is tied for first in the Men’s 55-59 Division with a score of 195.