Week One in Review: South East

March 11, 2013

Dawn South

“No one is bitching about seven minutes of burpees now, are they?” - Shana Alverson
 

The excitement has been building for weeks as the world of CrossFit tried to predict what the first workout of the 2013 Reebok CrossFit Games Open would be. Last Wednesday night, more than 100,000 CrossFitters anxiously watched the live feed for the announcement of Open Workout 13.1.

All were surprised when a combination of last year’s Open Workouts 12.1 and 12.2 was announced — 17 minutes of burpees and snatches. A tiebreaker was also added this year by having athletes record their time on each round of completed snatches.

“Haha, yeah!” was Shana Alverson’s reaction. “No one is bitching about seven minutes of burpees now, are they?”

Alverson, of CrossFit East Decatur, currently holds 23rd place in the South East after completing 190 reps.

“It was brutal, but I thought a great test of conditioning and strength endurance.”

Individual Men
In the Men’s Division, Matt Baird, of CrossFit North Atlanta, leads the region with a score of 195 reps, which also places him fourth worldwide. Baird has been working with C.J. Martin of CrossFit Invictus this year, and says he has worked very hard to put himself in a good spot going into the Open.

“I am very happy to start well, but the Open has more to come, and it's not about one workout,” Baird says. “I want to continue to train hard and prepare for the weeks and months ahead.”

Rounding out the top three in the South East is Jason Ingham, of CrossFit Ragnarok, who sits in second place with 191 reps, and Jimmy St. Louis, of CrossFit HAF, who is in third place with 190 reps.

Other athletes to take note of are Brandon Phillips and Travis Mayer who are currently tied for fifth place with 190 reps; Zach Anderson in eighth place also with 190 reps; Elijah Muhammad in 17th place with 184 reps; Chase Daniels in 37th place with 175 reps; and Guido Trinidad in 46th place with 174 reps.

Individual Women
On the women’s side, former gymnast Lindsay Bourdon, from CrossFit Adrenaline, holds first place in the South East with a very impressive performance of 205 reps. Her score places her fourth worldwide.

Emily Bridgers, of CrossFit RX, is currently in second place after posting 200 reps. She says her strategy on the workout was to use specific time goals for each set of burpees and snatches and to stick to those goals exactly as planned.

“My goal was 200 this week, and it felt good to hit that,” she says. “Fun start to the Open. Bring on week two.”

Sarabeth Phillips, of CrossFit Tuscaloosa, sits in third place with 197 reps, followed closely by 2012 third-place Games finisher Talayna Fortunato, of CrossFit Real Fitness, with 196 reps. Cheryl Nasso, of CrossFit Tuckpoint, is in fifth place with 195 reps.

Other athletes to watch for are Elise Trexler, in 12th place with 192 reps; Jaime Gold in 15th place with 192 reps; and Emily Friedman in 16th place with 191 reps.

Masters
This year’s CrossFit Games will showcase a new 40-44-year-old Masters Division, which has opened a door of possibilities athletes. Only the top-20 Masters worldwide from each age division will go straight to the Games, so this is their time to give it everything they have.

In the Men’s 40-44 Division, Andrew Tucker, of CrossFit Gulf Breeze, is in ninth place worldwide with 171 reps, while Danny Rios of Iron Temple CrossFit sits in 19th place with 166 reps.

On the women’s side, Fortune Santos, of CrossFit Port Saint Lucie, gave a solid performance with 174 reps, but in this highly competitive field, she currently finds herself in 34th place worldwide.

Billy Goodson, of CrossFit Unconquered, is in seventh place worldwide with 163 reps in the Men’s 45-49 Divison, followed by John McLaughlin, of CrossFit BGI, in 14th place with 160 reps. Not far behind are Dean Banks, of Pee Dee CrossFit, in 23rd place, and Ron Ortiz, of Team Hustle Hard, in 25th place, both with 158 reps.

In the Women’s 45-49 Division, Kerrie Napoli, of CrossFit North Fulton, is in 10th place worldwide with 169 reps.

In the Men’s 50-54 Division, Bob LeFavi, of Rincon Athletic CrossFit, is in first place worldwide with 168 reps, Jorge Iopez, of CrossFit Doral, is in seventh place with 154 reps, and Masters Games competitor Brian “Brig” Edwards rounds out the top 20 with 150 reps.

Colleen Fahey, of CrossFit Black Box, is in 11th place with 155 reps in the Women’s 50-54 Division, with Kelli Dean, of Lightning CrossFit, right behind her in 12th place with 154 reps. Diane McKinney, of CrossFit North Fulton, who competed in the Games as a Master last year, is in 25th place with 150 reps.

The South East is represented well in the Men’s 55-59 Division. Tom Bourdon, of CrossFit Adrenaline, is in third place worldwide with a score of 194 reps; Charlie Clendening and Greg Budde, both of CrossFit Vero Beach, are in sixth and seventh place with 192 reps; Daniel O’Donnell, of CrossFit Clearwater, is in 13th place with 190 reps; and Tony Rogers, of CrossFit Impulse, is in 18th place with 190 reps.

Just outside the top 20 is last year’s Masters competitor, Charles Sullivan, in 23rd place with 188 reps.

Gabriele Schlicht dominated the Women’s 55-59 Division, placing first worldwide with an impressive score of 190 reps. Christi Warren sits in 23rd place with 157 reps.

In the Masters 60+ Division, Jim Lanier is in 20th place with a score of 165 reps on the men’s side, while Susan Wallis is in 14th place with 150 reps on the women’s side.

Team
It looks like a battle already for the top of the Leaderboard in the Team category.

CrossFit Adrenaline currently takes the top spot with Team Hustle Hard just one point behind in second place. Team CrossFit Siege rounds out the top three in third place, followed by CrossFit RX in fourth.

CrossFit Atlanta Formulx begins the Open in 14th place.

The first week of the 2013 Reebok CrossFit Games Open has been exciting, but it is just the beginning and anything can change over the remaining weeks. Four-time CrossFit Games competitor, Brandon Phillips, summed it up: “I think (Open Workout 13.1) will set the tone for the Open, but in the end, we are training for Regionals and the Games.”