North East Regional Day 2 Midday report

Just south of where hundreds of thousands of hockey fans lined the streets of Boston for a parade of duckboats and a long-sought-after Silver Cup, champions of another sort took to the field at the Reebok World Headquarters in Canton MA for the 2011 North East Regional. 

The morning began very similar to Day 1, quiet and serene with dense cloud cover and the potential for thunderstorms in the forecast. However, today the buzz in the air was different. Fans began funneling in earlier, in larger numbers, and as competitors received their instruction at the morning briefing, everyone understood that today’s workouts would be different from Day 1 … different skills, different strengths, and very possibly different leaders. By late morning, the sun was out in full force and the heat was cranked in the competition.

Teams

Team Workout 3: Deadlift/box jump

In Heat 1 of Workout 3, the men CrossFit EXP and CrossFit Center Mass were first to complete the 21 set of deadlifts. EXP would maintain the lead into the second round, with a new follower, CrossFit NYC, who proceeded to take the lead, tagging in the first female competitor of the heat.

However, by the time CrossFit NYC’s female athlete did her first deadlift, CrossFit 321’s female was doing her last in the first set. Eight-and-a-half minutes in, she moved to the second set of box jumps and less than 30 seconds later, 321 had emphatically locked up 1st place in the heat, with the 2nd place team coming in close to a minute-and-a-half later. 

At the 14:30 minute mark, only one team remained working on the final 9 box jumps, and in true CrossFit style, as the announcer got the crowd behind the final female athlete, and competing teams stood nearby cheering her on, she caught a second wind and knocked out her final few box jumps to end the heat in style.

Heat 2 began noticeably quicker with CrossFit Revelation and CrossFit Providence first to their boxes, but CrossFit Portsmouth was first to the 15’s at the 1:30 mark. 3:46 into the heat, Portsmouth was first to hand off to their female competitor. Hybrid Athletics’ male competitor struggled to complete his 9th box jump just before the 5-minute mark with two teams behind still behind him. Providence, Tribe, and The Rock were all tied for the lead at the 6:40 mark and just over two minutes later. CrossFit Portsmouth had completed the event with a heat-leading time of 8:56, just seconds behind the leader of Heat 1, CrossFit 321.

By 52 seconds into the last heat, all nine teams were to their men’s first set of box jumps in a flat out battle for the top spot of the event. Crossfit Hingham jumped ahead to the 15’s first with Route 1 just behind. By the 2:38 mark, Hingham’s male athlete was to his 9’s – Ryan Hewitt, Route 1’s male athlete in second, hitting his 9’s at 2:56, teammate Alicia Gomes chomping at the bit to make up the difference. CrossFit Hingham was first to tag in their female athlete with just a six second lead on Route 1. At 4:51, Route 1 had left Hingham behind as Alicia was through her 21 deadlifts to the box, but a new challenger had stepped up – CrossFit New England had jumped into second and was quickly closing the gap. With an amped crowd screaming,

New England and Route 1 went head-to-head on the box jumps to the final reps, New England sliding by Route 1 with only a moment difference.

Regional Workout 3 Standings
1) CrossFit New England – 7:44
2) CrossFit Route 1 – 7:46
3) CrossFit Fenway – 8:01

Women

Individual Workout 3: Deadlift/box jump

Ebony Thomas dominated Heat 1 from the start, running away from the pack to the 15 box jumps more than 30 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor – finishing in 6: 13, ahead of Michele Barbone, who fought valiantly to catch her, but to no avail. 

Kristi Kinney got an extra push from the crowd as she struggled to finish the workout and close out the heat. Fans looked on intently as she struggled to lockout her three final deadlifts. A couple Heat 1 competitors gathered around her for encouragement and the crowd counted out her final nine box jumps – she finished the heat in time and with a smile.

After a false start in Heat 2, all athletes maintained a full upright starting position. Brianne Jackowski took off like a shot through the 21s, getting to the box jump 15s before the 2-minute mark. She proceeded to blast through the remainder of the event to secure first place at 3:33, more than 30 seconds ahead of Mickey Schultz, who finished second at 4:07. Two athletes were unable to finish the heat in the 10 minutes allotted.

Heat 3 was nothing short of amazing as the entire heat finished in just over five minutes. Jenny Davis shot through her 21 deadlifts in 37 seconds, but was passed up quickly as Shannon Morris, positioned in the station just behind Jenny, blasted through to begin her 15 deadlifts at 1:40. Jenny regained the lead through the 15s and made her move to the 9s at 2:53 to finish for the top spot with a time of 3:30! 

Eight seconds later, Kelly Steadman finished for the 2nd place. The race for 3rd had the crowd charged as it was a box jump melee between two top finishers of Day 1’s thruster ladder – Phaidra Knight and Stacey Kroon. 

Regional Workout 3 Standings
1) Jenny Davis – 3:30
2) Brianne Jackolski – 3:33
3) Kelly Steadman – 3:38

Men

Individual Workout 3: Deadlift/box jump

Men’s Heat 1 definitely set the stage for things to come with no shortage of excitement. As Brendan Marolda tore into both movements completing his 21 deadlifts in 1:38 and reaching his box jump 15s by 2:47, Trevor James, was in hot pursuit, completing his 15 deadlifts by 3:03. At the 4:32 mark, Brendan was to his final 9 box jumps with Trevor right behind him. That wasn’t the end … out of nowhere with a sneak attack came Kyle Sikes, finishing in 4:50 and leaving Trevor and Brendan to vie for the 2nd place finish.

Heat 2 was in a word, a blur. Just as in the second women’s heat, the second men’s heat suffered a false start, due to athlete starting stance. However, once the rules were reiterated and the heat was restarted, Dave Lipson was off to the races never once glancing back at his nearest competition. Lipson was finished at 3:34. The fight for the 2nd spot was between Chad Wittman and David Callahan. 

Heat 3 was a flash of lightning. The entire field exhibited the same effortless start that Dave had in the heat before, all completing their 21 deadlifts within 58 seconds, but this time, the hunt for a new world record was on – Austin Malleolo never batted an eye as he tore through every segment of the workout. He was churning through movements so quickly that it was a challenge to just record his splits: 21 deadlifts in 30 seconds; 1:16 to the 15s; 2:21 to the 9s, 2:40 to the last 9 box jumps, and finished at 2:56.

Eric Magee of CrossFit Hingham was Austin’s nearest “challenger” starting in on his 15s at the 1:34 mark and finishing at 3:31. Daniel Tyminski and Rob Orlando struggled through their 9s to finish at 4:14 and 4:30 respectively while Devon Ford finished out the event at 7:22.

Regional Workout 3 Standings
1) Austin Malleolo – 2:56
2) Eric Magee – 3:31
3) Dave Lipson – 3:34