Open 21.3 and 21.4 Weekly Review
It’s sad to see the last three weeks come to a close. The nervous jitters take a seat...ahem, Holly. Darren waits another year in hopes that bench press will find its way into the Open program. We will take comfort in only doing a workout ONE TIME a year instead of back-to-back days. Back we go into the daily grind away from dressing up on the weekend and drinking bud lights while Wod-ing --well, Joey might continue to participate. Jack got his max lift. Mark figured out what he was doing, kind of. Jeff gave us the only box jump fail we needed. Jodi and Bill continue to stoke their rivalry flame. Many, many firsts. And all of this will have us coming back for more next year.
However, the season isn’t quite over for some of our amazing athletes at CrossFit Petoskey. We have six athletes advancing to the online qualifier stage beginning in May. And to you six, we look up to you folks! You handle yourselves with class and demonstrate humility. You are an extremely humble bunch that simply shows up and puts in the time. You CrossFit for health and longevity, and it’s just a bonus that you happen to be pretty darn good at the sport that has evolved with it. Your consistency and hard work has paid off. You’re also really old people. So that helps. You have the whole community of CrossFit Petoskey cheering you on, because it is a team effort. You’re better because of the people that are around you, too. That’s pretty cool. You “wipe the floor” together.
The team-spirit of the Open was the most exciting it has ever been. And I like to believe it’s because of gyms like ours, CrossFit as a whole benefited greatly from our excitement. It was announced just a day ago that the Open’s participation increased by a double digit percentage in 2021. Over 264,000 people participated. Coming off of the “year without an open,” and the crazy circumstances we all found ourselves in, this is shocking. However, it was the most accessible open there has ever been. With a list of adaptive-athlete varieties, no-equipment, scaled, and foundations divisions.
This is very much in tune with our gym community and how we separate ourselves from the pack with our #findyourRx mission. We all have an opportunity to get better. We all belong in a space that challenges us and advances our individual goals as well as our greater movement.
Before we move forward to the notable performances and outstanding teamwork, on behalf of all the staff and coaches at CFP, I want to say thank you. Thank you for always making the competitive season appropriately competitive, inviting, safe, and FUN. I hope at the very least, you've become fitter, expanded your comfort zone, and did something you didn't know you could do.
DISCLAIMER: You will not find out which team takes the crown of the 2021 Open Championship in this message. We will gather again before some of our amazing athletes advance to the next stage of the Open. There, we will present this year’s trophy, after all of our friends are home from spring break. Please stay tuned. It was a tight race all the way to the end, with what appeared to be a three-way race for the top spot.
The standings after Week 2:
1st Place = Social as _eff (22 Points)
T 2nd Place = Hangin’ with the Power Queens (21 Points)
T 2nd Place = Senior’s Moments (21 Points)
4th Place = Smoked Meat, Shredded Wheat (19 Points)
5th Place = Super Spreaders (18 Points)
All team captains were prepared to fight to the bitter end. We even caught wind of Captain Bill putting his mother through assault bike intervals in his frigid basement, leaving no stone unturned.
For the third week, let’s start with the dress:
Do we bring out the brooms for Jodi’s Social as_eff team? Did they sweep the competition floor with CrossFit Petoskey tattoos? I think they’re real?.. Commitment.
Or is it Smoked Meat, Shredded Wheat who actually had team uniforms designed? I’m jelly.
But hold the phone, Joey Van stumbled into the gym on Saturday morning bigger than ever, and it’s not because he gained a couple pounds over the week. He scoured his closet in search of every single official CrossFit t-shirt he owned and just when you thought he was inevitably shedding clothes for aerodynamics and naturally coolant, another t-shirt magically appeared underneath. Five, six, se
ven, eight, maybe even more shirt rip-offs (an action of the utmost artistic quality only the most tenured CrossFitters have mastered, mind you) and his spirit continued to manifest. Then the shorts. Five layers of official CrossFit apparel shorts and a pair of undies too. And beyond the undies… perhaps a CrossFit tattoo as well. But no one dared to peak at the final layer. This might be the greatest uniform act in CrossFit Petoskey Open history, on account of having so much CrossFit pride he could have outfitted every member that attended Saturday.
Performance:
Open 21.3 was one of the most difficult open wods ever drawn up in the devilish mind of Dave Castro. You know the rule about workouts with rest in them…
Everyone performed to their potential, near and far. While the committee does not feel sympathy for the spring break goers and the obstacles they had to overcome outside of our cozy box in short bouts away from the beach, they saw some pretty sweet long-distance performances, like Eugene Wang sharing hints to his team from sunny Florida. Kate Sulitis broke out both workouts in a hotel exercise room, with whatever weighted materials she could find, like filled ice buckets and nightstand Bibles. Dave Trower and Jack Bishop were putting on their best Scott Miller resting position performance in Orlando or something like that.
Ken Sr. somehow managed to beat his son (me) and lifted 440 lbs in 21.4 AND in the no-equipment version of the workout --probably due to the high elevation in Colorado where he is visiting. Lauren Rothman performed the workout in Pennsylvania and managed to display an even sadder face than in 21.1. And well… at home we had the pleasure of watching the Brandon Weir hand-massacre. It still makes me cringe replaying his performance on the barbell complex with oozing hands. (Serious bonus points to Hangin’ with the Power Queens, as he is the one hangin’.)
And there was the "Scott Carter Elbow Hang." Actual photo below:
And the REPEATS. We don’t often celebrate the determination of visiting the dark corners of an open wod twice in the same weekend. But to do this workout again took some guts. Mickey performed 21.3 and 21.4 THREE TIMES. Not the most intelligent move, or is it? Hailey did multiple versions of the workout to expand her comfort zone. Sue and Alisa both performed the workout a second time on Monday, and their second performances sealed their fate to move on to the Age Group Online Qualifier… more on that soon enough.
But the committee chalked this one up to which teams were the most disciplined in submitting their scores to .com. The final week of the Open is always the hardest when it comes to remembering to enter your scores. Especially when it falls on Spring Break weekend. Feel free to research and see which TWO teams got ALL of their scores in!
Spirit:
Smoked Meat, Shredded Wheat had the most “inexperienced” open team. This
means many first-timers. To encourage rookie open athletes to join the fun is always a pleasure for everyone involved. We all appreciate seeing new people suffer too! But it’s not only about getting others to join. You better be by their side the entire way. And Captain Rachael and her ragtag gang did just that.
Captain Jodi and her side-kick Carolyn definitely did their part in recruiting new faces, too. Long time CrossFitters as well as new CrossFitters joined the Social as_eff team to take on their very first Opens. It was so fun to watch. And their team communication is like Hallmark television. Just sobbing. Crying as athletes. Crying as judges. Crying as spectators. My goodness. But as I’ve said before, the committee is a sucker for theater.
While each team has done a good job of recruiting, no team has ever before brought players out of retirement until Seniors’ Moments. You poor spring breakers missed it!
A retired athlete, a retired coach, a retired exerciser, an inconsistent exerciser. Elite members of the CrossFit Petoskey Hall of Fame showed face on Saturday. Coach Mel made a return to judging and slinging no-reps around the room. Our single most famous athlete at CFP and former CrossFit Games athlete, Larry Froede brought his cagey, veteran movement eyes. It gives me chills just thinking about it.
How is the committee to decide who is crowned? Well they did. The points were summed. You just have to wait.
Notables:
The decision to go at a workout scaled vs. RX can be a tough one. For many, the scaled division is very appropriate, and still VERY challenging for all. We had many athletes who pushed themselves to their limit in that division, and their determination yielded very great results across the state of Michigan. Congratulations athletes!
Danielle Fry - 1st in Michigan (Scaled 35-39)
Nate Fry - 4th in Michigan (Scaled 35-39)
Jen Vanderwall - 9th in Michigan (Scaled 40-44)
Jen Cleary - 3rd in Michigan (Scaled 45-49)
Melissa McGeehan - 8th in Michigan (Scaled 45-49)
Jon Lyons - 3rd in Michigan (Scaled 50-54) Debbie Provost - 5th in Michigan (Scaled 50-54)
Jan Antalis - 2nd in Michigan (Scaled 60-64)
Alex Antalis - 1st in Michigan (Scaled 65+)
As for some of our Rx performers, we have athletes represented across all age ranges who finished in the top 10% in the entire world. If you were unaware, the CrossFit Open is the beginning road to the CrossFit Games: the grand stage to find the fittest man and woman on Earth. Every athlete must pass through the events we recently tortured ourselves with. For our age group participants, we have an amazing group of athletes advancing to the Age Group Online Qualifier. A five-day event of various workouts to be filmed and judged. The performance in the Age Group Online Qualifier will determine who will go to the CrossFit Games. Congratulations to the following:
Steve Smrekar - 5th in Michigan (RX 35-39) ONLINE QUALIFIER BOUND
Alisa Winslow - 10th in Michigan (RX 45-49) ONLINE QUALIFIER BOUND
Uli Rabeiro - 6th in Michigan (RX 50-54) ONLINE QUALIFIER BOUND
Michelle Sysko - 7th in Michigan (RX 50-54) ONLINE QUALIFIER BOUND
Sue Maiorana - 2nd in Michigan (RX 55-59) ONLINE QUALIFIER BOUND
31st in the entire World!
Dawn Campbell - 3rd in Michigan (RX 55-59) ONLINE QUALIFIER BOUND
103rd in the entire World!
The Online Qualifier will take place in the beginning of May and we cannot wait to cheer you on!
For now, that is all folks!
Signing off,
KP
