CrossFit Games

Blues City Athletics Battle for Podium Spot Heading into Final Day of West Coast Classic

June 19, 2021 by
Credit: Athletes Eye
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After two solid performances from Blues City Athletics at the close of day one of the West Coast Classic Semifinal, the team was able to make a name for themselves in the coveted top-five spot with a third-place overall finish. But it was day two when the team really started to show their strengths, quite literally.

The start of day two: The morning opened up with Ruck Run 2.0 from the Games in 2019.

  • The event included a 6K ruck run with increasing weight by each lap. By the final lap, men were carrying 60 pounds and women 50 pounds.
  • Something different from when athletes competed in this event back in 2019 was the Las Vegas heat of mid-90 degree temperatures at the start of the event for teams at 6 AM PT.
  • But Blues City Athletics was out for blood from the get go to try and win the event.
  • Renewed Strength CrossFit held the lead the entire event with Blue City Athletics not far behind. While they were never able to successfully pass them, they did make a run for it trying to pass at a corner but were unsuccessful.
  • With their consistent performance on the ruck, they took a second-place finish.

Let’s lift heavy! With a max clean and jerk on tap for the second workout of the day for team men and women, all eyes were on Stephen Wallace as he has an impressive track record of crushing strength workouts.

Remind me: In the Crossfit Games Individual Quarterfinals four rep-max front squat, Wallace finished first in the world lifting an impressive 455 pounds. Wallace also competed at the 2015 Regionals but has been dealing with injuries ever since. But with his performance thus far, he’s trying to prove that he and his team are serious contenders to punch a ticket to Madison.

Event Five: Max lift clean and jerk. We knew Wallace was going to go big on the clean and jerk, but the question was how big.

  • He was able to put up an impressive 385 pounds making that the biggest lift on the floor.
  • His 385 pound clean and jerk makes that the second strongest lift in a CrossFit competition, just two pounds away from the record of 387currently held by Jake Douglas and Tola Morakinyo. It’s important to note that his lift was by far a record for most weight lifted after a 6K ruck run.
  • Wallace and Chris Harbison lifted a total of 700 pounds awarding them a second-place finish, and Taylor Streid and Marrah Sanders were able to collectively put up 420 pounds giving them an 11th finish in the event.
  • Overall, Blues City Athletics was able to bump up to first place after the first two events.

As for teammate Taylor Streid, she has experience in Madison after competing in the 2019 Games as an individual. In 2020, she qualified with Mayhem Independence but the division was canceled due to the pandemic. While she is ranked 60th in the North America Individual division this year, Streid chose to jump on a team with Stephen Wallace, Chris Harbison and Marrah Sanders in hopes that 2021 would be the year she could get back to the Games.

The last workout of day two: Regionals Event 5 2007 + Tank

  • First the men and then the women complete 80 feet pushing the torque tank, 80 chest-to-bar while the other athlete hangs, 60 toes-to-bar while the other athlete hands and finishing with 60 single-arm overhead squats.
  • For Blues City Athletics, this workout was a matter of survival and not falling off the leaderboard.
  • They were able to grab a fifth-place finish, just enough to keep them in a first-place overall finish and the close of day two.

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