Day 1 Recap: Gabriela Migala and Justin Medeiros Snag Lead on Friday at 2022 Rogue Invitational
The first official day of the 2022 Rogue Invitational took place on Friday with three action-packed events at the Dell Diamond in Austin, TX. There were several competitors who put on a show, but in the end consistency won out, with Justin Medeiros and Gabriela Migala finishing the day as the leaders heading into Saturday.
Event 2: Ski Bar: The day started with an up-and-back chipper with three movements, but with a twist. The athletes had to use a four-inch log bar for their 20 muscle-ups before heading to the SkiErg for calories (40/32). Ski Bar continued with 80 GHD sit-ups, more calories on the SkiErg (40/32), and 20 more log bar muscle-ups.
The Men: Noah Ohlsen jumped out to a big lead in Heat 1, but Chandler Smith chased him down on the second set of SkiErg calories. The two men were neck-and-neck on the final set of muscle-ups, but Smith took the heat win at 11:04.54 as Ohlsen finished second (11:32.14) after some no-reps. Cole Sager finished third with a time of 11:35.26.
- Past Rogue Invitational champs were the story of Heat 2. 2020 champ Pat Vellner jumped out to a massive lead with a blistering pace, but 2021 champ Justin Medeiros put himself within striking distance with his GHD sit-ups.
- Vellner continued to hold the lead during the final round of log bar muscle-ups, but he was unable to hold off the mulleted champion. Medeiros quickly did two-rep sets on the final round of bar muscle-ups and ultimately overtook Vellner. He raced his way to an event win with a time of 11:00.18.
- Smith’s time stood for second place while Ricky Garard finished third at 11:08.09. Vellner was fourth with a time of 11:11.19. Samuel Kwant rounded out the top five at 11:15.94.
The Women: The four-inch thick bar proved even more detrimental to the women, as not a single woman was able to finish the event before the time cap.
- Teen star, 2022 Games rookie Emma Lawson, came the closest, finishing the muscle-ups but failing to cross the line before the time cap. Behind her was Games veteran Kara Saunders and two-time Games athlete Arielle Loewen.
- “I was struggling quite a bit, but the adrenaline helped. You just gotta go for it and see what happens,” Lawson said after the event.
- Much of the rest of the field, though, struggled a whole lot more, namely up-and-comers Anikha Greer and 2020 Games competitor Andrea Solberg, neither of whom was even able to finish their first set of 20 muscle-ups.
Event 3: Back Attack: Event 3 on Friday was a vicious combination of back squats (405/275 pounds) and box jump overs (24/20 inches). The athletes had to complete five back squats and then 25 box jump overs. They continued to decrease one back squat rep and five box jump over reps until they reached one and five, respectively.
The Men: Nick Mathew turned in a blistering pace during Heat 1. He was a full round ahead of his fellow competitors, and he turned in the time to beat at 4:15.40. Ohlsen finished second behind Mathew at 5:20.15. Smith finished third at 5:28.27.
- Jeffrey Adler used a similar method during the second heat. He picked up pace with each round and put distance between himself and his fellow competitors.
- Adler was unable to chase down Mathew’s time, but he won his heat with a time of 4:27.01 and locked up crucial points. Medeiros finished second in the heat at 4:46.58.
The Women: Known for her strength, Australia’s Ellie Turner all but dominated Heat 1, somehow making the 275-pound back squats look easier with each round. She finished in 4:33.74.
- Greer, who has had a tough competition so far, put in a sneaky performance, finishing second behind Turner in a time of 5:04.79, good enough to hang onto third overall in the event.
- Heat 2 was all about Laura Horvath, who finished the event in a time of 4:09.77, a full minute ahead of Saunders, and good enough for an event win.
Event 4: DT With a Spin: The final event on Friday featured the five traditional DT rounds—12 deadlifts (155/105), nine hang power cleans (155/105), and six push jerks (155/105). However, each round began with 15 calories on the Rogue Echo Bike.
The Men: CrossFit Games veteran Jonne Koski was the story of Heat 1. He set out with a fast, consistent pace, something that he has done during multiple CrossFit Games workouts, and he did not let up throughout the event. He snagged his first heat win of the weekend with a time of 8:04.49.
- Cole Sager and Chandler Smith both kept within reach of Koski. They were not quite able to chase him down, but they finished second and fourth in the heat, respectively.
- Tim “Full Send” Paulson used his well-documented speed on the Rogue Echo Bike to beat the majority of his peers to the bar for the final time. He ultimately finished third in the heat at 8:15.00.
- But the big story of Heat 2 was Roman Khrennikov. The Russian jumped out to a big lead from the start of the event, and he went unbroken while other athletes took quick breaks during the traditional portion of DT. This helped him maintain his lead during the bike portion.
- Khrennikov took down DT at 7:49.76 with his strategy of going unbroken while Samuel Kwant took second overall with a time of 7:56.91. Koski’s time was good enough for third while Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson finished fourth at 8:05.50 and Medeiros finished fifth at 8:08.12.
- Khrennikov entered the event in a tie for second with Adler and 35 points behind Medeiros. The Russian athlete broke this tie and took sole possession of second place.
The Women: The final event of the day looked eerily familiar to Event 4, with Turner jumping out to an early lead in Heat 1, and hanging on for a heat win in a time of 8:54.27, just ahead of Annie Thorisdottir.
- And again, Heat 2 was another chance for Horvath to shine. She held off a hard charging Alexis Raptis, finishing in 8:44.62 and punching her second event win in a row.
- “I just picked a moderately fast-ish pace that I know I could keep on the bike. Basically you just try to pace the bike and get the barbell out of the way as fast as you can,” Horvath said about her approach.
Looking ahead: Heading into Saturday, Medeiros leads the men’s side with 350 points. Khrennikov is close behind with 335 points, while BKG sits squarely in third place with 300 points.
On the women’s side, it’s a jam packed leaderboard heading into Saturday, with Gabriela Migala, who was consistent but never better than fourth on Friday, leading the pack, but she’s only 10 points ahead of Horvath in second, and 15 points ahead of Lawson. With Saturday being Moving Day, it’s still very much anyone’s game.
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