Competition

Team BPN Edge out The Dottirs and Mal O’Brien in Tie-Break Win at TYR Wodapalooza

January 15, 2023 by
Photo Credit: Ava Kitzi
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Going into the last day of competition at TYR Wodapalooza in Miami, FL, two star-studded teams—Team BPN (Laura, Horvath, Jamie Simmonds, Gabriela Migala) and The Dottirs Ft. MOB (Annie Thorisdottir, Katrin Davidsdottir and Mal O’Brien)—were sitting one and two, with just five points separating them.

And with 400 points still up for the taking on Sunday, it was very much anyone’s game, and what played out didn’t disappoint in delivering a down-to-the-wire race that ultimately ended up in a tie. 

Here’s how it played out:

Event 5: Holds and Climbs–Sunday’s first event involved each athlete having to complete 10 consecutive rope climbs, with 48 synchronized reps of various lifts (hang clean, shoulder-to-overhead and thrusters) in between each athlete’s 10 rope climbs.

  • During the first half of the workout, it was Team BPN and The Dottirs Ft. MOB who took the early lead. Both teams finished their shoulder-to-overhead reps at almost the same time, and then it came down to O’Brien and Migala head-to-head on the rope climbs.
  • Migala won the race, finishing her 10th rope climb when O’Brien finished her ninth, giving Team BPN a headstart on their final 48 thrusters.
  • Not to be forgotten, A.K.A Humble Killers—Kari Pearce, Alex Gazan and Arielle Loewen—quietly stayed in the mix and started to make up ground on The Dottirs during the last 48 thruster reps of the event.
  • In the end, it was Team BPN, who looked comfortable and under control the entire way, who crossed the line a few reps ahead of The Dottirs, while A.K.A Humble Killers came through shortly after that. Their third place finish helped them overtake the third place spot overall, bumping the All American Girls (Brooke Wells, Amanda Barnhart and Kristi Eramo-O’Connell) into fourth.

Event 6:  3,2 1 Lift Off–Event 6 involved one athlete doing a 3-rep max overhead squat, another a 2-rep max front squat, and the third athlete a 1-rep max shoulder to overhead.

  • No surprise, big numbers were put up throughout the six heats, with Misfits with Lady Bits (Paige Semenza, Caroline Conners and Erin O’Donnell) posting the highest score in the early heats with a total of 754 pounds, which held up for third overall.
  • But, it was The Girls—Christine Kolenbrander, Alexis Raptis and Fee Saghafi—who posted the heaviest score of the day, a total of the day—761 pounds. Worth noting was Saghafi (one of the smaller, lighter athletes), who posted a 2-rep max front squat of 267 pounds.
  • As for the top two teams, it was, once again, Team BPN who edged out The Dottirs Ft. MOB by 12 pounds (755 pounds to 743 pounds), thanks to Horvath’s 250-pound 3-rep max overhead squat. The total was good enough for another second place finish for Team BPN, while The Dottirs placed fourth. 
  • Meanwhile, in the yo-yo race for third between the All American Girls and A.K.A Humble Killers, the All American Girls reclaimed the bronze medal spot after their lifts, bumping A.K.A. Humble Killers back into fourth.
  • Heading into the final workout, Team BPN had just a 20-point lead over The Dottirs Ft. MOB, while the All American Girls were just eight points ahead of A.K.A Humble Killers. 

Event 7 and 8: Kitchen Sync–The final two events of the weekend were aptly-named, to say the least: A little bit of everything plus a whole lot of synchronization.

  • Part A began with three back-to-back couplets featuring six different movements, where two athletes participated in each couplet while the third rested. After that, all athletes rested until the 16 minute mark before hitting Part B: 33 synchronized single-arm dumbbell snatches, 15 calories each on the bike, followed by 33 synchronized lateral burpees over the dumbbell.
  • The top two teams once again led the way during the first couplet of 60 synchro toes-to-bar and 50 box jumps over, but they were overtaken by A.K.A Humble Killers during the dumbbell bench press portion of the second couplet, as Pearce and Gazan tore through their 50 dumbbell bench press. 
  • And by the time Team BPN and The Dottirs started their 60 synchronized heavy wall balls in the third couplet, A.K.A Humble Killers had already completed 12-plus reps. At the same time, The American Girls started to make a move, and all four teams found themselves on their 50-meter handstand walk at the same time.
  • But A.K.A Humble Killers’ lead was too big for anyone to catch. They locked up the event win, while The American Girls quietly snuck across the line second, Team BPN third and The Dottirs fourth.

With Part B left to go, things were far from over.

  • Part B: The Dottirs, looking possessed as though they were fighting for their lives (which they kind of were), were untouchable. They led from start to finish and picked up the win.
  • “We could have won (Part A). I’m going to stay that. But after that, it was like ‘Hell no. This is the time where we just fuckin go…I’m going to go as hard as I can on the bike…and I’m going to give them anything I have on the burpees,’” said Thorisdottir after the competition.
  • At that point, all The Dottirs Ft. MOB could do was hope that enough teams would squeeze in between them and Team BPN to give them a chance to take the title.
  • A.K.A Humble Killers were next to cross the line, while Team BPN battled rep-for-rep with the All American Girls. 
  • That’s when things got confusing: Wells crossed the line ahead of anyone from Team BPN, however, the entire Team BPN managed to cross the line before the American Girls third athlete crossed. Nobody knew what the rule was—whether the time stopped when the first athlete crossed or when the entire team was across—and because the points were so close, it would come down to this rule.
  • After some delay, it was revealed that the time stopped when all three athletes were across the finish line, so Team BPN wound up third on Part B, while The All American Girls settled for fourth. The result was a tie in points between Team BPN and The Dottirs Ft. MOB.

Ultimately, because Team BPN had more event wins—two to one on The Dottirs—Horvath, Migala and Simmonds were crowned the champions, while Thorisdottir, Davidsdottir and O’Brien settled for second.

The top five teams at the end of the competition:

  • Team BPN – 691
  • The Dottirs FT. MOB – 691
  • A.K.A Humble Killers – 678
  • The All American Girls – 642
  • The Girls – 565

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