Implications of National Champions on Sanctionals

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“The key is not the will to win… everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.” — Bobby Knight 

Take That, Coca Cola

CrossFit Memorial Hill in Kansas City, MO just finished renovating a 22,000 square foot historic Coca Cola bottling plant to house a wellness center.

Way to stick it to the man.

Owner Matt Scanlon left his job working in long-term healthcare in 2012 to open CrossFit Memorial Hill.

“It didn’t take long for me to realize that by the time a patient entered into the long-term healthcare system there was no getting out. Unfortunately, most residents of these facilities are in their 50s and 60s and are in nursing homes because of metabolic diseases. I felt that the relationships and trust built with a CrossFit coach provided the infrastructure to tackle such a complex problem. So the idea was always to return to healthcare, but with fitness and nutrition as primary focus.”

And so he did.

Today this goal becomes a reality with the grand re-opening of what is being dubbed a “Functional Community Center.” Inside this community center you’ll find all your standard CrossFit fare; bikes, rowers, barbells, dumbbells, and the like.

But you’ll also find a veteran-owned barber shop, a chiropractor, physical therapist, two nonprofit organizations promoting health, a yoga and mindfulness studio, a nutritionist, and a workout space for adaptive athletes complete with a rig from GetRX’d.

That’s a lot of fitness in one space.

“Our hope with this space is that it provides a proof-of-concept not only for healthcare but for the fitness industry as well. Proof that there is value in promoting health, not just reacting to disease. And proof that a 100-year old building that once pumped out millions of gallons of soda can become a place where healthy community thrives,” said Scanlon.

The open house celebration is today and the entire community is invited to come check it out.  

OPEN BRIEF

Implications of National Champions on Sanctionals

Late Wednesday, CrossFit completed the final verification phase of the Open by codifying the national champion leaderboard.

One quick thing: Now that the national champion leaderboard is solidified, it has some immediate implications on the Reykjavik Sanctional this weekend.

• Bartek Lipka, 29th worldwide, is now the Poland national champion after review broke the tie between Lipka and Staworzynski.
• Tim Paulson just got one step closer to an official qualifying position from the CrossFit Open. It’s pending Devin Ford making good on his promise to decline his invite. Paulson is competing this weekend in Iceland.
• Lukas Esslinger will now be getting the invite from  CrossFit Italian Showdown. Now that Patrick Vellner will qualify through the Open it triggers the scenario we explained earlier this week.
• Five athletes competing at Reykjavik are now officially qualified: BK Gudmundsson, Lefteris Theofanidis, Roman Khrennikov, Streat Hoerner and Lukas Esslinger.

Set your reminders: Athletes have until Monday, May 6 at 5:00 PM PT to register, which means athletes like Rich Froning, Tasia Percevecz, Alexis Johnson, and Devin Ford have to make a decision.

Stat de jure: If all qualified athletes accept, there will be 272 total individual competitors at the 2019 CrossFit Games.

• A total of 113 female national champions are now listed on the leaderboard.
• A total of 123 male national champions are now listed on the leaderboard.

EYES ON ICELAND.

5 Things to Watch in Iceland

The 2019 CrossFit Games makes it’s next pitstop in the “land of fire and ice,” today as the Reykjavik CrossFit Championship kicks off at the Laugardalsholl Icelandic national arena. For the next three days, individuals and teams will compete for an invite to the CrossFit Games in a country with a competitive CrossFit history as rich as any.

There has been an Icelandic athlete at the Games every year since 2009, and more impressively, an athlete on the podium for eight of the last nine years.

This will be the first time however, that Iceland will play host to an official CrossFit competition that will earn invites to the Games.

With that in mind, here are five things to watch this weekend at the inaugural year of the Reykjavik CrossFit Championship.

Invictus Boston

The performance of Invictus Boston this weekend could affect the outcome of multiple Games invites outside of just the team competition. They’ve revamped their roster to include two individual Games veterans in Craig Kenney and Meg Reardon.

Reardon most recently won the Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge earning herself an individual invite if she so chooses. During an interview at the MACC, Reardon stated her desire to go team instead if they managed to snag a team invite in Iceland, which would greatly benefit Melissa Herman or Paige Semenza.

If Reardon declines the MACC invite, Dani Speegle and KT Trombetta earned a spot through the Open so it would end up in the hands of Herman, who is listed on the Open leaderboard as Melissa Doll. Herman originally had a spot until video review and a penalty in 19.3 knocked her below the cut line. If Herman somehow declines then it would fall to Paige Semenza, but all of this is dependent on an Invictus Boston win.

Continue reading…

Things To…

WATCH: Will Briggs Be Enough to Earn Team JST Games Invite?

CrossFit JST is the only affiliate in England to ever send a team to the CrossFit Games, and they’re competing this weekend in the hopes of making it back. Sam Briggs, who won two Sanctionals earlier this year and is the U.K.’s national champion, will be joined by JST veterans Steve Fawcett, Jayne Eadie, and Jak Cornthwaite, who competed on JST’s 15th place Games team.

WILL IT BE ENOUGH?

HEAR: Jenn Dancer on Kill the Quit Podcast

Mark Zinno, host of the Kill the Quit podcast, welcomes guest Jenn Dancer who discusses her collegiate career at Mizzou, playing overseas in Sweden and meeting her husband Sam Dancer through CrossFit and her eventual switch to CrossFit full time.

ON THE ROAD WITH JENN.

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EAT: Jalapeno Green Tahini Sauce

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ALL IN THE SAUCE.

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Chalk Up Community

• BIGGER LOCATION — CrossFit Roaster Barbell just moved into a new, much larger location in Berea, OH.
• VOTED BEST OF TWICE — Behemoth CrossFit in Katy, TX was voted the best fitness facility in Katy and owner and coach Aja Barto was voted the best fitness instructor in Katy.

CHALK UP IN 2 MINUTES (a highlight reel around social media of CrossFit pros and average joes)

Happy birthday Noah Ohlsen • Baylee Fogal does a clean complex at 195 pounds • Cassidy Lance-McWherter and WaterSide Elite Performance are now on Sugar WOD • Samuel Kwant did 30 strict muscle-ups in 5:14 • Sean Sweeney is training for Brazil CrossFit Championship • Kate Nye is now sponsored by Earth Fed Muscle • Hunter McIntyre is headed to Cookeville, TN to train with Chris Hinshaw • Eleven-year-old Mason Alderman clean and jerks 125 pounds • Congratulations to Corey on his first muscle-up. 

Online Qualifier for Age Groups — All five WODs for the Age Group online qualifier were announced last night.

— Eligible athletes have until 5:00 PM PT on Monday to get their scores in. 

— Fun Fact: CrossFit Reykjavik has twelve teen athletes completing the Age Group Online Qualifier. 

FLASHBACK…to Lindy Barber’s first Individual competition. She was up against Julie Foucher and Lisa Shu.

How to Eat at Weddings and Still Enjoy Them — Spring and summer are full of lovestruck couples tying the knot and inviting loved ones to celebrate with them. Working Against Gravity brings you six tips for successfully tracking your macros at a wedding. 

Last Day to Get a Limited Edition Morning Chalk Up Shirt — Today is the last day to get yourself (and your friends and your family and heck maybe even your dog) a limited edition Morning Chalk Up tee or tank. 

Patrick Vellner Speaks to GQ Magazine — Patrick Vellner recently caught up with GQ and discussed his diet, what a regular day looks like for him and how plans to get that first place podium spot.

— On being the second fittest man: “I’d rather be the fittest guy in the world [laughs]. I think that it’s kind of an interesting title, and it’s also transient. Every year, you’re only as good as your last year. You have to enjoy the title while you have it, because it might not last very long. The work is never done.

— “The way you do one thing is the way you do everything, right? I’m not a half-ass sort of person, and I have a bit of an extreme personality. I’d say having multiple areas that you can focus your attention on in life is healthy. I’ve been really successful at bouncing back and forth from one thing to the other.”

“Thursday Brief: What You Need to Know for Reykjavik CrossFit Championship,” by Justin LoFranco, Morning Chalk Up

The 9th Sanctional of the season kicks off tomorrow in Reykjavik, Iceland as 24 women, 28 men and 15 team are vying for a coveted invite to the CrossFit Games.

Six female and five male athletes have already qualified and that list could grow by two more depending on how national champion verification officially shakes out.



Chad Schroeder dives in deep and analyzes the competitive field, including teams. For the athletes competing this weekend, this is realistically one of their last opportunities to get an invite.

And Morning Chalk Up’s data scientist Scott Henderson did the hard work for you and ranked the top 10 men and women.

Top 5 Men: BK Gudmundsson, Streat Hoerner, Roman Khrennikov, Lukas Esslinger and Tim Paulson.

Top 5 Women: Thuri Helgadottir, Haley Adams, Jacqueline Dahlstrom, Emilia Leppanen, and Emelye Dwyer.

Team JST made a last minute roster change, swapping out Emma McQuaid with heavy hitter Sam Briggs, after McQuaid sustained a wrist injury.

Lauren Smith dropped into JST for an exclusive interview with three of the original athletes from JST’s 2017 Games team who are returning for another shot.

Fun Fact: CrossFit JST is the only affiliate in England to ever send a team to the CrossFit Games.

5/2 – 5/6: Age Group Online Qualifier (Online)

5/3: Lift For Lee (Williamston, MI)

5/3 – 5/4: Tough As Nails (Lubbock, TX)

5/3 – 5/5 The Fittest Experience (Austin, TX)

5/3 – 5/5: Appalachian Games (Asheville, NC)

5/3 – 5/5: Reykjavik CrossFit Championship (Reykjavik, Iceland)

5/4: 2nd Annual Heavy Day Morgan (Oak Ridge, TN)

5/4: Battle at the Lab 2019 Cinco De Mayo (Clarksville, TN)

5/4: Border Open Part V (El Paso, TX)

5/4: Desert Warrior (Scottsdale, AZ)

5/4: The Jurassic Classic (Kennewick, WA)

5/4: Lifto De Mayo 2019 (Eagan, MN)

5/4: Rookie Rumble Pittsburgh at Arsenal Strength (Pittsburgh, PA)

5/4: Girls Gone RX Delaware (Middletown, DE)

5/4: Girls Gone RX DC (Alexandria, VA)

5/4: Black and Brewed 2019 (Huntsville, AL)

5/4: Row for Wishes (Telluride, CO)

5/4: The Locomotive Games IV (Youngstown, OH)

5/4: Breaking Boundaries Competition (Greer, SC)

5/4: Cura Sapulpa Fundraiser (Sapulpa, OK)

5/4: Bow Wars 4 (Columbus, GA)

5/4: NYC Heart Health and Nutrition Seminar (New York, NY) 

5/5: Cupid’s Spring Fling (Medina, OH)

5/10: Beast Mode Games 2019 (Greenville, SC)

5/11: 2019 Moco Throwdown (Bethesda, MD)

5/11: Butchertown Cleaver Classic (Louisville, KY)

5/11: Girls on Girls X (Bridgeport, PA)

5/11: Battle of the Gulf Coast (Port Neches, TX)

5/11: Femme Royale So Cal (Orange, CA)

5/11: Squat for Guate (Hickory, NC)

5/11: Southside Showdown (Jenks OK)

5/17 – 5/19: ACA Throwdown 2019 (Johannesburg, SA)

5/17 – 5/19: Down Under CrossFit Championship (Wollongong NSW)

5/17 – 5/19: Brazil CrossFit Challennge (São Paulo, Brazil)

5/18 – 5/19: Big Impact Games (Kaukauna, WI)

5/18: 2019 Barbells in the Burbs Team Comp (Carol Stream, IL)

5/18: 2019 Tough Temple CrossFit Super Total (Bethseda, MD)

5/18: Mad Hatter Games (Danbury, CT)

5/18: Rookie Rumble at CrossFit PTV (Redmond, WA)

5/18 – 5/19: Shred Fest (Orlando, FL)

5/18: Cindy-a-Thon (San Leandro, CA)

5/18: Fallout in the Falls (Wichita Falls, TX)

5/18: East Coast Battle ( Hanover, MD) 

5/18: Meshugge CrossFit Summer Melee 2019 (Overland Park, KS)

5/18: Backstreet Brawl 3 (West Bend, WI)

5/18: Flower City Throwdown Women’s Division (Rochester, NY)

5/18: Warriors Hope (Greenwood, IN)

5/18: WODding to Hear (Elizabethton, TN)

5/18: Fifth Annual Guns N Hoses Competition (Anaheim, CA)

5/18: Barbells and Beers (Berkeley Heights, NJ)

5/18: OUTWOD Morristown (Morristown, NJ)

5/18: 2019 Triton Spring Throwdown (Wallingford, CT)

5/18: 6th Annual Murph for Mutts (Peachtree Corners, GA)

5/18 – 5/19: Rogue Invitational (Columbus, OH)

5/19: Heroes and Heroines Team Throwdown (Pawtucket, RI)

5/21: Brady’s Border2Border Ruck March (Beach, ND)

5/24: 24 Heroes in 24 Hours (Ardmore, PA)

5/27: ValorFit Community Murph (Urbandale, IA)

5/30 – 6/2: Granite Games (St. Cloud, MN)

5/31: OUTWOD at Roy CrossFit (Roy, UT)

5/31 – 6/1: The Rockwell Championship Series Main Event (Woods Cross, UT)

6/1: Warrior Affiliate League Terrible Two (Murrietta, CA)

6/1: The Burn Out 4 Person Team Competition (New Ber, NC)

6/1: Battle of the Vikings (Frederick, MD)

6/1: Full Battle Rattle II (Robinson, IL)

6/1 – 6/2: River Ruckus VI (Asheville, NC)

6/8: The Mountain Meltdown (Park City, UT)