Your Week 2 Regionals wrap-up

Happy Memorial Day and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is fueled by FNX, the Official Supplement Sponsor of the Morning Chalk Up.

Today is a highly recognized holiday in our community. We know most are doing Murph and many others remembering other heroes through their workouts. We want to celebrate by giving every order over $75 a free Red, White and Blue hat! Offer stands through midnight for the 25% for Memorial Day special! Click the link to receive the discount, core program and the Red and White and blue hat!

“You are never too important to be kind.” — Unknown

QUICK. QUICK.

Catch me up.

Savagery in the Central Regional. You’ve likely never heard of Amanda Barnhart before. She’s never been to the CrossFit Games and this is only her second regional as an individual. She did something that no other rookie Games athlete has done his year. She won Event 4, 5, AND 6 to punch her ticket to her first CrossFit Games. After six events, she was only 30 points behind Brooke Wells and 14 points behind Kristi Eramo. 

CrossFit Mayhem and CrossFit Invictus both qualify two teams in the same region. They join Salt Lake City CrossFit who qualified two teams last week at the South Regional. Invictus will have three teams present in Madison, WI this summer. Oh and by the way, Invictus just became the first affiliate to qualify three teams in the same year.

Becca Voigt qualifies for her 10th CrossFit Games as an individual. Becca came into day 3 sitting in 10th place and 44 points outside of a qualifying spot. A 3rd place finish in Event 5 vaulted her into 6th. In order to make up the 22 points separating her and 5th place, she needed Meredith Root to bomb Event 6. Well, that’s exactly what happened and Becca become the first athlete to qualify for 10 CrossFit Games as an individual. Oh and she had a broken thumb this weekend. 

Go teams they said. It’ll be fun they said. Out of 150 teams so far (we’re not counting Latin America because of the modifications) only nine teams have finished Event 2 and eight have finished Event 5 under the time caps. Only three teams — Mayhem Freedom, OC3 Black and Invictus X — finished both. But every team who finished either Event 2 or 5 went on to qualify for the Games. 

It’s a short man’s game, it’s a tall man’s game. The battle rages between whether short guys have it easier than tall guys. No where is height differential more obvious than on the box step-overs. Jeff Patzer, who is stepping onto a box a little less than half his height finished Event 5 in 27th place. Whereas Brent Fikowski took first and the worldwide event record.

From 30th to podium. Pablo Chalfun was 30th in South America coming out of the CrossFit Open and he needed to be 25th to secure a spot at Regional. After three athletes went team and another two declined, Chafun was the fifth and final athlete to get an invitation. And after 6 events, the Rio native stood on top of the leaderboard and will be the only male athlete from South America at the CrossFit Games.

Who’s not returning? Here are the Games veterans not going back to the CrossFit Games: Paul Castillo, Streat Hoerner, Jessica Griffith, Kelley Jackson, Nicole Holcomb, Carleen Mathews, Alex Parker, Casey Campbell, Kirsten Pedri, Regan Huckaby, Lindsey Valenzuela, Brooke Ence, Jason Carroll, Garret Fisher, Christian Lucero, Jeff Patzer, Ben Stoneberg, Neal Maddox, and Eric Carmody.

FLIGHT BOOKED.

Next stop, Madison, WI.

Latin America

1. Pablo Chalfun | Brenda Castro | Team Colombia Parceros

Central

1. Mathew Fraser | Brooke Wells | CrossFIt Mayhem Freedom
2. Alex Anderson | Kristi Eramo | OC3 Black
3. Nicholas Uranker | Amanda Barnhart | CrossFit 417
4. Scott Panchik | Michele Fumagalli | CrossFit Mayhem Independence
5. Saxon Panchik | Jennifer Smith | CrossFit Kilo

West

1. Brent Fikowski | Emily Abbott | Invictus X
2. Cole Sager | Alessandra Pichelli | Torrance Training Lab
3. Josh Bridges | Ehea Schuerch | CrossFit Fort Vancouver
4. Cody Anderson | Chyna Cho | CrossFit Billings
5. Mitchel Stevenson | Becca Voigt | Invictus

Things To…

WATCH: Down Under

As Kara Saunders makes her way to the final hurdle before the CrossFit Games, ROMWOD joins her on the road as she prepares and talks about what makes her the athlete that she is today.

HANG WITH KARA.

HEAR: Sara Sigmundsdottir

Sara joins the The Snorri Björns podcast for an episode in her native tongue, but luckily a fan spent a few hours transcribing it so you can hear the story of how she ended up in Cookeville with Rich Froning.

TUNE IN.

EAT: Mediterranean Salmon Skewers

It’s grillin season and if you’re looking for something to throw on the barbie today, look no further. 

SALMON KEBABS.

Today’s edition of the Morning Chalk Up is fueled by

Chalk Up Community

• ACROSS THE STATE —  Four athletes from CrossFit Fargo walked 240 miles from the top of North Dakota to the southern border with South Dakota wearing a weight vest. The four athletes took 10 mile shifts day and night to complete the journey to raise money and awareness for veteran suicides. 

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

Noah Ohlsen practices handstand walks with a backpack • Sixty-three-year-old Charity Ann Cheney did Murph yesterday with her daughter.

Meet the woman who won the toughest 400m race in the world — The Red Bull 400 is a series of races up ski jumps across the world. The one in Copper Peak is the steepest and she had to run up it twice in one day to win. After finishing, it took Anna Moi several minutes to catch her breath, describing the feeling in her lungs “like a tickle was trapped in my chest.” Queue in that Fran cough. 

“Neal Maddox Plays a Long Game” by Jessica Danger, Morning Chalk Up

“Every year I say this is my last year. This has been my last year for 3 or 4 years!”

Neal Maddox, at 40-years-old, is the oldest male competitor at West Regionals.

“The athletes get younger; I get older. We have teens going to regionals now because it’s all about recovery and the young ones can recover.”

Maddox, who drove to Del Mar in an RV and trailer with his fiance and three dogs, listed the particular challenges a Masters athlete faces competing at this level. He’s tired, his nutrition is off, and he’s nervous about injury and all the aches and pains a masters athlete feels after eight years competing.

“The hardest thing to swallow as you get older is I don’t have that same switch I used to have when I first started. All the gears are still great, but that switch just doesn’t always turn on.”

6/1 – 6/3: Atlantic Regional (West Palm Beach, FL)

6/1 – 6/3: Meridian Regional (Madrid, Spain)

6/1 – 6/3: Pacific Regional (Sydney, Australia)

6/2: Kegs and Kilos (Manhattan, KS)

6/2: Long Island Masters (Hauppauge, NY)

6/2: Texas WOD Fest (Houston, TX)

6/2: Tacos and Tequila Throwdown (Highlands Ranch, CO)

6/2: Meshugge CrossFit Summer Melee (Overland Park, KS)

6/3: Summer Sizzler Individual Masters Competition (Burlington, MA)

6/8 – 6/9: Bricktown Throwdown (Bricktown, OKC)

6/9: Beastette Bash at CrossFit Ananda (Arlington, TX)

6/9: Gulf Coast Games (Mandeville, LA)

6/9: WOD Wars 6 (Humble, TX)

6/9: Big Orange Brawl (Knoxville, TN)

6/9: Heroes of the Platform (Meridian, ID)

6/9: Triple Crown Fitness Event (Greenville, NC)

6/9 – 6/10: The Heartland Games 2018 (Chicago, IL)

6/9 – 6/10: Alaka’i SUPER Summer Slam (Kapolei, HI)

6/16: Battle on the Creek (Johns Creek, GA)

6/16: Full Battle Rattle (Robinson, IL)

6/16: East Coast War (Wilmington, NC)

6/19: Gauntlett VIII – River Rumble (Portsmouth, OH)

6/22 – 6/24: The Bacon Beatdown (Daytona Beach, FL)

6/23: Garage Girls CrossFit Grit (St. Simons Island, GA)

6/23: 2018 Summer Swolestice (Gresham, OR)

6/23: HAMCO Heat (McLeansboro, IL)

6/23: The Greenville Games (Greenville, SC)

6/23: The Burn Out (New Bern, NC)

6/23: Battle of the Border (Phenix City, AL)

6/23: Battle of a Beauty with a Beast (South Hadley, MA)

6/23 – 6/24: Asbury Park Summer Games (Asbury Park, NJ)

6/23 – 6/24: The Dakota Games (Fargo, ND)

6/30: Summer Stampede (Bethlehem, PA)

6/30: Battle of the Ballpark (Seattle, WA)