Wodapalooza 2016: Rain and Gains

By Nicole Kurz | January 19, 2016
Wodapalooza Camille LeBlanc-Bazinet. Image used with permission of Preston Smith Photography.[/caption]

What started 5 years ago as a weekend competition in Miami has grown into one of the premiere CrossFit competitions nationwide.

Wodapalooza just wrapped up its competition weekend in Miami, with athletes engaging in six grueling events over three days at Bayfront Park in Downtown Miami.

Florida decided to give competitors a little something extra this year, supplying a deluge of rain on day 1 and wind gusts the rest of the weekend to really create an exceptionally challenging atmosphere for contenders.

Wodapalooza has long been known as a competition that draws top talent from the CrossFit pool, and this year hit a record 1500 athletes across 12 divisions from 16 different countries, along with over 20,000 spectators on hand to check out the action.

The Jan. 15-17 weekend was an all out party, and included some spectacular performances from CrossFit Games favorites including Rich Froning, Scott Panchik, Camille LeBlanc-Bazinet, Emily Bridgers, Lauren Fisher and more.

Check out the workout line up, some of the results from the Elite Men and Women categories, and the top 3 left standing overall at the end of the competition.

wodapalooza Image used with permission of Preston Smith Photography.[/caption]

The Wodapalooza WODs

WOD 1: The Big Chipper

Day 1 started with a bang with lots of reps of challenging movements. Elite individuals completed the following (check out teams and scaled options here):

INDIVIDUAL BIG CHIPPER

Complete for time:
70 Pistols
50 GHD Sit-ups
30 Overhead Squats
100 foot Handstand Walk

Time cap: 12 minutes

In the Elite Men category, Noah Ohlson dominated this workout, finishing 48 seconds faster than any of his competition in 6:06:06. Lex Ozias took second with a time of 6:54:00 followed closely by Spencer Hendel at 6:59:50.

The Elite Women also had one heck of a throw down. Top finisher Brooke Wells crushed her competition and muscled her way to first place with a time of 6:33:68, followed by Nicole Corey with a  time of 7:02:00 and Emily Bridgers in third with 7:06:27.

For complete results of all of the categories and workouts check out the leaderboard.

WOD 2

Maybe not surprisingly, Friday’s Big Chipper was followed in the afternoon by the Little Chipper. This WOD, presented by Assault Bike, was designed to be fast and furious, and boy did it deliver!

Elite individuals completed (other categories here):

INDIVIDUAL LITTLE CHIPPER

Complete for time:
21 Calories on Assault Bike
15 Power Snatches
9 Bar-facing Burpees
15 Thrusters
21 Calories on Assault Bike

Time cap: 5 minutes

For the men, this short and intense workout saw some less familiar names on top of the leaderboard as rising stars and comeback kids made their presence known in Miami. Top finisher Alex Anderson completed the chipper in 3 minutes flat, with Nik Hecht (3:02) and Jacob Anderson (3:03) right on his heels.

The lady’s race was a close one as well, with Wells securing her second consecutive top finish in 3:36, just beating out Emily Abbot at 3:37 and Natalie Newheart at 3:39 in an intense race to the finish.

wodapalooza Chyna Cho and Stacie Tovar. Image used with permission of Preston Smith Photography.[/caption]

WOD 3

Saturday started out bright and early with the third workout that capitalized on the oceanfront location and included a brisk swim.

Elite individuals were challenged with the following (all workouts here):

INDIVIDUAL SWIM TRIPLET

Complete 2 Rounds for time:
25 Deadlifts
50-meter Swim
25 Strict HSPU
50-meter Swim

Time cap: 11 minutes

Those deadlifts were not light (275/185 pounds elite), and the HSPUs were shoulder burners. Combined with the swim, this WOD proved to be a challenging event all around.

In the men’s competition, Ohlsen capitalized on his strengths and came away with his second first place finish of the weekend in 7:40:03. Jordan Troyon showed off his swimming skills to secure second in 8:06:00 followed by Will Moorad in third with a time of 8:24:00.

Newhart flew by the competition to her best finish of the weekend in first with a time of 7:55:00. The race for second place was intense, and in the end Kari Pearce (9:01:00) took it over Bridgers (9:03:00) in what was an impressive performance for both.

WOD 4

Saturday wrapped up with a spicy two-part WOD where athletes got to show off their strength with max weight snatches, as well as their combined skills with gymnastic movements like muscle ups and double unders.

The workout was brutal, and consisted of (loads and scaling here):

INDIVIDUAL SNATCH MEDLEY 
4.0 – Complete for Max Load (1RM Load + 2RM Load + 3RM Load = Total Weight)
4.1 – Complete for time:

1 Snatch (Athlete decides load)
1,000 meter Row
2 Snatches (Athlete decides load)
200 Double-Unders
3 Snatches (Athlete decides load)
30 Ring Muscle-ups

Time cap: 17 minutes

In the men’s competition, the loads were impressive. Known for his strength and impressive form, Elijah Muhammad finished in first with a combined weight of 805. Jeff Evans was on his heels with his best finish of the day in second with a combined weight of 795, and Kirk Gibson and Moorad tied for third with a total of 785 pounds snatched.

Moving on to 4.1 for time, winners were Troyan in first, flying through the workout in 10:13:00. Cole Sager was just over a minute behind him in 11:22:00, followed by Ohlsen to round out the top three in 11:50:00.

The elite women put on one heck of a show in 4.0, with fan favorite Camille Leblanc-Bazinet in the mix of the top 10, but ultimately Wells walked away with the top score of a combined weight of 535.  Hot on her heels was Sarabeth Phillips with a load of 530, followed by a 3rd place tie between Dani Horan and Tasia Percevecz, both at 525.

When the ladies moved to 4.1 ropes were flying, and Bridgers came away with first with an impressive 13:48:00. Pearce took second with a time of 14:27:00 and Games top 1o finisher Margaux Alvarez had her best finish of the weekend in third with a time of 14:28:00.

wodapalooza Elijah “EZ” Muhammad. Image used with permission of Preston Smith Photography.[/caption]

WOD 5

Sunday’s competition saw blustery windy conditions, and some unsurprisingly exhausted athletes. The programming continued to be challenging, this time introducing a piece of equipment we haven’t yet seen at the games, the D-Ball (150 pounds for men, 100 pounds for women).

The workout for the elite competitors was as follows (all options here):

INDIVIDUAL BARS N BALLS

Complete for time:
16 D-Ball Ground over Shoulder
40 Toes to Bar
40 Chest to Bar Pull-ups
16 D-Ball Ground over Shoulder

Time cap: 9 minutes

With a 9 minute time cap, this event actually saw nearly a dozen elite men not finish, but it didn’t prove to be a problem for Ohlsen. He raced to first with a time of 5:52:00, followed by Jacob Anderson hot on his heels (5:57:00), and Moorad claiming third (6:34:00).

The women also boasted a close race — Pearce took first in 5:29:00 with fan favorite and 2014 Games Champion Leblanc-Bazinet in second with her best finish of the weekend in 5:45:68. Wells rounded out the top three finishing in 6:05:00.

WOD 6

The last workout of the weekend was another two-parter, designed to completely empty the tank of every competing athlete.

The challenge was (weights and scaling here):

INDIVIDUAL DOUBLE OR NOTHING

WOD 6.0

Complete for time:
3-2-1

Legless Rope Climbs
Squat Cleans
Dumbbell Squat Snatches (R/L)

*6min time cap
-Rest 2min


WOD 6.1

Complete for time: 

50 Clean & Jerks

*Penalty: anytime the athlete breaks 1 rope climb must be completed

This was a moment of truth for the men and women of the weekend. On fatigued bodies, who could combine legless rope climbs with heavy squat cleans and squat snatches, and then go unbroken on a turbo-charged version of “Grace” with 110/70 pounds on their barbells?

For the men, 6.0 hit Alex Anderson’s sweet spot and he flew through the reps neck in neck with Garret Fisher beating him out by only two seconds to take his second 1st place finish of the week in 3:04:00. Fisher was hot on his heels in 3:06:00, and Travis Mayer came in third with 3:44:00.

6.1 was a challenge of who could hang on the longest, and Marcelo Bruno won that honor for the men. In his best finish of the weekend he completed the 50 reps in an amazing 3:39:00. Ohlsen continued his streak of top 3 finishes coming in second with a time of 4:28:00 and Mayer proved that he is strong AND fast with his third place finish in 4:38:00.

In the women’s competition, it got spicy. Percevecz flew up her rope, finishing in a blistering 3:33:00 and setting the pace. Leblanc-Bazinet and Bridgers put on quite a show, going neck and neck for the entire event and fans were screaming as they crossed the finish line in the exact same moment, at 3:55:00, tying them in second for the event.

In 6.1, Pearce had yet another moment to shine as she muscled her way to a 3:15:00 first place finish. Kaleena Ladeairous celebrated her first top 1o finish of the weekend with a bang, finishing second in 3:23:00, followed by a consistent Abbott in 3:29:00.

The Winners

The competition was fierce, the athletes intense, and in each of the 12 categories there were some spectacular stand out performances.

Whether it was Kevin Ogar inspiring in the Male Adaptive Athlete category, or fan favorites like Rich Froning and Camille landing impressive snatches, the event was an incredible experience for athletes and fans alike.

The full leaderboard is available here with the names of all of the winners in every category, but here were the top 3 Elite Men, Women and Teams- and the people I would definitely keep on eye on going into this year’s CrossFit Open!

Men

First: Noah Ohlsen

Second: Garret Fisher

Third: Will Moorad

Women

First: Brooke Wells

Second: Emily Bridgers

Third: Kari Pearce

Elite Men’s Team

Second – CrossFit Shrewsbury
Trevor James
Corey Lunney
Anthony Vazquez

Elite Womens’ Team

First – Two Grown Ups and The Kid
Regan Huckaby
Val Voboril
Maddy Myers
Second – Team Progenex
Lauren Fisher
Stacie Tovar
Molly Vollmer

Third – The Ladies of RX Smart Gear
Chyna Cho
Cassidy Lance
Jennifer Smith

Did you check out the competition this weekend?  Do you want to get in on the action next year?  Here’s how to qualify for Wodapalooza. 

 


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