Yankee CrossFit hosted its 4th Beat the Heat Throwdown, an individual competition held in Farmington, CT. Like years past, the competition attracted many amazing athletes and it was a fun-filled day of CrossFit, sweat and determination.
The WODS:
Done for time, this was a pretty fast chipper at a moderate weight. Most athletes completed the work under the 12-minute time cap but the 9 thrusters at the end definitely made it interesting. Some athletes held on to go unbroken and some succumbed to the dreaded thrusters.
More pictures of The Rundown:
Athletes had 7 minutes to find a heavy complex of 1 clean and 2 hang squat cleans. The first clean could be a power or squat clean and we saw some athletes choosing to squat all three of their cleans. The spectators were given quite the show, especially when the RX men took the floor.
After CrossFit Hartford's Nathan Pagan successfully hit 320#, Owen Bernstein came out and opened at 305#. Unfortunately, the risky move didn't pay off for him—missing his opener and then having to drop to 295#—but he still was able to tie Andrew Barcomb and Ryan Peterson for second in the event.
The Highlights:
During his 315# attempt, Nathan Pagan loses the bar from his front rack but manages to hold on and stand it up with his arms straight. It was pretty awesome to witness.
Another highlight: Krista Hoffman gets stuck in the bottom of her third clean but fights with everything she has to stand it up. The crowd loved the effort. She ends up with 185# to tie Katrina LaClair for the event win.
More pictures of The Clean Up
This AMRAP was just a grinder and we got to see people push through the pain during this third event. The goal here was to stay smooth and steady throughout the entire workout. Athletes who wanted to make the final made a last ditch effort here and left it all out on the floor.
More pictures of The Down Under
The final featured the top four athletes from the RX divisions battling it out for the podium. They faced a version of the classic CrossFit workout "Amanda" but instead of snatches, they had to do heavier overhead squats.
The Highlights:
Although Jessica Smith didn't have muscle ups, she never gave up during the entire workout. In true CrossFit fashion, her judge even helped give her tips and motivate her. She didn't get one on Saturday but we know it's only a matter of time :)
Another highlight: Nathan Pagan and Owen Berstein were neck and neck during the final OHS and basically finished at the same exact time. All four of the RX men made it an incredibly fun and fast final to watch!
More pictures from the final
Beat the Heat Podium Finishers
As always, thanks to all the athletes, volunteers, sponsors and vendors who made this throwdown possible. We can't wait to see everyone next year!