Featured
The 2013 OC Throwdown- CrossFit spirit alive and well in SoCal
Costa Mesa, California, felt its energy quotient blast through the roof with the annual OC Throwdown at the Orange County Fairgrounds on January 12-13. The event, first launched in 2010, was designed to give local athletes and clubs a place to showcase their skills and fitness levels in a spirit of fun and friendly competition.
In its first two years of existence, the OC Throwdown opened its doors to anyone and everyone who wanted to compete. 2010 saw a promising beginning, with 125 athletes and about 400 spectators. Competitors performed just four WODs. In 2011 two more WODs were added, and the number of athletes and spectators more than doubled to 275 and over 1000, respectively. Justin Flynn, owner of Orange Coast CrossFit and mastermind of the OC Throwdown, was onto something.
The event generated so much interest that in 2012 an online qualifier was initiated, and 1100 hardy souls ponied up to participate, logging their data on three WODs over as many weeks. The top 150 men and 100 women earned the right to throw it down for a live crowd in the name of “Fittest in SoCal.”
This year’s event promised to be the biggest and best yet, and it delivered. Over 2800 die-hard CF fans poured into The Hangar at the OC Fair and Event Center, eager to see their hometown heroes and a few invited CF celebs (including Tommy “Hack’s Pack” Hackenbruck, Kenneth Leverich, and Neal Maddox on the men’s side, and feisty females like Kris Clever, Lindsey Valenzuela, and Talayna Fortunato). The stage was set for excitement, and the six workouts offered a pleasing variety of punishments for the crowd to witness.
Athletes were off and running (literally) in WOD 1. The 7K run was divided into 3 legs, the second of which was made more interesting with the addition of 70 pounds of sandbags (45 for women). Ben Wise, who didn’t make it through the final elimination round, still went home with an event win by completing the run in just under 36 minutes. Andrea Ager was the women’s winner, finishing 6th overall.
WOD 2 began with 10 Muscle-Ups and then proceeded to 4 rounds of 12 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups with 8 Box Jumps, followed by 10 more Muscle-Ups. Three of the men’s competitors finished in under 5 minutes: Noah Olsen (Peak360 CrossFit) was the men’s winner, with Ken Leverich and Brian Miller close behind. In the women’s division, where the number of reps was lower, Taylor Richards-Lindsay took first and finished 14th overall, while women’s 2010 Games champ Kris Clever finished 4 seconds later to claim second.
WOD 3 continued the arm-ageddon and added a bountiful helping of hurt to the thighs with 3 rounds of 8 Shoulder-to-Overhead (190 pounds for the men; 125 for the women) and 14 Pistol Squats, then 3 rounds of 8 Front Squats (190/125) with 16 GHD Sit-Ups. The fun didn’t stop there; competitors cranked out a final 3 rounds of 4 Ground-to-Overhead (190/125) with two 20-foot rope climbs. Lindsey Valenzuela took her first WOD win here, finishing in 13:26, with Kris Clever still knocking on her back door for second. Neal Maddox saw his first of three WOD wins, with a time of just over 12:25.
WOD 4 was a Clean Ladder, with the bar starting at 245 pounds (185 for women) and increasing in 10-pound increments to 375 pounds (245 for women). Athletes could sneak in some Double-Unders for tie-breaking points, although this turned out to be moot for both the women and the men. Lindsey Valenzuela was the only one in her division to hit the 245 lift, taking her second win of the day. Unaffiliated competitor Danny Nicholas was the only man to make the 375 mark, resulting in a WOD 4 win. However, unlike Valenzuela, who was eventually crowned overall winner, Nicholas was shut out in the elimination round.
Event 5 alternated 30 Wall Balls (20/14) with a series of ascending Power Snatches (first round at 135/95, followed by 155/105, then 185/125). Neal Maddox snatched his way to another win in 7:16, comfortably ahead of second-place Kevin Ogar’s 7:42 time and third-place Tommy Hackenbruck’s 8:02. Lindsey Valenzuela was officially on a roll, taking her third WOD win of the day with a time of 8:03. Kris Clever, nearly 1:30 behind Valenzuela, managed a fourth place finish.
The sixth and final WOD pulled out all the stops: Deadlifts, followed by Thrusters, Box Jump Overs, KB Swings, Cal Rows, Handstand Push-Ups, Burpee Bar Muscle-Ups, 50-metre OH Walking Lunges, a 50-metre run, 100 Heavy Rope Double-Unders, a 200-metre sprint, and—pause to gasp here—Burpee Rower Hops to round it all out. First in the men’s division was Neal Maddox, garnering his third win nearly 30 seconds ahead of second-place Ken Leverich. Lindsey Valenzuela showed that her sweep of the three previous WODs hadn’t used her up, as she took win number four, with Alessandra Pichelli and Kris Clever grabbing 2nd and 3rd place, respectively.
When the chalk dust had settled, the top of the leader board in the Men’s Pro division was Kenneth Leverich, who finished 17th in the 2012 Games. Joe Garcia, Orange Coast CrossFit’s director of performance, wasn’t surprised. “He’s just an intense competitor. Once the clock is going, it’s just him and whatever task he has in front of him—know what I mean?—Until it’s done.” And although he didn’t take first in any of the WODs, Leverich was a strong enough competitor to edge out three-event-winner Neal Maddox by 17 points. Travis Mayer rounded out the top three men’s spots, while Tommy Hackenbruck came in 7th.
On the women’s side, the seemingly unstoppable Lindsey Valenzuela took three WODs and the first-place title. Valenzuela took 9th place in the Games in 2012 but is best remembered for bringing the crowd to its feet as she became one of only two women to complete the 235-pound Clean Ladder event.
While CrossFitters everywhere turn their attention to qualifying rounds for this year’s Games, Flynn and his SoCal posse will be hard at work plotting the 2014 Throwdown. Flynn assures fans of the event that he knows their expectations are high. “We’d like to continue to attract more of the best athletes from around the world,” he says. “We want to make sure we keep our brand intact by only allowing the best of the best to compete [and we’ll] do this by keeping the workouts extremely challenging.”
