CrossFit Arlington Heights Crowns 2013 Tandem Throwdown Champs

Check out more photos from the 2013 Tandem Throwdown on the EAD / CFAH Facebook Page.

Just sixty pounds denied Michael Bodi & Vanessa Stack, CrossFit NorthWall, a perfect Leader Board run at the CrossFit Arlington Heights 2013 Tandem Throwdown.  Eighty athletes from Illinois, Wisconsin and New York descended on Elite Athletic Development / CrossFit Arlington Heights Saturday, Aug. 10 for the unique competition.

Event champions Bodi and Stack – competing as “NorthWallers” – dominated the Leader Board with first place finishes in Workout #1 l “Shackles”, Workout #3 l “Run – Row “and Workout #4 l “Chip You.” But a seemingly effortless ascent through Workout #2 l “Ground-to-Overhead Ladder” by Jessica Layman, competing with Taylor Layman as “A$$Clowns”, Dog House CrossFit, slowed the Bodi / Stack steamroll, handing them their lone second place finish of the competition. Layman was the only woman to complete the Ground-to-Overhead Ladder, and even made a valiant effort for a second lift at 205 pounds. Every additional lift completed by an athlete at the last rung of the ladder (205 pounds for women, 315 pounds for men) added weight to the Tandem’s finish total. Taylor Layman cleared 275 pounds, giving the “A$$Clowns” a combined weight of 480 pounds for a first-place finish in the workout.

Joining Bodi & Stack on the 2013 Tandem Throwdown podium were Jason Kalinowski & Leah Perri, “Team JaLeah”,  CrossFit Kenosha, in second place; and Scott Carlson & Mary Kate Olsen, “Scott & Mary Kate”, CrossFit AMRAP and CrossFit Arlington Heights in third place.

The Bodi / Stack championship run was not without challenge. Kalinowski / Perri came within three Partner Burpees of Bodi / Stack in Workout #1 l “Shackles”, completing 88 Burpees to the 91 logged by the “NorthWallers.” A single Partner Burpee separated the third place team, JR Phillips & Amanda Phillips, “Team Phillips”, CrossFit Caliber, from Kalinowski / Perri. The top eight Tandems in “Shackles” completed an amazing 621 Partner Burpees within the 17 minute cap.

Workout #2 l “Ground-to-Overhead Ladder” congested the Leader Board with three Tandems joining Bodi & Stack at 420 pounds combined: Katye Kettler & Josh Burrell, “Ebony & Ivory”, CrossFit Amplify; Eric Gustafson & Jyllianne Czanstkowski, “YPFS”, CrossFit Huntley;  and Josh Refenes & Heather Refenes, “Gruesome Twosome”, CrossFit EPC. Several Tandem athletes reported PRs during Workout #2, a particularly impressive feat considering the workout structure – 20 seconds to complete the lift and 10 seconds to rotate to the next station – and the levy weighed on the athletes by Workout #1 l “Shackles.”

Tandems across the Leader Board leveraged Workout #3 l “Run-Row” to their advantage. Jessica Rush & Jason Garrett, “The Replacements”, CrossFit Arlington Heights and CrossFit Paradox, finished the workout in second place, seven seconds behind Bodi / Stack, to catapult from a disappointing 29th place finish in Workout #2; the performance earned them a spot in the Elite 8 and an eventual  7th place finish in the 2013 Tandem Throwdown. The Rush / Garrett Tandem – the two met for the first time the morning of the competition – formed out of necessity when each lost a partner earlier in the week, and turned out to be one of the great stories of the competition. “Run-Row” handed three of the ultimate Elite 8 –“Team Phillips,” “Freak Status” and “Jerk It” — their lowest placing finishes of the day.

Consistency across workouts which demanded teamwork, communication, strategy, strength and muscular endurance was paramount to the top finishing Tandems. Heading in to the final workout, “Chip You”, it was mathematically impossible to dislodge Bodi / Stack, yet the champs set a blazing pace for the event, finishing in 9:15. The battle for the final two podium spots was fierce with five points or fewer separating seven teams. Carlson, a CrossFit competition veteran, and Olsen, in her first CrossFit competition, perfectly executed their Workout #4 strategy and placed second in the workout, their highest placing of the day, locking third place. And Kalinowski / Perri landed in second place after finishing events in second, eleventh, third and third.

The Tandem Throwdown will return to CrossFit Arlington Heights Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014.

Find the complete event standings and other event information on the 2013 Tandem Throwdown web page.

Karen Stoychoff Inman is co-owner of Elite Athletic Development l CrossFit Arlington Heights, 2013 Village of Arlington Heights Hearts of Gold Winner - Business Leadership and Best Alternative Exercise Studio - Daily Herald Reader's Choice. Join Karen for a free class Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. or Saturday at 9 a.m. and learn more about the EAD / CFAH results-based training philosophy.