A year ago, Allan Dunlap and Bryan Weed were on the equipment crew for the first CrossFit Fort Vancouver Invitational.
For the second edition, the Vancouver athletes moved more than equipment.
Dunlap and Weed placed second overall, pushing repeat champions Cole Sager and Austin Stack to the limit by winning four workouts over the two-day exercise competition that concluded Sunday at the Clark County Event Center.
“We took first in four workouts, so that should show us something,” Weed said. “Just to know that they’re human too, and they can be beat, it’s a nice feeling.”
Sager of Seattle and Stack of Medford, Ore., won three events and were in the top three in all but one to defend their title. Their 647 points topped the field of 15 men’s teams and were 37 more points than Dunlap and Weed compiled.
Rory Zambard of Bellevue was a repeat champion in the women’s competition, this time with Emily Carothers of Maple Valley as her partner. Both have competed individually at the CrossFit Games. They were in the top three in eight of the nine scored workouts and finished with 644 points.
Jessica Core of Vancouver and teammate Carleen Matthews of St. Helens, Ore., placed second among 13 teams in the women’s standings, only 12 points behind the champions.
The CrossFit Fort Vancouver Invitational brought together athletes who had success in CrossFit regional competitions last year. Competing as two-person teams, they went through six workouts over two days at the Clark County Event Center and the Clark County Family YMCA, which hosted an 800-meter swim race Sunday morning.
This event is not sanctioned by CrossFit, Inc., the company that stages the CrossFit Games worldwide competition. But for athletes who hope to qualify for the 2015 CrossFit Games, this was a welcome opportunity to measure their fitness against top competition.
Sager and Stack said the event is a perfect way to kick off the competitive season. Stack said the early January date keeps him from eating poorly over the holidays. Sager said that sharing the competition with a partner helps the athletes recover between workouts.
“This year was a lot more competitive,” Sager said. “You can tell this year everyone had a lot of offseason training.”
Zambard said the CrossFit Fort Vancouver Invitational is an example of the supportive nature among CrossFit athletes.
“The Northwest community is unlike any other community,” Zambard said. “It’s just a great opportunity for us to spend a weekend together in a more relaxed environment than regionals.”
The workouts designed by the event director Nathan Loren were hardly relaxing. The six timed events were designed to challenge strength, coordination and endurance by using weightlifting, pull-ups, rowing machines and other exercises.
Dunlap and Weed plan to compete with the CrossFit Fort Vancouver team again in 2015 — they were part of a team that finished 24th in the world last year — but welcomed the chance to see how they measure up against athletes who have competed individually at the CrossFit Games.
“It’s a good opportunity to see how we match up individually against top regional athletes like Cole and Austin,” Dunlap said.
