MACC Team Preview
Every team competing at the Mid-Atlantic CrossFit® Challenge had to qualify via the online qualification process. Additionally, no substitutions were allowed; the four people who participated in the online qualifier are the same four showing up to the competition.
If you’re a seasoned fan of the sport, there are quite a few names throughout the team competition that might intrigue you: Brooke Haas and Mitch Wagner on SouthEast Beasts, Josh Littaur on Team Power Couples, Nikita Dicks with Team Vertex, Briana Hamilton on Invictus Boston, Ethan Helbig,Caroline Dardini, and Lauren Herrera for Team Victory Grips North, and Tyler Lee, Josh Gervais, and Jadzia Truszkowski on We The North.
However, if you’re a fan who’s tuning in to find out which teams are in serious contention for the coveted invite to the CrossFit Games this year, then there are two teams to be acutely aware of. For both of them, quite a bit is on the line.
Teams to Watch
Invictus X:
For the third time in this Sanctional™ season team Invictus X will be taking the competition floor. And for the third time, they’ll have a different roster. Holden Rethwill and Sam Dancer remain as the men. Chantelle Loehner, who joined the team for Wodapalooza in January, is coming back (she also just unofficially qualified for the Games in the Open as the 26th Woman worldwide). But, for the MACC, Maddy Myers will replace Jennifer Nobis-Dancer giving the team a different dynamic. Myers is by no means new to team competition. She was on Invictus’ 14th place team at the Games in 2016, and was an alternate for their team which took 2nd place last year in Madison. Additionally, she made her first Games as an Individual in 2015 as an 18-year-old. Now, just 22 years old (12 years younger than Nobis-Dancer who she is replacing), she has years of experience training with these athletes already.
All season, the expectation has been that this team will find a way to qualify for the CrossFit Games within the new format. However, after less than ideal performances in both Dubai and Miami, perhaps the pressure is starting to mount for them and maybe the roster changes are a reflection of that. The team competition for the MACC is not loaded with former Games individual athletes as the two previous competitions Invictus X was in, but the path to victory won’t be smooth sailing here either.
MisFit:
Travis Williams has been clear about one thing this season, he is not trying to qualify for the Games as an individual; he wants to go back as part of a team. What has been less clear is who will be on his team if and when he does qualify. His team in Dubai was different than his team in Miami and is once again different than the team he’ll be on at the MACC. This time he’s joined by 2 time individual Games athlete Alexis Johnson (who, like Loehner, also just unofficially qualified for the Games in the Open as the 22nd Woman worldwide), 4 time individual Games athlete Roy Gamboa, and 5 time Games athlete (3 as an individual, twice on a team) Jennifer Smith. Travis’ Games experience mirrors Smith’s with Individual and Team experience. Combined this team has 15 years of experience at the CrossFit Games.
All year the conversation on the team side has been about just how well “super teams” like this one will fair in competition against more traditional affiliate teams who potentially have years of experience training together. Thus far what we’ve seen is that the super teams have won out. There was no greater example than at Wodapalooza where 4 teams all comprised of individual Games athletes each finished ahead of reigning CrossFit Games team champions CrossFit Mayhem Freedom; Travis Williams was on one of those teams.
Expect a fierce battle for the top Team spot in Washington D.C. It’s a prize both teams covet, but in the end, only one team will leave with the invitation to the 2019 CrossFit Games.
Predictions:
MisFit*
Invictus X
We The North
Victory Grips
Southeast Beasts
Balance
Conquer Training
Invictus Boston
*Would receive the Games invitation