GR Team Earns Berth In CrossFit Games Finals [Video]
The team of four from Grand Rapids won their final event Sunday at The Granite Games in Minnesota to earn a chance to win a world title in July.
The team of two women and two men stunned the CrossFit community by coming from behind on the final event to earn their right to compete for the championship. The team, representing the 8th Day Gym, will compete for the world title beginning July 27th in Madison, WI.
The team finished fourth overall to qualify for the Games, winning their last event at the Granite Games in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The regional event was a sweaty slog for the competitors as on the field temperatures at the St. Could State football field reached over 150 degrees at times.
The team, compromised of a married couple, Michael and Heather Paas, along with Ryan Schafer and Zoe Jones got off to a great start by winning the final event on Friday, the opening day of competition, and then took two top five slots on Saturday, which left left them in striking distance on the final day.
After finishing eighth on Sunday's first event, they needed to rally on the day's final event. They edged out ILuvIt by three seconds in that last event to punch their ticket to Madison.
The final event consisted of 15 synchronized burpees, a 20-meter worm lunge carry, 15 worm thrusters, a 30 calorie bike, a rest and then reversing everything with another bike, thrusters, worm lunge and burpees to finish. You can watch it below.
According to the national web site Morning Chalk Up, the 8th Day team were heavy underdogs entering the Granite Games finals, they were the fourteenth seed after a 46th place finish in the North American Quarterfinals.
In a Facebook post on the gym's web site, the team was looking for someone to help them out as the prepare to travel next month to Madison. Lodging in the area is for that week tough to come by, and they were searching for a place to stay. If you know of someone who can help, the info is below.
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