306 brings down the house at the Spring Fling!

Couldn't be happier to be a 306 coach today. We sent a dozen members down to Regina for the annual Spring Fling hosted by CF Regina. Our team had an exceptional performance. Our boys swept the podium in the scaled division with Adam Holtzman taking gold followed by Logan Brown, and Guy Sveinbjorson. Daniel Wolfe finished 10th in this division.  Kristen Major won the women's scaled division winning three out of four WODs.  Chelasea Sveinbjorson finished 22th in the women's scaled.   Sam Mitchell earned the silver in the women's Rx division with consistent performances throughout the day. Bruce Gordon took silver in the masters division behind Corey Borelien.   Jamie's Turuk finished 22nd as his muscle weighed him down too much for the the swimming WOD:)

Overall 306 athletes picked up 6 medals across four divisons, more then any other affliate in attendance.

Next up on the list for competitons
- Power Lifting meet - July 13 Moose Jaw
- Olympic Lifting meet - Aug 3 Moose Jaw
- CrossFit Comp - Aug 10 - CF 204 Winninpeg
- CrossFit Comp - Aug 17 - Sweat Rx Toronto 

Great day in Chicago

This past weekend I travelled to Chicago to compete at the Pan Am Masters Weightlifting Championships.  This was the biggest Pan Am weightlifting event ever with 260 competing athletes from all over the Americas.  The competition was stiff with Ex-Olympians and former national team members in attendance.  The Latin countries brought an exciting flair to the usual business like demeanor of these events.  When the day ended I won my weight class and received a Gold medal at the Pan Am Championships.  I also posted a 243kg total that when adjusted for my bodyweight gave me the title of best lifter in the 35-40 age group across all weight classes.  I also hit a personal best on my clean and Jerk with 138 KG/304 llbs and improved on all three provincial records that I currently own (M35, 77KG, Snatch, C&J, total).  I am also now within striking distance of the overall provincial record of 140kg in the clean and jerk.  Overall a great memorable experience that I will cherish for a long time.  A big thank you to Richard Gonsalves for coming in from Toronto and coaching me at this event.
Coach 

Rob Lovelace

306 is excited to welcome Rob Lovelace to our coaching staff. Rob will be taking over our Olympic lifting program, with the mandate of qualifying four 306 athletes to next year's Olympic Lifting National Championships and improving everyones technique.  Please help me in congratulating Rob on his new appointment.

Coach

Canada West Regionals...3-2-1-GO!!

Well, after months of prep work, Regionals are finally here!  It has been a very rewarding experience both as an athlete and a coach.  As a coach, coming into the gym everyday and seeing each of you push hard past your limits always inspires me to push harder in my workouts.  Watching you push through adversity makes me want to be better.  Each of you are on the 306 team and play an important role, even though you may not realize it.  Sure, there are 6 athletes that will throw down on the weekend, but each of you have been training partners, friends and cheerleaders.  We are honoured to represent 306 in Vancouver this weekend and will give everything that we have knowing that you are all rooting for us.

We are very lucky to have some amazing resources in our gym as well.  I would like to take a moment and give a big thank you to Marc Morris, our power lifting coach for putting together our programing leading up tho this weekend.  We appreciate your expertise and experience in helping us along the way.  Aaron Johnson has been a lifesaver for us for sure.  Aaron is a 'miracle worker' when it comes to myofascial therapies and has volunteered his services to the regional athletes during training and he will be with us in Vancouver to make sure we stay limber and injury free.   We also have Sam Mitchell who is on the team but also a nutritionist and 'food guru'.  She has been very helpful to ensure that the athletes are fueling correctly and eating to perform.  Jason has also taken a lot of extra time to do individualized programing for our athletes to ensure that we can hammer out our weaknesses and go into the weekend feeling ready to go.  THANK YOU ALL!!!

"Victory Loves Preparation"...and I can honestly say that we have done all we can to prepare for this amazing opportunity.  No matter the outcome, we have done all we can to put forward the best version of ourselves next weekend.  You can follow the action at games.crossfit.com.  Aaron Parker will be competing as an individual and the rest of us on the team.   

So, now for logistics...as our coaches are competing this weekend, there will be NO CLASSES on Saturday or Sunday.   Normal schedule resumes on Monday morning.  I might be a little sore and groggy, but I will be here;).  

Let's Hear It for 306's Regional Team

I am very pleased to announce the following athletes have accepted the offer to represent 306 at the upcoming CrossFit Games Regional Championships.  

Representing the men:

Ty Prosofsky
Nathan Lynchuk
Jamie Turuk
Jason Cain

On the women side:

Viki Cirkvencic
Laura Werhkamp
Sam Mitchell
Rebecca Winterhalt

These athletes have consistently shown great dedication to the sport of CrossFit and will all represent 306 incredibly well.  Please help me in congratulation those athletes and help them prepare by pushing them when they are in your classes.

The Regional Championships will be held June 7-10 at the Richmond Oval, in Richmond BC.

The "Open" a coach's recap

With a cup of coffee in my hand on a beautiful yet chilly Monday morning it's time to reflect on the Open.  What does it all mean? How did we do?  What's next?  Well let's start with some of the official outcomes:

-  306 started with the third biggest participation rate.  
- Finished 1st out of all Saskatchewan Gyms
- 6th in the Canada West Region.
- Two 1st place finishes by individuals,  (Aaron Parker on 13.2, Coach on 13.5) 
- Three individuals qualified for Regionals, Aaron Parker, Viki, and Coach 
- Bruce Gordon finished 3rd as a Master within the region

Unofficially if we include Aaron's score (Aaron's scores were removed by CF HQ due to his current work commitment) within our team score we finished with the following results:

3 rd in the Region,
1st in the Prairies
1st In Canada on 13.2 

Which means that we improved on last year's 4th place finished, and are well on our way of building a legacy of top notch athletes.

Results aside, the Open means a lot more then rankings, scores, and performances.  Crossfit is not who we are, it is what we do.  What we do is the following:

- we encourage each other to never give up
- we celebrate all the little wins along the way
- we learn from each other
- we constantly support each other
- we laugh, cheer, and sweat

The Open is simply a chance to all come together and learn about yourself and support one another.

Congratulations to all who participated in a very successful Open.  

The individuals that will be representing 306 at Regionals will be announce later this week.

In health,
Coach
 

4 down 1 to go!

In any long competitive season, depth is what keeps teams in contention.  At 306 our depth is pulling us through.  This past week we received a message from CF HQ citing that our wonder-kid Aaron Parker would not be eligible to compete for us this year due to his work commitment that takes him down to Regina during the week for police training.  We appealed the decision, the appealed had the same outcome.  In the same week, Ty hurt his shoulder and was only able to register one rep for this past WOD.  In true team fashion, Leo, Jon, and Nathan would put up some of their strongest scores in the Open to help the team maintain a strong position within the Region.

On the women side three different ladies (Rebecca, Viki, Laura) have contributed the top score for the team through the last four workouts.  Our depth shinning through once again.   

As the Open winds down, I couldn't be any happier at how everyone is supporting each other, offering helpful advice, staying late to help judge, and living by the motto "Community Above all Else".

On Saturday after the last Open WOD, beginning at 1PM, we will be hosting a catered event to celebrate the last 5 weeks.  Bring a change clothes, relax, reminisce, and get to know each other.
In health,
Coach