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1. Fraser takes the lead
There’s been a close battle between Rich Froning and Mat Fraser for 1st place overall in the men’s leaderboard, but with Fraser finishing 3rd in the world for 15.3 (628 reps) and Froning 17th (588 reps), the 25-year-old Vermonter leapfrogged the champ to take the top spot. However, Fraser only leads Froning by 6 points (123 to 129), and with two workouts left in the Open expect to see a close fight to the finish. Still, Fraser is showing why many predict him to be Froning’s successor and win the 2015 CrossFit Games.
2. Briggs is back in qualifying position
Last week we wrote that Briggs was in danger of not making it to the Atlantic Regional, as she was in 23rd position in the South East (top 20 qualify for Regionals) after two weeks of the Open. But after posting the top score worldwide—for both men and women—in 15.3 (633) reps, Briggs has moved up to 14th in the region. There is currently a two-way tie for 19th in the South East, with both athletes sitting on 174 points. Briggs has 146 points, so barring a catastrophic score in one of the remaining two workouts expect to see her compete at the Atlantic Regional in May.
3. 1 Rep is worth it’s weight in gold
Thousands of athletes across the Men’s, Women’s, Teen’s (16-17) and Master’s divisions got their first muscle-up in 15.3 over the weekend, and many proudly posted a score of ‘1’ online. While it may have taken them the full 14 minutes to get a single rep, that one rep is worth more than any score from the scaled version of 15.3. As such, there was a big shift in the lower echelons of the leaderboard as athletes who got one rep made big gains ahead of those who are yet to earn their first muscle-up.
4. Kevin Ogar is on the leaderboard
Speaking of muscle-ups, adaptive athlete Kevin Ogar fought for one rep during 15.3, which allowed him, for the first time since his injury in 2014, to post a score on the leaderboard:
After 12 1/2 minutes of trying I’ve never been so happy to get one single rep in my entire life!! This single Muscle up Allows me, for the first time since the@crossfit Open started, to post a score on the@crossfitgames site. Thanks @thedavecastro for putting MUs first so I could get a score!
5. Only three men in the top 20 worldwide have never competed at the Games
That’s right. Nathan Bramblett (10th), Shane McBride (15th) and Alex Anderson (7th) are the only men yet to compete at Carson. The rest of the top 20 are filled with the big names you’d expect to see at the top of the leaderboard, and the top 3 men (Fraser, Froning and Ben Smith) are all podium finishers.
6. Six of the top 20 women have never been to the Games
Ragnheidur Sara Sigmundsdottir (6th), Maude Charron (7th), Alexis Johnson (10th), Carol-Ann Reason-Thibault (11th), Sarabeth Phillips (16th), Maddy Myers (19th) and Kirsten Pedri (20th) would all be Games rookies, if they make it to Regionals—and then finish in the top 5 there. At this point, getting to Regionals shouldn’t be a problem for these six women, but once they’re there, finishing in the top 5 might be a more daunting proposition.
